Devs asked to test third party app support in Snow Leopard
Apple this week has tapped a handful of choice developers to test third party application support against a new build of Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard in a sign the software is nearing a stage of refinement and optimization.
Mac OS X 10.6 build 10A261 is believed to be just the third external beta distribution of Snow Leopard since the next-gen operating system was first previewed at last June's Worldwide Developers Conference.
As of press time, however, the software was not available to the Mac maker's general developer community and was instead provided to a subset of testers sometimes privy to pre-release Apple software ahead of the broader developer population.
In addition to asking developers to focus their testing efforts on evaluating the stability of non-Apple software running on the system, the Cupertino-based company is also seeking feedback on a new set of included printer drivers and the latest implementation of Microsoft Exchange support.
Compared to earlier builds 10A190 and 10A222, it's reported that there are few noticeable changes to the software outside of some minor adjustments to the Mac OS X System Preferences pane and bug fixes to the new Cocoa-based Finder.
Apple has said that it plans to release Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard (topic page RSS feed) within a year's time of last year's June developers conference, meaning it could show up any time between early spring and the fall.
In the meantime, readers interested in learning about some of the real-world benefits of upcoming Snow Leopard technologies may want to check out AppleInsider's ongoing Road to Snow Leopard series.
Mac OS X 10.6 build 10A261 is believed to be just the third external beta distribution of Snow Leopard since the next-gen operating system was first previewed at last June's Worldwide Developers Conference.
As of press time, however, the software was not available to the Mac maker's general developer community and was instead provided to a subset of testers sometimes privy to pre-release Apple software ahead of the broader developer population.
In addition to asking developers to focus their testing efforts on evaluating the stability of non-Apple software running on the system, the Cupertino-based company is also seeking feedback on a new set of included printer drivers and the latest implementation of Microsoft Exchange support.
Compared to earlier builds 10A190 and 10A222, it's reported that there are few noticeable changes to the software outside of some minor adjustments to the Mac OS X System Preferences pane and bug fixes to the new Cocoa-based Finder.
Apple has said that it plans to release Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard (topic page RSS feed) within a year's time of last year's June developers conference, meaning it could show up any time between early spring and the fall.
In the meantime, readers interested in learning about some of the real-world benefits of upcoming Snow Leopard technologies may want to check out AppleInsider's ongoing Road to Snow Leopard series.
Comments
Apple this week has tapped a handful of choice developers to test third party application support against a new build of Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard in a sign the software is nearing a stage of refinement and optimization.
Mac OS X 10.6 build 10A261 is believed to be just the third external beta distribution of Snow Leopard since the next-gen operating system was first previewed at last June's Worldwide Developers Conference.
As of press time, however, the software was not available to the Mac maker's general developer community and was instead provided to a subset of testers sometimes privy to pre-release Apple software ahead of the broader developer population.
In addition to asking developers to focus their testing efforts on evaluating the stability of non-Apple software running on the system, the Cupertino-based company is also seeking feedback on a new set of included printer drivers and the latest implementation of Microsoft Exchange support.
Compared to earlier builds 10A190 and 10A222, it's reported that there are few noticeable changes to the software outside of some minor adjustments to the Mac OS X System Preferences pane and bug fixes to the new Cocoa-based Finder.
Apple has said that it plans to release Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard (topic page RSS feed) within a year's time of last year's June developers conference, meaning it could show up any time between early spring and the fall.
In the meantime, readers interested in learning about some of the real-world benefits of upcoming Snow Leopard technologies may want to check out AppleInsider's ongoing Road to Snow Leopard series.
[ View this article at AppleInsider.com ]
Apple's pissing a lot of ADC select developers off. I agree with them. What's the point of paying $500 annually for early seeds to get your apps ready when Apple doesn't deliver. I've read at least one prominent developer wonder aloud if he would renew his ADC subscription based on the fact that WWDC attendees were getting seeds that Select members did not and that he shouldn't be punished for not laying out $1500 for WWDC.
Apple could learn a bit of diplomacy in dealing with their developers who have made OS X what it is today by leveraging Apple technology with enthusiasm.
Apple's pissing a lot of ADC select developers off. I agree with them. What's the point of paying $500 annually for early seeds to get your apps ready when Apple doesn't deliver. I've read at least one prominent developer wonder aloud if he would renew his ADC subscription based on the fact that WWDC attendees were getting seeds that Select members did not and that he shouldn't be punished for not laying out $1500 for WWDC.
Apple could learn a bit of diplomacy in dealing with their developers who have made OS X what it is today by leveraging Apple technology with enthusiasm.
Great post. Totally agree.
Apple's pissing a lot of ADC select developers off. I agree with them. What's the point of paying $500 annually for early seeds to get your apps ready when Apple doesn't deliver. I've read at least one prominent developer wonder aloud if he would renew his ADC subscription based on the fact that WWDC attendees were getting seeds that Select members did not and that he shouldn't be punished for not laying out $1500 for WWDC.
