jefhatfield's Full Review: Apple Mac OS 10 Full Version (M7686LL/A)
I have a relative that works at one of the largest Mac using companies in Northern California with hundreds of Macs and even more than they have of PCs! Now that is a rarity in this day and age. When thinking of moving their Mac systems from OS 8 and 9 to OS X, they have no immediate plans. Being a small time computer repairman, I have individual home user clients who have the same reaction to switching over to OS X on just one machine, even for surfing the internet!
So why all the hesitation? Let me start with why I would think that they would hold off for now.
As of now, there is a version of Internet Explorer and Netscape Navigator that have recently come out on OS X, running natively. Adobe has two betas (Illustrator 10 and InDesign) out in OS X. Tech Tool Pro has a software utility program native to OS X. And Apple has come out with a beta or early version of their popular AppleWorks office productivity software in OS X. As far as I know of this writing, that's it for the major software companies. Yes, there are thousands of applications in development for OS X but many of these programs are yet to have a definite release date as of now. Many graphic designers are anxiously waiting for Photoshop to come out in an OS X version. I believe that will be the most major catalyst for Mac users to go out and buy OS X. Another drawback is that OS X will need at least 128 MB of RAM to work at all. And if you want it to work acceptably, get used to the idea of having 192 MB of RAM on your Mac. I would not call this a major problem though because if you look on the internet, you can find many good deals for 256 MB RAM sticks for under $75.00 dollars. Some older Macs can't handle that much RAM and OS X should only be used on at least a G3 based system at 233 MHz or higher. My friend has a 256 MB RAM Cube running OS X and he plans to put OS X on his G3 serial port only PowerMac running at 233 MHz and 192 MB of RAM. As an engineer, he tells me this would be his minimum.
So what is there to like about an operating system that has very few native titles running it it? Plenty...
For starters, the BSD Unix based OS X is much more stable than any past Mac operating system that may have been written in C language. And it certainly is more stable than any DOS based operating system that the Windows world has ever come up with. I am not saying the older Mac and PC operating systems were bad for their time, but we are definitely in the age of Unix and/or NT based systems due to their stability and security. I have to mention, the average client I have does not care about the various flavors of Unix vs C vs DOS and I don't believe the average buyer out there will either...unless you are a techie, oh yeah, a SOFTWARE techie who likes to code. What people will be drawn to is how pretty the aqua interface is. The icons are colorful and easy to see. There are more colors and looking at all the menus and dialog boxes are as fun as thumbing through a slick magazine. This is the graphic user interface that will dominate from now on so get used to it. And for the Windows users who are reading this, Windows XP is going to use the colorful aqua interface, too. If you have not seen OS X or Windows XP, go to apple.com or to microsoft.com to see those two operating systems and judge for yourself.
So finally, do I recommend OS X to a home user? Here is my copout answer as a 20 year Mac user and someone who has a lot to lose if I end up giving bad advice to my clients.
Yes and no.
"Yes" if you want to move into the future of Apple computers and are patient enough for the applications to trickle in over the next few weeks and months.
"No" if you want to start being a graphic designer and you have clients lined up waiting for super fancy Photoshoped Christmas cards and other graphical needs. If you are a major company, all the more reason to wait because they would want their graphics professionals to be productive. My wife plans to make her Christmas cards this year using Photoshop 5.5 for her clients on her OS 9 iBook. Maybe OS X will work with Photoshop next year. Don't tell her, I think I just found out what I will buy for my wife this Christmas, OS X and a good collection of bath soaps.
PS - If you are planning to give an OS X gift to your wife or girlfriend, at least add something like soaps, perfume, or chocolates. I was chased out of a Mac store by the owner when I told her I was buying Microsoft Mac Office 2001 for my wife (who is also her friend) as an anniversary present. True story! ;)
Mac OS will give your Macintosh a dramatic new look and feel, along with all kinds of enhanced capabilities for accessing the Internet. It will also s...More at eBay
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