[Macworld]

Post your comments for Why Apple is making OS X more like iOS here

[SAMBFriend4pso]

I really Don't care if it is a IOS or OSX software.. As long as it works great..

[AlanGoldman]

Because they are systematically trying to get out of the desktop computer business as we have know it.

[dominiquejames]

AlanGoldman, on 18 May 2012 - 09:45 AM, said:

Because they are systematically trying to get out of the desktop computer business as we have know it.

At this point, after that, the interesting question to ask would probably have to be: And get into what?

[FerranPoveda]

I'm quite pleased to read your post. I haven't heard much good things about the so called iOSification of MacOS until today, and I am convinced that it can bring many interesting concepts to the desktop OS. And I think that having thought about all the threads that may come with these likely changes.

I think that many tools in MacOS aren't there because they are meant for desktops, they are because people are accustomed to them. Simple and plain reminiscence from the past. However, as you mention in your post, a big percentage of Apple's clientele aren't used to that anymore. In spite of that, they live in kind of a more modern world. Their machines (iPhones/iPads) where build without some of those original restrictions and therefore, have some new abstractions of computing.

Besides, I support that these improvements may surpass the details of which tools we have, how they look like, or even where they are on our screens. Yet, they could probably get to influence some more fundamental operations of the OS.

Nevertheless, many threads are just around the corner... we will not like to see limitations of portable devices attached to our desktop machines (e.g. size proportion of buttons). And some people may be scared by the "evil and controlling" mind of Apple trying to control what we have on our computers with sandboxing...

Have a nice weekend

[bazaarsoft]

Apple has a serious (and growing) issue to address - namely quality. Mac OS has been suffering ever since Snow Leopard - frequent hangs, crashes, lost settings, etc., have been on the rise. Xcode is the biggest mess, rivaled only by iTunes. This is something that concerns me as a longtime Mac user, developer, and shareholder. So much focus has been placed on iOS within the company that I'm afraid some fundamentals have gone by the wayside. Snow Leopard was a rock. Lion is still buggy and they're talking Mountain Lion now.

And developers are stuck with the big bloated crashy mess that is Xcode that we must use to develop. You heard it here - if Apple doesn't get it's quality house in order things will begin to go downhill for both platforms.

[LouisMd64e]

Something wrong with that graph. 2012 Q1?

[hmurchison]

This subject is so tired.

Before one can even start to discuss the two OS and compare they need to have a fairly solid foundation of how the two OS are architected.

Then there can be discussion about how each OS differs. What makes OS X the proper tool in some cases versus iOS?

At this point Apple has strengthened the link between the two OS at a data level (reminders, documents, settings) yet some Mac users who feel slighted by iOS success and attention will simply choose to believe this means Apple wants to rid themselves of the Mac (despite Apple's direct protestations)

iOS and OS X need to merge as much as makes sense. If i'm a Mac or iOS developer I need to be able to reuse as much code as possible. Apple has the trifecta. The desktop, mobile and cloud platform to tie everything together. Why would they balkanize their OS at a data level?

[MyakoToudai]

There is an error ( I think so ) in the statistics.... is the last point Q2 of 2012 ?
Else we would have two Q1 entries of 2012...

[chimerical77]

I'm open to hybridization, but implementation has been poor. My Mac use is not improved by a thinner scroll bar or a default reopening of folders after restart. Additions like Launchpad are a barely usable jumble. Progress, yes, but not gratuitous change.

[Swift2]

I don't think they'll ever drop the desktop, the home computer, the base station, for all the peripherals they will get you to lust after. But we can be sure that the Mac/iOS environment will keep on evolving quicker than others. The secret is "Forward." Some people yell and scream at each ADB keyboard that gets outmoded by USB or Thunderbolt or whatever. But they keep making a new platform that didn't exist last year.

But I don't at all believe that the MacPro, for instance, will cease to exist. It might change its form, its speed and ease of use will increase, the i/o ports will speed up. It will have two homes, one on the desk and one in the cloud. There's no reason why the "desktop computer" form factor has to stay with the tower, even an elegant tower like the MacPro. With Thunderbolt, particularly in later optical generations, you can attach different components across the room or across the world, possibly. If you're video editing -- almost the definition of high horsepower computing -- why not a Mac Book Air Pro with two or three Thunderbolt ports? Need a faster render? Plug a video card and a RAID into one port. Or plug into a local server center and rent some super-fast processor and you're done in an hour.

I think Steve's legacy is just, keep thinking large, not small. Make plans. Take steps to get there.

[hmurchison]

bazaarsoft, on 18 May 2012 - 10:12 AM, said:

Apple has a serious (and growing) issue to address - namely quality. Mac OS has been suffering ever since Snow Leopard - frequent hangs, crashes, lost settings, etc., have been on the rise. Xcode is the biggest mess, rivaled only by iTunes. This is something that concerns me as a longtime Mac user, developer, and shareholder. So much focus has been placed on iOS within the company that I'm afraid some fundamentals have gone by the wayside. Snow Leopard was a rock. Lion is still buggy and they're talking Mountain Lion now.

And developers are stuck with the big bloated crashy mess that is Xcode that we must use to develop. You heard it here - if Apple doesn't get it's quality house in order things will begin to go downhill for both platforms.

I've experience Lion oddities but your post is a bit hyperbolic. Do you remember the "good ole days" of Type 10 "restart your mac now " errors? You may not remember the days when the only Mac developer tool was Codewarrior. Xcode is a paradise compared to what Mac developers had to do just. Don't lose your heart because of a few bugs. There were bugs 20 years ago there are bugs now and in 20 years there will STILL be bugs.

iOS should be the focus. Look at any Sci-Fi show. People don't carry around laptops they carry mobile devices. Gene Roddenberry, Philip K. Dick and countless other new the future wasn't in large bulky devices but in small mobile devices that were often controlled by voice input.

[La Porta]

I completely disagree with the statement regarding the "Share" button. That is one of the most infuriating features that I know of. Recently, on my Honeymoon, I attempted to upload pictures from my camera into my iPad. First, the photos app had no way to batch-edit pictures at all: this necessitated purchasing iPhoto. Upon trying to email these pictures, it was exceedingly frustrating attempting to work with groups of pictures because the interface is so limited: there is no way to copy and/or move files, no file structure, nothing to help me organize things. Once I had that, I attempted to upload the photos to Facebook, which summarily failed. When I attempted to re-upload, I was given a message that there were duplicates already uploaded, and did I want to stop or write over these. There was NO option to skip the duplicates and write the other files.

At the end of all this frustration, I simply waited until I got home, fired up my Mac, copied the pictures, and uploaded them....all under five minutes. The fact that Apple wants to make it's computers less user-friendly and dumb them down simply because iOS users are "used" to it is a terrible thing.

[VitaminCM]

I can't believe that nobody sees the real motivation. MONEY & CONTROL
How do you get apps onto iOS? Only one way - through the App store. What happens when you buy and iOS app? Apple gets 30%. (30^% of $4.99 is nice but.....)
Now picture a world where OSX is similarly locked down. You want to buy Photoshop? Apple gets 30% of $600. That's REALLY nice.
You want to make an OSX app that steps on Apple's toes? Rejected!!!
Get ready to figure out how to jailbreak your Mac now.