Apple could learn a bit of diplomacy in dealing with their developers who have made OS X what it is today by leveraging Apple technology with enthusiasm.
Well, I don't want to go into detail, but the developers who I believe received this build aren't necessarily WWDC attendees but developers of a program similar to ADC for partners and large software developers.
I wouldn't be supprised if it ships later than June and at WWDC the devs just get the latest release candidate.
Apple's pissing a lot of ADC select developers off. I agree with them. What's the point of paying $500 annually for early seeds to get your apps ready when Apple doesn't deliver. I've read at least one prominent developer wonder aloud if he would renew his ADC subscription based on the fact that WWDC attendees were getting seeds that Select members did not and that he shouldn't be punished for not laying out $1500 for WWDC.
I could be wrong, but your post sounds like someone who is bitter they don't have the latest and greatest first. This isn't about WWDC - Apple has always given Microsoft, Adobe, and other bigger players seeds first and this is what they're doing here.
Is there something particular in this build that every ADC member absolutely must have? What is it?
Apple could learn a bit of diplomacy in dealing with their developers who have made OS X what it is today by leveraging Apple technology with enthusiasm.
What are they doing here that is so terrible? It's a good idea to first test with a small group before sending it out to a large one. Otherwise you get back numerous bug reports of everyone finding the same bugs. Why not get rid of those so testers could find the smaller, hard-to-find ones. Wouldn't you, as a developer, do the same thing?
Apple's pissing a lot of ADC select developers off. I agree with them. What's the point of paying $500 annually for early seeds to get your apps ready when Apple doesn't deliver. I've read at least one prominent developer wonder aloud if he would renew his ADC subscription based on the fact that WWDC attendees were getting seeds that Select members did not and that he shouldn't be punished for not laying out $1500 for WWDC.
Apple could learn a bit of diplomacy in dealing with their developers who have made OS X what it is today by leveraging Apple technology with enthusiasm.
I suppose that's true.
But, on the other hand, many developers don't even do much work until the OS is released, so I'm not impressed by that.
We hear this all the time by even the biggest developers, when they say they can't do much work until after the OS is out, because of the small changes often made at the last minute before the Golden Master.
They've certainly seen enough already to know the direction in which Apple is going.
If I were a developer, I would much rather see a new build after most of the major bugs were out. Let those few large developers work that out for me. They have the resources, which is why Apple gives it to them first. When they report back to Apple about major glitches, Apple fixes those, and releases a slightly newer build to a wider group.
I have more than a few friends who are developers, and they tell me that there's nothing worse than geting a new build with bugs, in areas where there weren't any before.
I could be wrong, but your post sounds like someone who is bitter they don't have the latest and greatest first. This isn't about WWDC - Apple has always given Microsoft, Adobe, and other bigger players seeds first and this is what they're doing here.
Is there something particular in this build that every ADC member absolutely must have? What is it?
What are they doing here that is so terrible? It's a good idea to first test with a small group before sending it out to a large one. Otherwise you get back numerous bug reports of everyone finding the same bugs. Why not get rid of those so testers could find the smaller, hard-to-find ones. Wouldn't you, as a developer, do the same thing?
No it's not me. I recently came across the developer's blog where he stated he may not sign up for ADC because it wasn't delivering value that made his company run more efficiently. He felt like he was a 3rd class developer because he didn't attend WWDC (which sold out last year so many developers couldn't get in if they tried) and that seeding was so late that it was throwing his time table off.
I'm assuming that $500 annual fees in conjunction with delayed seeding harm the profits of smaller ISV. They want product out fast as well but if Apple's only catering to large developers (who frankly have little desire to push forward with OS X tech IMO) then I think he has a point.
Apple has always had a spotty relationship with developers. They've improved by eons over the years but you have to hold their feet to the fire sometimes.
My remedy. Give the seeds to the ADC developers in time and do not punish devs for not having the time or money to attend WWDC. It's a tough market for all and ISV don't have billions in the bank to ride out the rough times.
No it's not me. I recently came across the developer's blog where he stated he may not sign up for ADC because it wasn't delivering value that made his company run more efficiently. He felt like he was a 3rd class developer because he didn't attend WWDC (which sold out last year so many developers couldn't get in if they tried) and that seeding was so late that it was throwing his time table off.
I'm assuming that $500 annual fees in conjunction with delayed seeding harm the profits of smaller ISV. They want product out fast as well but if Apple's only catering to large developers (who frankly have little desire to push forward with OS X tech IMO) then I think he has a point.
Apple has always had a spotty relationship with developers. They've improved by eons over the years but you have to hold their feet to the fire sometimes.
My remedy. Give the seeds to the ADC developers in time and do not punish devs for not having the time or money to attend WWDC. It's a tough market for all and ISV don't have billions in the bank to ride out the rough times.
