Re: Apple Drops Backward Compatibility for Next MacOS

[George Van Treeck <treeck@sybase.com>]

Shane wrote:
> 
> George Van Treeck <treeck@sybase.com> wrote:
> >Many computer vendors have come out with new computers and operating
> >systems completely incompatable the previous generation -- with
> >no ill effects.  They simply continue to support the old versions
> >until the demand becomes so small it's no longer profitable.
> >For example, Apple supported the Apple II for many years after
> >the first Macs shipped.
> 
> Ah, but Apple *killed* the II - the demand never dropped. And if you
> think Apple came out of it w/ no ill-effects, just go visit
> comp.sys.apple2 for a bit.

There are two sides to the equation:  1) How many customers are
alienated because there isn't an upward compatable migration
path?  2)  How many customers are aliented because you don't
provide the new features they demand to have immediately?

The Mac has become the industry laggard because it has put too
much emphasis on the compatability side of the equation.  OS/2,
NT, Windows 95, Linux, Solarix, BeOS, etc. all provide features that
are becoming a baseline for an acceptable business desktop computer
-- in particular, preemptive multitasking and protected memory.

Think of it this way.  You make horse-drawn carraiges and many people
are starting to use cars.  Do you keep your installed base happy
while you figure out how to make an carrage that can still use the
hay on their farm for fuel or move to petro-fueled motors?  Software
is fuel of computers.  The migration may require a different kind
of software...

Can Apple freeze the market by saying they are coming out with
a modern operating system in a year or so?  No. It's too late.
They have been stalling for too long.  We're tire of waiting.
Retail stores have cut way back on space allocated to Macs.
Distributors are trying to clear their Mac inventory and not
ordering full replacements.

Apple is losing more business customers every month than all the
customers they'll alienate by not providing upward compatability.
Apple's only chance is too produce something VISIBLE now (with a
quarter)!  Gershwin is too far out.  BeOS is their only hope.
This is do-or-die time.

-George