When will OS X become obsolete?

[Blue Velvet]

I guess it's really a question for the programmers here...

As an example, it seemed clear at the time that OS9 didn't have the framework or capability to take us into this century, so what potential future computing developments could conceivably need something that OS X isn't capable of delivering, given the development of new layers for it, core etc?

What directions in hardware or software are being proposed that may necessitate an entirely new OS?

Apologies for the simplistic question, but I'm sure it's not a simple answer.

 

[rdowns]

Didn't Jobs once say OS X would take care of Apple's OS needs for 20 years or something like that?

He also said Apple would never build a phone, offer a 2 button mouse or run Windows.

 

[Jschultz]

I too am curious...what computing advancements could render OSX useless.I seem to think some sort of multi-touch interface (Which has been talked about) could require a new type of OS, but I think that Apple could integrate that into X fairly easily, no?

 

[iSavant]

Don't stop at 10.9... 10.10 is a proven possibility

To the Op... I can't imagine anything on the hardware or software front that will cause OS X to become obsolete per se. It will probably be a simple marketing tactic to freshen the name sometime down the road. As usual, FWIW and I could be wrong etc...

 

[MisterMe]

...

As an example, it seemed clear at the time that OS9 ...

I am sure that you are aware that MacOS 9 was simply the transition OS intended to take us from from MacOS 8 to MacOS X 10. The original System 8 (aka Copland), Pink, and even System 7 provide much better roadmap for the criteria for a new OS than does MacOS 9.

What directions in hardware or software are being proposed that may necessitate an entirely new OS?

...

iSavant has it about right. Apple can change the name of the OS at any time for marketing reasons. IMHO, it will not. Apple has too much invested in MacOS X to change the name anytime soon. If it intended to change the name in the near term, then Apple would have made the change with Leopard. If you catalog all of the changes and new features in Leopard, then you will see it could have easily been designated MacOS X 11.0, MacOS 11.0, or whatever.

Above I mentioned System 7, Copland, and Pink as indicative of what is required of a new OS. In their time, these new OSes and projects brought ideas--some, well-known; others, secret--out of the laboratory and tried to integrate them into general purpose consumer OSes. Today, there are two major branches of computer OS development--the Windows branch and the UNIX/Unix-like branch. We see no one trying to develop a new branch.

Apple is the leading developer of OSes on the UNIX branch. Leopard revitalized MacOS X and promises to be the basis of Apple's OS for generations to come. We will not hear about a completely new OS until UNIX begins to run out of steam and there is a replacement in development.

 

[Techguy172]

I think it could happen maybe by 2013 or around then the more and more we become multimedia oriented the more they will have to implement these features I think the next one will become more multimedia oriented as well as business oriented. This is the only way apple will get more users mainly business users.

 

[zioxide]

UNIX has been around since 1969 so I don't think it's going anywhere any time soon.

 

[chris200x9]

UNIX has been around since 1969 so I don't think it's going anywhere any time soon.

UNIX was made so at&t employes could play there games better

http://talks.dixongroup.net/nycbsdcon2006/BSD_is_Dying_640x480.mp4

 

[uzi]

When will OS X become obsolete?

When apps on Linux are just as good. Fact is they are 90% there now..

 

[chris200x9]

When will OS X become obsolete?

When apps on Linux are just as good. Fact is they are 90% there now..

pfft linux I've used linux I liked it until it came to doing work.... mac OS X's default of keeping things sized right and spaced out is the best thing ever on linux even with compiz multitasking sux hard imho

 

[MisterMe]

UNIX was made so at&t employes could play there games better

http://talks.dixongroup.net/nycbsdcon2006/BSD_is_Dying_640x480.mp4

Beware of Bell Laboratories fairy tales. Until the break-up of AT&T, the Labs were collectively the largest corporate laboratory in the World. Scientists and engineers survived by publishing, either in refereed professional journals or by receiving patents. In that environment, playing games for games sake was a very low priority.

 

[MisterMe]

UNIX was made so at&t employes could play there games better

http://talks.dixongroup.net/nycbsdcon2006/BSD_is_Dying_640x480.mp4

Beware of Bell Laboratories fairy tales. Until the break-up of AT&T, the Labs were collectively the largest corporate laboratory in the World. Scientists and engineers survived by publishing, either in refereed professional journals or by receiving patents. In that environment, playing games for games sake was a very low priority.

That said, the video is a good presentation.

 

[Chaszmyr]

Modern operating systems are designed for nearly infinite expandability. There are only two things that I can imagine would make OSX defunct: Either the way that we interact with our computers changes entirely (that is to say we stop using keyboards and mice) or computers become so immensely powerful that a significant portion of the sourcecode needs to be rewritten to effectively handle and allow the user to interact with the sheer amount of data being dealt with.

 

[jhu]

quantum computing. but this really applies to currently known oses as well.