It wasn't the first time I watched a keynote via QuickTime. I
doubt it will be the last.
When it works, it works well. When it works poorly, it's
aggravating. And when it stops working, as it did about 90 minutes
into the keynote, it's very, very frustrating.
Keep in mind that the Macworld keynotes are probably the biggest
thing handled by QuickTime - Apple certainly knows how to put their
product to the test. Problems with dropped audio, dropped video,
serious artifacting, and eventually losing the ability to connect to
Apple's stream at all made watching the Expo challenging.
Jaguar
We'll get to see Jaguar, Apple's code name for OS X v10.2, on
August 24. I think everyone who uses OS X is looking forward to
it, and I believe that a lot of people who stuck with classic "for
now" are planning on trying 10.2.
Based on features alone, the upgrade looks like a winner,
especially with the threaded Finder improving responsiveness. But is
it worth $129?
Sherlock 3
The latest incarnation of Sherlock goes so far beyond the first
two versions it should almost have another name. A lot of things you
do today with a Web browser will be done with Sherlock under
Jaguar.
Inkwell
Not demonstrated, so we have no idea how in the world OS X
will use it. Value cannot be determined.
Rendezvous
Rendezvous, which lets Macs automatically discover devices on any
IP-based network with no configuration, looks wonderful. This is the
kind of networking we were used to with AppleTalk, where devices
announced their presence on the network - but it works over IP,
including cabled and wireless protocols.
Mail
With improved support for multiple email accounts, Mail will merit
a second look. The spam handling looks spectacular. If you can't
avoid receiving spam, at least Mail will make dealing with it
easier.
Address Book
The Address Book looks wonderful. I use two email clients, each
with its own address list. I use a shareware program called Address
Book that handles mailing addresses and phone numbers. MYOB Account
Edge keeps its own cards for contacts. It sure would be nice to have
them all linked together. That's the promise of Apple's new Address
Book.
After seeing Jobs demo Address Book, Bluetooth, and a cell phone,
I'll want to add Bluetooth and a new cell phone that works with it. I
can't afford it, so that's actually a reason to consider postponing
the update to 10.2.
iChat
I've been using AIM since the OS 8 era, so iChat is a real yawner.
So what if I can use my mac.com email address - that's going to cost
money now. It's nice to have a standard chat client integrated into
the OS, but unless is includes spell checking, I'll stick with AIM or
look at Fire.
iCal
My wife fell in love with iCal, Apple's calendaring program. We
should all be able to download this in September - or will it
require Jaguar?
My wife's business has several employees, most of whom use iBooks
with at least 192 MB RAM. They work in various areas, and not all are
based locally, so being able to share calendars online could really
help with scheduling. Between that and the Address Book, she may be
able to justify OS X on all of these computers.
Quart Extreme
My 400 MHz TiBook and my wife's 14" 600 MHz iBook won't be able to
take full advantage of Quartz Extreme, although we may see some
improvements. This doesn't seem to be a compelling argument to
upgrade.
iSync
Although none of us use Palms (yet), being able to sync the
Address Book and the numbers in a cell phone could be a real plus.
One more reason to look at a new cell phone. (The third reason -
neither mine nor my wife's work with USB. A cell phone with Bluetooth
and/or USB and iSync would be a real winner.)
Jaguar Value
In the final analysis, is Jaguar worth $129?
For those who haven't yet adopted OS X, the improvements probably
make this the version you've been waiting for. If you have the
hardware (a moderately fast hard drive with 2-3 GB free, 192 MB or
more RAM, and a 300 MHz or faster G3 or G4), plan on giving this one
a try. With all the current benefits of OS X and the new ones
added in 10.2, it's a lot of OS for the money.
For those who have already invested $129 in OS X, it's harder to
say. The Address Book has some real value to almost anyone, a mail
client that intelligently finds spam could save you a lot of time,
and Sherlock 3 may help you streamline the way you work.
Still, I'm not convinced that it's worth $129 for an upgrade. I'd
definitely pay $20 to cover shipping and handling, as Apple offered
with 10.1. I'd have no trouble justifying $50 shipped for as
significant an OS upgrade as this is. I'd probably set $75 as the
most Jaguar would be worth as an upgrade. And I can't see justifying
Apple's $129 price.
The value is there, but for those of us already using X, it's an
incremental value. I wish Apple had announced an upgrade path, such
as Microsoft offers with new versions of Windows, instead of simply
announcing Jaguar as a new OS with a $129 price.
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