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Apple to Release Leopard at MacWorld?


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LoopRumors has new speculation that Leopard will be fully unveiled and released for purchase at the '07 MacWorld Expo in San Franscisco. With the expo starting on January 8th, this would have Leopard arriving early, almost breaking it's speculative release date of Q1 2007.

 

They also note that this may be in response to Microsoft's Windows Vista release around the same period. With Vista being criticized as a rush job, would it be wise for Apple to take the same route? Only Jobs knows, and he sure isn't telling.

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He might in his super secret podcast... :)

 

To be honest, this would be one of the smartest moves Apple could make. It would certainly take a lot of the wind out of MS's sails...

 

But Mash, wouldnt it also be possible that Microsoft could use the release of Leopard for their own advantages, as in saying "Leopard has this, but we have so much more." it may be possible that they could get a bigger response as in more sales when they release Vista.

 

Edit: though it would be really nice if they do release it early, but Im still skeptic on buying it til I see the top-secret features.

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From a purely business point of view this move might make some sense.

 

Speculation has abounded for some time the release of a new lineup of MacBook Pro's is imminent. For Apple to release the new upgrades just before releasing Leopard would allow them to get money from the consumers for the new purchases and an additional 100+ from those same consumers when they go to purchase the new OS.

 

Of course this might make some consumers upset, and I read somewhere else that Apple sometimes offers $5 OS upgrades to new customers purchasing close to an OS upgrade, but that’s still $5 per new purchase.

 

I highly doubt Apple is concerned at all about Vista, especially in terms of feature parity. From what I've known of Microsoft, their latest releases make the rounds through the "Public Beta/Customer Preview' circuit and then launch with little to no added pizzazz. Apple takes an entirely different approach, and were it to release at MacWorld, Redmond would be scant for time to "turn on its photocopiers."

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Apple will release Leopard and the Microsoft will delay vista to add the features it doesn't have that leopard does, I can't wait for Vista to go retial

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I hope they release Leopard on the Macworld! I am just waiting for this event to decide which Mac to buy! So I also will get the new iLife'07 (which will come) and the option of Leopard would be great! Than this would be my first "bought" operating system since Amiga OS 3.0!!! :-)

 

So good luck to me! :)

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Ok I might be crazy and people will have a million reasons why they wouldn't...but....In the past has Apple tried to release an OS so close to the time of someone else's release? Either they are hoping people see this first and people will run out and buy a Mac or maybe just maybe they are going to release Leopard that'll run on non-Macs. Crazy I know.

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Imagine the chaos that would occur if Apple released a version of Leopard that was able to be installed on all x86 computers!

 

I think it would be completely crazy but it would definitely up the market share

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xfsasx: Thats something I very boubt Apple would do with leopard's lifetime.

 

It would be cool to see leopard release at macworld, though surely Apple would lose out on the Christmas sales through this idea.

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Honestly I hope they release it when they feel it's ready so they can work any bugs out. I don't want a rushed job like iTunes 7, iPod firmware 1.2 which seemed more of an attempt to draw attention away from Zune which was hitting the presses the weeks prior to the media event.

 

If they're goal is to hurry up and ship it out before proper testing to outshine MS, then they're really no different than MS. Either way, I don't plan on buying Leopard until 10.5.4 just like I did with Tiger, let them work the bugs out first.

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Imagine the chaos that would occur if Apple released a version of Leopard that was able to be installed on all x86 computers!

 

I think it would be completely crazy but it would definitely up the market share

 

Seriously, do you like Apple? Do you want them to survive as a company?

 

Okay, good. You do. Then think for half a second and get past this stupid idea in your heads-Apple cannot and will not do that.

 

That's like saying:

 

"Hey, guys, let's licence the iPod gui! lololololol"

 

It's not going to happen, if you don't like OSx86, do yourself a favor and buy a mac. If you can't afford $600 for an older refurbished iBook, then you can't afford a new laptop anyways.

 

I'm sorry to sound mean, guys, but this is really pissing me off, because it's just not going to happen.

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I have selfish reasons for hoping Apple will release Leopard at Macworld--I am planning on buying an iMac in January, in hopes that there will be extra features or a price reduction. Leopard would be icing on the cake, saving me from a $100+ upgrade later. (Some of the features appeal, though they aren't mandatory for my switch.)

 

But is this really the best thing? As another poster implied, it is generally wise to wait for a few updates and fixes before installing a major OS X upgrade. Do I want to be stuck with a buggy Leopard, with no Tiger to fall back on? Pushing Leopard to be released early might increase the chance that it will have some issues. We might be better off with a solid and stable March release, than a rushed and buggy January one.

 

As for Vista, I just don't think it matters. Jobs, Serlet and co. may like to poke fun at Microsoft and tout OS X's superiority, and rightly so, but I don't think it's imperative that Leopard beat Vista to release, lest somehow people who are dissatisfied with XP, and were on the fence, suddenly decide to go with Vista because they're impatient. Consider Apple's target market: probably, people who are part of that market, and thinking about switching, have paid enough attention to make an informed decision, not a rushed one. They haven't necessarily scoured the boards and rumor sites like you and me, but they know that each OS is coming, on its own schedule. They also probably know that Longhorn Vista has been delayed a number of times over years, while Apple has steadily released significant and impressive updates on a regular basis. I don't think Apple is really better served strategically by risking a rushed product to beat Microsoft to the punch.

 

Unless, of course, that "Q1 2007" projection was Jobs' smoke and mirrors, and it was always going to be ready at Macworld anyway. In which case, :D

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  • 4 weeks later...
  • 3 weeks later...

Vista has been released to manufacturers and is 'cast in stone'. Apple can release Leopard tomorrow and it wouldn't give any advantage to Microsoft. It's too late.

Vista will be a dud with many people and slick marketing will not help. The price, hardware requirements, and 'copyright protections' will keep people from buying/upgrading to Vista. Given the rocky start Vista has already suffered, it would be in Apple's interests to release a rock solid Leopard and capitalize on yet another Microsoft blunder.

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