Why can't apple just announce the release date?

[pdjudd]

Since you know everything. The day Lion was released on the App Store we had over 150 installs. The following day we had literally hundreds of help desk calls over things being broken.

That could have been dealt with before hand - knowing the date of release is irrelevant if all you have to do is send out an announcement telling people to hold off until you have certified it internally. If you do any sort of formal support for end users you should have these policies. Make it clear long before a new version comes out.

Again, how is knowing the date going to help you if you don't either have policies in place like this.

At our office we do not allow people to just install a new OS (even if they own the box) unless we certify it. We tell them what we support and that's that.

 

[Krazy Bill]

It is silly. They should just announce a date and be done with it.

Believe it or not, the majority of mac users don't walk through daily life dreaming of the day they will install Apple's newest operating system.

'Tis true.

 

[rdowns]

Since you know everything. The day Lion was released on the App Store we had over 150 installs. The following day we had literally hundreds of help desk calls over things being broken.

Sounds like your large organization has a lot bigger issues to deal with than a release date.

 

[quietstormSD]

This is d**b on so many levels. Apple should continue to release each new version of its OS when it is ready. There is no need to set some arbitrary deadline that it may or may not make.

If Apple adopts the Microsoft model, then Apple will get the Microsoft results. Specifically, no Microsoft operating system is ever out of gamma. This Mac user does not want his OS to download new updates each time he boots his computer. This Mac user does not want an OS that requires daily updates for his mission-critical applications.

I understand that. Maybe not do what Microsoft does by announcing the specific date months in advance. But the Golden Master has already been released to developers. Meaning, that is the version that will be released to the public. No more bug fixes. They already know the date that they are releasing it to the public. They are just not saying it to build anticipation through there reality distortion field. I've just been getting a little fed up with their secrecy tactics.

 

[tekno]

I can't imagine why knowing a date will really make any difference to me
I will just pick it up when it comes out

Why is it every thread I open, the first reply is from you? You should try and get out some more rather than endlessly whiling your life away on the internet.

 

[heisenberg123]

I understand that. Maybe not do what Microsoft does by announcing the specific date months in advance. But the Golden Master has already been released to developers. Meaning, that is the version that will be released to the public. No more bug fixes. They already know the date that they are releasing it to the public. They are just not saying it to build anticipation through there reality distortion field. I've just been getting a little fed up with their secrecy tactics.

yet it creates conversation even from someone who is "fed up" with it?

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Why is it every thread I open, the first reply is from you? You should try and get out some more rather than endlessly whiling your life away on the internet.

believe it or not you have to be here as often as the poster the see he made a post

 

[pdjudd]

I understand that. Maybe not do what Microsoft does by announcing the specific date months in advance. But the Golden Master has already been released to developers. Meaning, that is the version that will be released to the public. No more bug fixes. They already know the date that they are releasing it to the public. They are just not saying it to build anticipation through there reality distortion field. I've just been getting a little fed up with their secrecy tactics.

Trouble is the GM is a build. Generally it’s the last one but developers get it so that Apple has enough time to find any show stopping bugs. They don’t know when that could happen. Now 2 weeks should be enough, but they don’t want to commit until they are ready to. They may not have to press discs anymore, but they still want to make sure they don’t miss anything big.

 

[SlCKB0Y]

It is silly. They should just announce a date and be done with it. Microsoft announces their release date of their OS months before they release it.

Yea? And how often do Microsoft either miss the release date or need to push it back? How was that nearly 6 years waiting for "Longhorn", only to get Vista at the end of it? Apple should be more like this?

It looks really bad, it's much better to say nothing than commit to a date a miss it.

They need to make really sure there are no missed show-stopper bugs in the GM.

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But the Golden Master has already been released to developers. Meaning, that is the version that will be released to the public. No more bug fixes

I'm pretty confident that if they missed a serious bug which popped up in the GM they would fix it before general release.

 

[rdowns]

Why is it every thread I open, the first reply is from you? You should try and get out some more rather than endlessly whiling your life away on the internet.

Seems to me if you reralize that he has a large number of first posts, you may need to get out some more.

 

[MisterMe]

.... No more bug fixes. ....

Shirley [sic], you jest. Microsoft issues bug fixes for its operating systems everyday. Which version of Windows do you have that is not receiving bug fixes?

 

[maflynn]

Shirley [sic], you jest. Microsoft issues bug fixes for its operating systems everyday.

Everyday? They schedule patches on the second tuesday of each month.

They also issue a code freeze for any beta OS going into Gold Master just like apple does. That is any new bugs will be addressed in a subsequent update. Apple does the same thing. Only if there's a huge problem uncovered with the GM will they issue a second GM (which has happened before)

 

[Blipp]

Sounds like your large organization has a lot bigger issues to deal with than a release date.

Exactly this. I've never heard of a large organization that allows their employees to upgrade their OS at will. How could you possibly support that? Our help desk has already been notified that any calls from users with Mountain Lion are to be closed as unsupported (not arguing that all companies should do this but we have to). We were even able to notify them without having a solid release date at hand. Shocking, I know.

 

[Mattie Num Nums]

Sounds like your large organization has a lot bigger issues to deal with than a release date.

Seeing how you know everything again whats the solution? OSX Configuration Profiles? Oh yeah thats right! Users can erase though under Apples EULA. Any other ideas?

