Mac Update OS X 10.5.5 list of big fixes growing, includes MobileMe
The Mac OS X 10.5.5 update out to developers right now is on build 9F13, and the list of fixes for issues just keeps growing. Currently, the list of bug fixes has entered the triple digits, an unusually high number of fixes not seen since, well, the last big update to Leopard.
Why so many bug fixes? Many blame a recent issue of Mac rolling out products before they are ready. Take as an example MobileMe, an application that has been rife with issues since its release, even prompting Steve Jobs himself to issue a statement that he thought it was released before it was ready.
MobileMe is simply the latest in a long line of Apple software titles that feels more like a beta (and in some cases an alpha). Even Leopard itself spent months being panned by critics because of the bugs and glitches users faced from its release in October to the release of the oft-delayed update for the original Leopard in February.
Why so much faltering? I’m going to go out a limb and speculate that Jobs’ recent health scares and a potential change of leadership may be to blame. Before you can realistically change from one highly visible leader to another you have to train and vet the replacement. That means letting them have more say in how things are created and delivered.
If someone behind the scenes (or perhaps several someones, depending on how accurate my wild guess really is) isn’t taking the same care Jobs always has with Apple, and Jobs has been battling health issues, I can see all of these months of issues slipping under the radar and becoming problems.
If my guess is right, it’s too bad, really. Apple has spent years building a huge lifestyle following around its products. They can’t afford continued slips of this magnitude, with or without Jobs. Whoever they bring in or promote to wait in the wings to take his place needs to be in synch with the Apple fanboys and fangirls needs and wants – that’s the genius of Apple – their engagement level. Lose that and they risk losing everything they’ve gained over the last decades. Meanwhile, the update is slated to be released this year, but no official date has been given.
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