3. People always complain about all the incompatibility issues that come up with each new system update. 2 per year (which I highly doubt Apple is capable of producing, with their current level of production anyway) will throw the developers for a loop for sure, especially if they are truly able to miraculously stuff the power features of OS 8 into system 7.5's crusty, brittle shell. Their only hope is to get the API's for system 8 out to developers and transition them over to the new format over the next year. But wait! They haven't even come up with a developer's release yet! How are they supposed to produce the upcoming revolutionary changes in the OS in 6 months AND get all the necessary info out to developers so they can actually produce Software for it at the same time? I just don't think this is possible.
4. Apple's development cycles are actually lengthening if anything, not shortening. A stable system 7.5.x would be nice....but NOT at the expense of a stable and timely system 8. Without system 8 in the next 15 months (maximum), I don't believe Apple will be able to survive. Macs may survive under the OS-age of BeOS or Windows NT, but the computer world is moving too fast for Apple's current pace...and even too fast for Apple's projected pace. Originally slated for Jan '97 release, Harmony (a wasteful use of resources, IMHO) is now pushed back to July '97 with an intermediate release in January scheduled that basically adds components that you can already get right now (Quicktime 2.5, OpenDoc 1.1, PPP, CyberDog with Mac Runtime for Java, and maybe the "default copland theme" which is basically the same as Aaron....this portion may be held until Harmony). If Harmony is going to be in July of '97, when will the microkernal-based, partially preemptive multitasking "copland-feature including" system 8 be released? No sooner than July '98 by my predictions. Where will MS be in July '98?