 

[pdjudd]

Seeing how you know everything again whats the solution? OSX Configuration Profiles? Oh yeah thats right! Users can erase though under Apples EULA. Any other ideas?

How about a proper employee policy that states you may not install software not approved by your IT department. We do that even for employees that own their own computers. If they violate that policy you get to wipe their machine back to an earlier version.

Of course you have to get managemetn to go along with this policy but this has nothing to do with announcing dates and everything to do with support policies.

Lets just assume that Apple announced their release date? What good is that going to do if your software doesn't work? If you need to plan support based on something, you use the GM on a dev computer.

 

[throttlemeister]

Yea? And how often do Microsoft either miss the release date or need to push it back? How was that nearly 6 years waiting for "Longhorn", only to get Vista at the end of it? Apple should be more like this?

It looks really bad, it's much better to say nothing than commit to a date a miss it.

Never. Contrary to popular belief, and fed by the press stories, Microsoft never formally announces product release dates until they are pretty much ready for RTM. Instead, what you see is press stories based on the information that is available with dates that are guesstimates at best. You should not believe any Windows release date unless it is stated on a Microsoft press release, period.

However, this is in part caused by the more open communication Microsoft has with the media, I'll give you that.

 

[Mattie Num Nums]

How about a proper employee policy that states you may not install software not approved by your IT department. We do that even for employees that own their own computers. If they violate that policy you get to wipe their machine back to an earlier version.

Of course you have to get managemetn to go along with this policy but this has nothing to do with announcing dates and everything to do with support policies.

Lets just assume that Apple announced their release date? What good is that going to do if your software doesn't work? If you need to plan support based on something, you use the GM on a dev computer.

You've obviously never worked in the Entertainment industry.

 

[heisenberg123]

You've obviously never worked in the Entertainment industry.

are we talking about the pr0no industry?

 

[iDuel]

You've obviously never worked in the Entertainment industry.

What is it in the Entertainment Industry that requires the newest version of OSX the second it is released? It's not like your Software will stop working on SL or Lion.

It's always best to test things to avoid the amass of Help Desk calls. Makes sense doesn't it?

 

[Meyvn]

Are they just trying to be annoying and lame on purpose?

A major OS has no release date other than July, except I guarantee that Apple already knows when they plan on releasing and have known for a while now, and they refuse to publicly reveal it

This is a very interesting claim. You admit that you don't know when the release date is, yet seem to think you know the inner workings of Apple well enough to say that they've set a release date in stone already, and are just holding it back. Care to back it up, and tell us how you know they've set a date?

 

[kodeman53]

Care to back it up, and tell us how you know they've set a date?

Common sense and deductive reasoning. Apple stores putting up new displays on 7/24. What, you think people at Apple don't plan and simply wake up one morning and say, "Let's announce Mountain Lion today."

 

[HelveticaNeue]

During their earnings call on Tuesday, I expect Apple to announce that "Mountain Lion will be released tomorrow." Just like they did with Lion last year.

 

[Meyvn]

What, you think people at Apple don't plan and simply wake up one morning and say, "Let's announce Mountain Lion today."

Yeah, thanks for the straw man, but no.

I don't think people "wake up one morning" and make decisions. But in software, there is such a thing as caution, and checking for bugs, and tentative release dates.

Apple could well have been planning, tentatively, to release, say, on July 27th, without being entirely certain, due to the bugs that often pop up only at the last minute due to more users jumping on the GM bandwagon. And, not wanting to end up eating crow, they could've held the decision to announce somewhat up in the air out of caution.

 

[kodeman53]

But in software, there is such a thing as caution, and checking for bugs, and tentative release dates.

Apple could well have been planning, tentatively, to release, say, on July 27th, without being entirely certain, due to the bugs that often pop up only at the last minute due to more users jumping on the GM bandwagon. And, not wanting to end up eating crow, they could've held the decision to announce somewhat up in the air out of caution.

Tentative. I get it and it's wrong. 100% wrong. This is commercial software. There are advertising campaigns built around it. There are activities in thousands of stores built around it. All planned for a specific date, not a tentative date, plus or minus a few days if there are bugs.

 

[pdjudd]

Tentative. I get it and it's wrong. 100% wrong. This is commercial software. There are advertising campaigns built around it. There are activities in thousands of stores built around it. All planned for a specific date, not a tentative date, plus or minus a few days if there are bugs.

That is very close. They have a date in mind for sure, but they hold back as much as possible because they like to announce things as close as possible to availability as possible (I think they dislike the Osbourne affect). I think that with OS updates like with OSX they want to leave little room as possible for a gap - especially since they can put it up at any point. They basically gave people a 1 day lead up to Lion when they announced at the earnings call.

My theory has been that it will work the same - they want to exploit their earning calls and not want to risk a bad PR move should something come up.

Apple plays things very close and doesn’t want to cater to external demands like long term announcements unless they just can’t avoid it (my guess is that the iPhone and iPad is one such area they can’t do much about because of carriers). I don’t think they want to let a date slip which is why they did the next day thing with Lion. By the time any impact hit the market, Lion would turn things around.

 

[Mattie Num Nums]

What is it in the Entertainment Industry that requires the newest version of OSX the second it is released? It's not like your Software will stop working on SL or Lion.

It's always best to test things to avoid the amass of Help Desk calls. Makes sense doesn't it?

Its a cultural thing. People get what they want when they want it.