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Apple OS Updates Slowing

Apple to slow pace of Mac OS X tweaks | CNET News.com

bq. However, during a talk at the SIIA Enterprise Software Summit 2004 here, Apple Chief Software Technology Officer Avie Tevanian said, “We’re slowing that (pace) down a little bit…because that’s not a sustainable rate. But you’ll still see us go really fast.” Tevanian had previously headed OS X development but was promoted last year to oversee the company’s broader software development efforts.

I think what Apple needs to do is not just slow down the pace of updates (not development), but provide a roadmap. The part that seems to make companies most uncomfortable about dealing with Apple is you never know what’s coming next. Microsoft guaranteeing to develop MS Office for 5 years assuaged lots of those fears, but now Apple is the one that needs the Roadmap. At least during the OSX transition they had a roadmap, some kind of direction. Now, who knows?

Perhaps what they need to look at is something along the lines of Red Hat’s Fedora vs. Enterprise Linux. Perhaps they can have a “Mac OSX Home” that gets updated every year or so, and a “Mac OSX Professional” that they update ever 2-3 years, incorporating features that have been tested through the Mac OSX Home codebase.