Column: iPhone or Bust

John Hodgman and Justin Long better get cozy, because Apple is going to have to keep telling consumers Vista sucks for another five months until the now-delayed Mac OS X Leopard makes its debut. Yes, Vista itself was delayed for years, not months, but the Mac faithful (and Wall Street) expect faster execution out of Cupertino. And when you add this slip-up to the Apple TV's delayed launch, one could argue that Steve Jobs and company could be heading for trouble.

I'm sure Apple's brilliant "cancel or allow" ad, which ridicules Vista's beefed-up security as being too instrusive, has caused many a potential Windows upgrader to think twice. But will Mac OS X continue to be seen as the better, hipper alternative now that the latest version has been delayed past the critical back-to-school season? Probably, but with sleeker, faster, and less power-hungry Santa Rosa Windows notebooks right around the corner, the competition will be fierce, even without a sorely needed Vista Service Pack upgrade.

Dubbed by Apple as the world's most advanced operating system, Leopard is supposed to build upon Mac's trademark ease of use with features like Time Machine (for finding lost files or restoring your system) and Spaces (for a bird's-eye view of open applications). But now Apple is going to have rely on continuing to point out what's wrong with Windows as reason to join the cult of Mac, instead of being able to trumpet new features that quantum-leapfrog Microsoft's sleek but resource-hungry OS.

The stated reason for the delay is to get the iPhone out the door by "late June," and I can see why Apple dropped everything to make it happen. This ambitious device runs a scaled-down version of OS X and uses Apple's own Safari browser. If the iPhone flies off the shelves as anticipated, it could be the first time many consumers experience OS X. If it's a good experience, Apple could enjoy a halo effect for its MacBook and MacBook Pro notebooks. If it doesn't live up to the hype, some may sour to Macs altogether. The stakes couldn't be higher, as this more compact OS X variant could find its way into Ultra-Mobile, flash-based notebooks.

Yet as important as the iPhone is to Apple's fortunes, I also think the company needs the Vista "Wow" to start sooner than later. In fact, some industry insiders have said Steve Jobs delayed the release of OS X Leopard in order to ensure that Vista runs on it smoothly with Boot Camp. This program, which will be bundled with Leopard, already runs Vista using the current OS X Tiger. But that doesn't necessarily mean that Vista is running as smoothly on the beta version that Apple intends to hand out at the upcoming WWDC event in June. Apparently, switchers aren't quite ready to let go of their Windows security blanket, and the more that consumers hesitate on Vista, the more it could hurt both Microsoft and Apple.

Do I expect Apple to soften its attack ads? Not one bit. But I do expect the evolution of Vista and how it plays with the next OS X to play a crucial role in determining Leopard's own wow factor. By October I'm predicting that John Hodgman and Justin Long will find a way to hug it out.

Suggested Stories:
iPhone: Doomed to Fail or Destined for Greatness?
The iPhone looks like the best iPod ever, but Apple's unwillingness to open its new platform to third-party developers could kill its potential.

Apple TV Review
Let your iTunes content out of the box with the best digital media adapter yet.

Apple AirPort Extreme Review
Superb 802.11n throughput and easy setup make for an amazing dual-band Apple router.

Topics

Resource Centers

Apple made the right call by delaying Mac OS X Leopard in order to get its superphone completed, but in the meantime MacBooks could very well get the cold shoulder.

Featured Site Sponsors