COMMENTARY--There are two questions looming over this weekend's release of Mac OS X 10.2 (aka Jaguar): Should Mac users pay $129 for a copy? And will it induce more Windows users to switch to Macintosh?
The first question is the easiest. The simple answer is yes. I know the $129 single-copy price seems high. But most of the people I know who've been testing pre-release versions think the OS's new features (which I'll describe in a moment) are worth it.
NOW THAT I've had a chance to play with the new OS for a week, and as much as I want to penalize Apple for predatory pricing, I tend to agree. While earlier versions of Mac OS X were aimed at the installed base of Mac users, Jaguar will be attractive to Windows users who want to switch as well as Mac users who want to upgrade.
Tops on my "Why buy Jaguar?" list is an improved Apple Mail e-mail client that includes the best spam filtering I've come across so far. This is one of those "If Apple can do this, why can't Microsoft?" features for which Steve Jobs is so well known.
Because I have a number of fairly public e-mail addresses, all of which dump into a single mailbox, I get more spam each day than anyone I know. So far, the Apple Mail spam filter has tagged almost all of that unwanted e-mail correctly.
Apple Mail uses something called "latent semantic analysis"--more popularly known as "magic"--to tag spam before it lands in your mailbox. When you install the OS, spam filtering is in "learning mode" and displays spam--highlighted in an appropriately unappetizing shade of brown--along with the rest of your mail. You then have the option of tagging messages the filter missed as spam or to untag its mistakes.
YES, THE FILTER misses occasionally. But the more it observes me manually tagging spam it missed, the fewer mistakes it makes. Most of those mistakes are messages that look like spam but are actually from e-mail lists I subscribe to. After marking such messages as "not junk," the program has been very good at differentiating between the opt-in mail I want and the spam I want to kill.
Beyond the spam filter, the mail client is very nice. My main complaint: It doesn't, alas, include a calendar. Apple plans to fix this with an online/desktop program called iCal, due next month. Also coming in September: iSync, a program designed to keep all your devices synchronized. I'll review these separately when they ship.
For me, Jaguar's second most important feature is improved support for Windows. In keeping with Apple's ubiquitous "Switch" ads, that support makes it way easier for people to consider a move from a PC to a Mac.
For example, Jaguar makes it easy for Windows machines and Macs to see one another on a network--a feature that once required a $149 third-party program on each Mac. Apple knew that making Macs good citizens on Windows networks (and vice versa) was absolutely necessary if it was going to attract switchers; those customers aren't necessarily tossing out their Windows boxes and need to know those old machines will network with their new Macs.
JAGUAR ALSO includes a VPN client (formerly $99 from a third party), so users can securely connect to the networks at their offices. The VPN makes it easier for those same switchers to work from home using their new Macs.
Third on my personal Jaguar hit parade is a tie between the new address book--which can be shared by many applications--and Sherlock, the front end for a collection of Web information services that include Internet searches, Yellow Pages, stock quotes, a dictionary, airline flight times, movie schedules at your local cineplex, and more.
Another of my favorite new features--Rendezvous--is a bit harder to explain. Essentially, it allows users to connect Rendezvous-enabled devices into ad hoc networks with zero setup. Devices discover each other, and the services they each offer, automatically. Printers and peer-to-peer Mac connections are likely to be the first Rendezvous beneficiaries.
Jaguar also includes a peer-to-peer chat client that works over a local network. (For chatting over the Internet, Jaguar includes iChat, a new instant-messaging client that connects seamlessly with AOL's IM network.)
THE QUESTION surrounding Rendezvous is simple: Will it catch on? I have to say I don't know. This wouldn't be the first time Apple has been first out of the gate with something new and cool, only to look back and discover it was all by itself. So we'll have to see how this one plays out in the market; that's why it isn't nearer the top of my Jaguar favorite-features list.
According to Apple, there are 140-something other new features I haven't mentioned, including faster graphics, better universal access features for the physically challenged user, and a new Finder that allows you to search your system for a file or folder without opening a specific search application. Also, more apps--including MS Office, FileMaker, AOL, and a bunch of Adobe tools--are native to OS X now, so you don't need to fall back into Classic mode as much.
In other words, the new OS offers plenty of new bang for those 129 bucks. And if you're an honest person with several Macs, the $199 five-pack makes the upgrade pain downright bearable.
You'll be able to get a copy of the new OS starting Friday night at 10:20 p.m. local time (10:20... 10.2...get it?). (AnchorDesk Radio will broadcast live from the Apple store in Palo Alto, Calif. at 11 a.m. PT Friday.)
Apple stores across the U.S. are staying open late tonight to cater to the most fanatical Apple users, who, despite some grumbling about the price, will still no doubt line up for the new OS.
They'll be doing the right thing.
VIDEO
Apple's Ken Bereskin walks David through the new features in Mac OS X 10.2, such as e-mail filtering and instant messaging...WATCH NOW
What do you think? Is $129 too much for an OS upgrade? Or are you tempted?
