My primary trade is as a software engineer. That gives me somewhat intimate knowledge of the software development process. That’s why I’ve been perplexed by the “analysis” of several Mac blogs lately. First, they take the rumor sites at their word that 10.5.1 is being circulated to seeded developers. I have no idea if that’s true. It wouldn’t surprise me in the least, but using rumor sites as reference sources is just sloppy.
That said, these same sites are taking this news as proof that Leopard was rushed. Clearly, if an update is in the pipes that quickly, it wasn’t up to snuff. Except that it doesn’t really mean that at all. Software development is a process, as I made reference to above. All software has bugs and limitations. Released versions of software are a configuration of source code that have prioritized bugs identified and fixed. There are known bugs shipped with it.
As such, the moment that version is released, and even before, the next version is started. In fact, I would be surprised if early builds of 10.5.1 weren’t being compiled internally at Apple even before 10.5.0’s release. Even the idea that an update being released this soon after a release of a Major OS X version as evidence of deficiency is silly, particularly if you pay attention to history.
Rob, the hint man, Griffiths summarized releases in a quick table. Let’s take a quick look at time between x.x.0 and x.x.1 releases: 23 (10.0), 19 (10.1), 24 (10.2), 17 (10.3), 17 (10.4). Guess what. we’re at day 18, better than the last two releases.
The next time someone tries to use rumors of a new OS X update so soon as proof of Leopard’s inadequacy, let it slide. I’d hate to take that fantasy away from them.
True. Software by definition has bugs. Software is shipped with bugs that are mitigated. The company I work for is already working on version 8.7 of their software when 8.6 isn't even out the door.
Please, speak for yourself Mr. OS X Leopard is a buggy release, just like all prior OS X releases all were. You talking like Leopard is obligated to be buggy and users who complain about it should shutup. If I were you I would show some form of decency for the end user, its the end user who is in charge here, not you the developer. We buy and support your product, not you.
Now, back to Leopard being buggy, it is a horrible buggy OS, any OS that causes a user to loose data because they simply copy data from one volume and in the process stop it and then looses it all, thats called buggy code. Copy and Pasting is like such a regular thing in operating systems and for Apple to miss a big nasty bug like that is totally unforgivable.
So, please stop trying to defend something you know is obviously a big boo-boo. If Vista had a similar issue you would be all over it like air in the atmosphere.
Mac users, you need to know when something is clearly wrong with your platform. Don't be afraid to blame Apple, Steve Jobs is not gonna jump out of the bushes and slap you in the face. In fact he really does not care. But I notice you guys defend OS X's issues simply because you believe the 'Demi God' Steve Jobs will in some way blacklist you.
Stop being paranoid, please and I see through all the suck up post.
And if you don't post this, I really don't care, the point is you the author of the post read it.
Wow, I guess Andre woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning. I think it's funny that people feel the need to troll around on Mac message boards.
The file deletion on "move" (not "copy") is a serious bug, but since most people do copy files (the default) rather than move them (which requires holding down the command key), and the issue also requires a flaky network connection or that you actually yank the cable from the hard drive during the copy (which has happened to me, but still), it is unlikely that it has bit too many users.
FWIW, I remember this exact same bug being in at least one of the earlier releases of Mac OS X.
whoa!!!
Someone didn't get milk from the tit this morning. Dude, get your coffee, squeeze the tit and relax.
I've done Mac system administration professionally for seventeen years. Leopard doesn't strike me as any buggier than any other dot-zero release, and less than some. 10.3 was much worse, if I remember correctly.
My biggest problem with Leopard is X11, which has a surprising number of bugs. Switching to and from the X11 environment often causes my xterms to go bonkers. CTRL-C clears them up, but it's an annoyance, especially when I'm copying text into the Clipboard, pasting into X11, and then attempt to right-click-paste into an xterm. I always get a garbage character or two, and I have to edit what I just pasted in. The .xinitrc file is seldom processed correctly, and some of my usual startup terminal windows don't appear.
A minor quibble, though, even though it constantly interferes with my work. I know I'm on the bleeding edge when I install a dot-zero release. Users who haven't learned that dot-zeroes are usually a little flaky are either (a) new to computers, (b) a bit Pollyanish, or (c) dumb as a bag of doorknobs.
Jeff - the X11 problems are being worked on, and are mostly solved by now. Check Apple's x11-users mailing list for more.