Apple doesn't have infinite resources. In the weeks leading up to WWDC all the developers are scrambling to finish stuff off and put together presentations. So they put together everything for the conference. Then when it's over they post it all on the developer's site albeit with a slight delay. Those that didn't go to the conference still got that build, only a few weeks later, didn't they? Considering that OS isn't even out yet, it's hard to argue that they're being materially hurt by the delay.
And $500 doesn't begin to cover the costs for Apple. If it's really not bringing them value, by all means they shouldn't be signing up for it!
God I hope Adobe is one of them to pre-test their software!
I wouldn't change a damn thing. Subtle "start developing in Cocoa NOW" messages from Apple 10 years ago never actually filtered through Adobe's thick corporate skull.
Apple's pissing a lot of ADC select developers off. I agree with them. What's the point of paying $500 annually for early seeds to get your apps ready when Apple doesn't deliver. I've read at least one prominent developer wonder aloud if he would renew his ADC subscription based on the fact that WWDC attendees were getting seeds that Select members did not and that he shouldn't be punished for not laying out $1500 for WWDC.
Apple could learn a bit of diplomacy in dealing with their developers who have made OS X what it is today by leveraging Apple technology with enthusiasm.
That is quite a severe accusation that you just made. Could you support your statement?
Or are you just screwing the dog as usual?
I wouldn't change a damn thing. Subtle "start developing in Cocoa NOW" messages from Apple 10 years ago never actually filtered through Adobe's thick corporate skull.
Well, to be fair, the following organizations were also slow to move to Cocoa:
1) Microsoft (Office is still Carbon)
2) Mozilla (Firefox is slowly moving to Cocoa)
3) Eclipse foundation (SWT is being ported from Carbon to Cocoa)
4) OpenOffice (the first alpha of the native Mac version was written in Carbon, Apple suggested strongly they move to Cocoa, so the second alpha was Cocoa).
Also, Apple itself has been slow to move some of their own apps to Cocoa:
1) Finder
2) iTunes
3) QuickTime
4) The Dock
5) Other miscellaneous programs
With Snow Leopard, Apple will now be eating its own dog food for all its native apps.
That is quite a severe accusation that you just made. Could you support your statement?
Or are you just screwing the dog as usual?
Abster
dammit I wish I could have saved that post it was just a few days ago and from a developer that every Mac enthusiast knows about. I'll search my history but it may be hard to find. Oh and I don't screw dogs. That's illegal ..and gross.
Abster
dammit I wish I could have saved that post it was just a few days ago and from a developer that every Mac enthusiast knows about. I'll search my history but it may be hard to find. Oh and I don't screw dogs. That's illegal ..and gross.
If you remember who it is, even without finding the post, you could mention it.
If you remember who it is, even without finding the post, you could mention it.
Still can't find it ..just searched my RSS Google Reader feeds. I'll try my NetNewsWire later at home.
Here's one that surprised me.
http://lit-n-lat.blogspot.com/2007/0...ur-friend.html
Well, if you've been reading my previous posts about Apple's tardiness in posting the 9a466 (or whatever it is) Leopard beta to developers who paid for ADC Select or Premiere membership, you'll know I'm not a happy bunny. WWDC attendees received that beta nearly three weeks ago now. And you know what? That beta is now available on torrent sites. Meaning that pirates out there are running a version of Leopard for which they have not paid, whilst legitimate law-abiding ADC Select members such as myself still have no access to that version of Leopard despite having paid Apple for the "latest" Leopard releases - in other words, we have paid for exactly that copy.
...
That stemmed from
http://www.tuaw.com/2007/06/12/devel...xclusive-beta/
You can call it whining or not. You can make excuses for Apple but frankly these guy and gal's livelyhood depends on efficiency and the least Apple could do is deliver seeds on time and make sure that they aren't behind WWDC patrons in access to materials.
You shouldn't see a seed on the torrent sites before you ADC account no?
Still can't find it ..just searched my RSS Google Reader feeds. I'll try my NetNewsWire later at home.
Here's one that surprised me.
http://lit-n-lat.blogspot.com/2007/0...ur-friend.html
That stemmed from
http://www.tuaw.com/2007/06/12/devel...xclusive-beta/
You can call it whining or not. You can make excuses for Apple but frankly these guy and gal's livelyhood depends on efficiency and the least Apple could do is deliver seeds on time and make sure that they aren't behind WWDC patrons in access to materials.
You shouldn't see a seed on the torrent sites before you ADC account no?
So you are referencing something that supposedly occurred a couple of years ago. Perhaps this guy should re-read his membership. http://developer.apple.com/products/membership.html
So you are referencing something that supposedly occurred a couple of years ago. Perhaps this guy should re-read his membership. http://developer.apple.com/products/membership.html
Why the pushback? He develops an outstanding product that is Mac only. While it happened over two years ago it dovetails with what the developer that I just came across mirrored. They're tired of not getting the seeds and hearing about some large developers getting the seeds.
Feel free to grab your Apple pom poms but constructive criticism of Apple's Developer Program beneficial to us all since we Mac users enjoy the fruits of the developer's labor.