I have been reading about the impending 10.8 release of OS X, apparently scheduled for later this year. It's all very grinchy, especially for those of us with IOS devices. Some pundits are saying that the ease of integration combined with the great popularity of IOS will boost Mac sales, strongly assisted, of course, by the good amount of negative reaction to Windows 8.
Okey-dokey. I have an iPad and more integration can only be good for me. I could also see that people I know who have iPads or iPhones might seriously consider Apple for their next computer purchase.
I think quite a few will be looking at iPads or Android tablets instead. They'll definitely be thinking about whether or not they really need a computer any more. In many cases, the answer will be "Nope".
That point was highlighted for me recently when my daughter and her husband visited for a week this past Xmas. My son-in-law usually has brought his laptop on these visits; this time he only brought his iPad.
Oh, I'm sure he still needs a "real" computer when he's back at home. The point is that he didn't need it while on vacation. For many current computer users, their current hardware is becoming just as unnecessary all the time. They can do everything they need to do with the tablet.
So, sure, Apple may sell a few more Macs because of their success selling IOS devices. That success will also cost them sales from users who suddenly realize that they already have all that they need.
It will cost Microsoft more, as the Big M isn't doing so well in tablets or phones. Windows 8 is going to cause a lot of folks to at least investigate alternatives and that can never be good news for Microsoft. In this market, however, Microsoft's loss isn't necessarily Apple's gain. The fleeing Windows rats may pick up an Android tablet instead.
My wife now has a Kindle Fire, received as a gift from the daughter mentioned above. Where is her seamless integration? I don't see a peep at the Apple website. Just because Google made a lousy iPad app for iPad? Be the bigger man, Apple.
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There are those who say that Apple's IOS integration will damage Android because Microsoft sure as heck isn't going to offer anything and Chrome OS is too small to help even if it had integration.
Do people care? If you have an Android and you see your iPhone toting buddy enjoying all that syncronicity, is that really going to make you go by a new Mac AND an iPad? I doubt it. But integrating with the Android software just might, especially if it's done well.
That's the least of my worries though. Will my wife be able to run it at all on her older (but 64 bit) Mac Mini and its paltry 2GB RAM limit? It barely runs Lion, will this newer cat (and when will they stop with the dumb cat names?) kill it?
Brett Legree told me that he tested it on a 2008 MacBook Pro with 6GB of memory. He said "and it actually seems snappier than 10.7". I hope that's good news for my wife's Mini.
As to "snappier than 10.7", my brand new iMac with 12 GB of RAM is NOT what I'd call "snappy". It's acceptable, but not snappy, so if 10.8 is better, that will improve my mood.
We'll see.
More Articles by Anthony Lawrence - Find me on Google+ 2012-02-21
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Tue Feb 21 21:12:46 2012: 10625 BrettLegree
That's exactly right... "assuming there will be a next purchase."
This Android phone (a Galaxy Nexus) can do a lot of things, and I'm looking at purchasing an adapter to use it with an external display.
It works perfectly already with my Apple Bluetooth Keyboard and Magic Trackpad-no drivers required...
Plus, I already use it to access my computers at home remotely.
What more do I need?
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