Apple asks developers to rate latest Leopard pre-release
Having already delayed its next-generation Leopard operating system by several months, Mac maker Apple Inc. is now seeking feedback from its developer community on whether the quality of the latest pre-release builds is up to par with the shipping version of Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger.
In a somewhat unorthodox move, the Cupertino-based company this week began courting the developer feedback through an online survey that's also visible to the general public.
Specifically, Apple asks that developers compare their experiences using Mac OS X Leopard Build 9A499 and a shipping version of Mac OS X Tiger (10.4.x) in the areas of Mail & Web, Graphics & Media, Setup & Mobility, Desktop & Interface, Productivity & Communication, and Sharing & Devices.
For each category, the company identifies a half-dozen areas of user experience in Leopard -- such as "Composing styled HTML mail messages" and "General stability and performance of Mail" -- and asks that developers compare their experience in those areas to Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger via a rating system that spans "Much worse" to "Much better."
The precise motive behind the move is unclear at this time, as Apple has said it plans to release Leopard in October. In keeping with that schedule, the company would have just a few remaining weeks to wrap up development before prepping the software for its release to manufacturing.
Leopard has come under considerable criticism from some Apple developers who've waged complaints about the stability and performance of the software during the tail-end of its development cycle. Build 9A499, which was released late last month, faired no better in the eyes of some developers who said their experience continued to be hampered by bugs.
Originally slated for June, Leopard's release was pushed back to October when Apple was forced to borrow some key software engineering and QA resources from its Mac OS X team in order to make good on a promise to launch iPhone -- which runs an embedded version of Leopard -- by the end of June.
In a somewhat unorthodox move, the Cupertino-based company this week began courting the developer feedback through an online survey that's also visible to the general public.
Specifically, Apple asks that developers compare their experiences using Mac OS X Leopard Build 9A499 and a shipping version of Mac OS X Tiger (10.4.x) in the areas of Mail & Web, Graphics & Media, Setup & Mobility, Desktop & Interface, Productivity & Communication, and Sharing & Devices.
For each category, the company identifies a half-dozen areas of user experience in Leopard -- such as "Composing styled HTML mail messages" and "General stability and performance of Mail" -- and asks that developers compare their experience in those areas to Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger via a rating system that spans "Much worse" to "Much better."
The precise motive behind the move is unclear at this time, as Apple has said it plans to release Leopard in October. In keeping with that schedule, the company would have just a few remaining weeks to wrap up development before prepping the software for its release to manufacturing.
Leopard has come under considerable criticism from some Apple developers who've waged complaints about the stability and performance of the software during the tail-end of its development cycle. Build 9A499, which was released late last month, faired no better in the eyes of some developers who said their experience continued to be hampered by bugs.
Originally slated for June, Leopard's release was pushed back to October when Apple was forced to borrow some key software engineering and QA resources from its Mac OS X team in order to make good on a promise to launch iPhone -- which runs an embedded version of Leopard -- by the end of June.
Comments
Oh, great another does anyone else smell another delay?
I would rather have another delay than a system that ?#@¥ up my computer. It's not good to have a delay but it is terrible to launch a system that should 'just work' and have it bomb. I don't want to be a beta tester with my computer I just want it when it's ready for prime time. I'm excited about Leopard but happy with Tiger until 10.5 is ready. Do the right thing Apple.
Oh, great another does anyone else smell another delay?
Nope!
My guess is that AI and other sites hear more from the dissatisified users than they do from the ones who have no problems, or only minor problems.
Hopefully, Apple will receive a high degree of feedback.
But I'm betting we won't see Leopard until MWSF 08.
I still think that something has to be cut for Leopard to make it out by Halloween.
Boo!
Then when Apple did announce the delay, OMG you guys remember the rest, total hypocrisy.
The pure optimist would suggest that having Apple ask developers to rate everything would mean that Leopard is done and that they think it's great as it is and just want confirmation of that from the developers in order to ship early.
Until we know what all the developers responded, it's impossible to know the state of Leopard as seen from their perspective IMHO.
Id rather it was delayed than shipped in the same shoddy quality that Tiger was.
I wouldn't. If we're talking about minor stability issues then I'd rather it was early so that gives access to far wider range of testers and they can easily issue a 10.5.1 update to fix them.
It won't impact the experience as long as applications are stable enough and under the beta, overall stability seems to be pretty decent. The only instability I noticed was with the Finder and coverflow. People can easily avoid coverflow if it's too buggy.
Judging by the quality of the beta, I think Leopard will ship on time - Apple just wouldn't allow it to be delayed again, they just couldn't afford the reaction it would generate.
Oh, great another does anyone else smell another delay?
It wouldn't bother me if they said MWSF, cause I'd rather see all bugs gone, and the best design they can do.
It wouldn't bother me if they said MWSF, cause I'd rather see all bugs gone, and the best design they can do.
I wouldn't either since the Finder still seems to be buggy, but I'd definitely like to use time-machine before that.
Oh, great another does anyone else smell another delay?
Yeh, like MWSF. I bet they announce a coupon program, like if you buy after October, you will get the upgrade when it comes out.
I just want leopard, and a minitower... now that isn't asking for much is it Apple? Come on!
Leopard on time is not too much to ask. A minitower is. A minitower is a niche product. Sorry.
Apple's never done this before, yet people conclude with certainty that it means a delay? No, the size of their bug database would indicate a delay, which we have no idea how large or small it is.
A survey of what you like and don't like only tells Apple how to better market the features.
It wouldn't bother me if they said MWSF, cause I'd rather see all bugs gone, and the best design they can do.
There's always bugs. If you want 'all bugs gone' then it won't ship at all, ever.
There's always design compromises too. You will never see their 'best design'.