So yesterday was the big day all Mac fanboys were waiting for. I myself tuned in to hear Jobs’ and company do some marketing for nearly two hours, basically waiting for that big payoff of the final five minutes of whiz-bang news. Granted, it was a developers’ conference, and I knew what I was getting into. Believe me, I’m not complaining. I’ve never developed anything on a Mac or for a Mac, so seeing some of the features of the iPhone SDK were intriguing
The relevant news here was the announcement of Snow Leopard. Developers attending WWDC got to hear the details, but won’t be sharing it with us because of the NDA. What we do know is that the Apple rumor mill leading up to WWDC was in the ballpark. Snow Leopard is scheduled (we know how that turned out, right ‘Apple is always on time LOL Windows is always late!!11!!’ fanboys?) to be released in approximately a year. And while there aren’t many details, so far it seems like this iteration will indeed feel like an iterative step. Details posted on the official website explain mostly under-the-hood features, like taking greater advantage of 64-bit processors and multi-core systems.
If Snow Leopard indeed focuses on under-the-hood improvements and only a handful of new user features, will buyers perceive this as buying a service pack? You can bet many people will feel slighted at the thought. On the other hand there are many people, especially among the Mac contingent, who always want the latest and greatest Mac product out there, even if it means 12 new wallpapers and 2 new bundled dashboard widgets.
What’s hilarious is how Mac fanboys are spinning this. ‘I’ll pay gladly.‘ Yeah, we have no idea what’s in the box and your wallet is already open. Another person already waiting in line – ‘I’m trying to think of the last time Windows released a performance only update. Oh that’s right – never. 
‘ I don’t know what Windows has to do with this, but Apple basically admits that Leopard can use improvements, wants you to pay for them, and you’re happy about it? I don’t want to buy a car that gets 20 mpg just to find out that I it can actually get more mpg but I have to pay for it. If Microsoft came out last week and said ‘In one year you can pay $129 to make Vista feel faster’ the Mac fanboys would flood the streets screaming and dancing like it’s Love Parade. Admit it Steve worshippers.
Now let me rewind a bit. We don’t know if there won’t be enough major new features to make this an issue. This may be a non-issue. Or Apple may actually step up and release this for free (or a very reduced price…which is still pushing it IMHO). I would be a very satisfied customer.
In the meantime, Leopard runs fine for me. It’s snappy©, no noticeable bugginess, and I’m very happy with it. I haven’t experienced as many problems as some others have, so if Snow Leopard is indeed an under-the-hood upgrade, I won’t be paying for it next year. Bring on Puma/Thundercats/lolCats or whatever the hell 10.7 is going to be called!
