WWDC ‘06

1. I don’t write much about Apple anymore, but with an event like WWDC and the new toys Apple has released, how could I resist?

2. First up, the Mac Pro. Basic configuration starts at Au$3999, and damn — this thing’s gonna bust a move. I’ve configured mine already: Standard CPUs, 2Gb RAM, Radeon X1900 XT, and wireless options. That comes to $5,195.99, which would be the most expensive computer I’ve ever bought, but also the first time since having a Mac where I can have one machine that’ll take care of everything — including the games. Nice.

3. (Don’t worry mum, I ain’t buying it.)

4. Problem is, I’d want the 23in Cinema Display (or two) to go with it. Ohh, that would be bliss.

5. Next, the Leopard preview. Honestly, it didn’t make me jump up and down. I wasn’t expecting mind-blowing new features, nor did I want it. I wanted to see the progress made to make OS X even more reliable and user-friendly. Instead, we got Mail stationary: something I had been avoiding like the plague ever since some arsehole thought up HTML emails.

6. Seriously, what a fucking waste of time.

7. It’s not all bad though, I like Time Machine (because I’m one of those who are too lazy to backup regularly, except for my photos), I like the Mail Notes and To-Dos (though I have no real use for it anymore, since I don’t work on computers here — it’s paper and pens and photocopiers for us), and I like the Dashboard web widget thing. I dig the new iChat display sharing and virtual theatre, they kick ass — not that I’d use it much since I know of maybe two people who actually use iChat, and that’s out of quite a few Mac users (I, like many others, use AdiumX). The new iCal features look pretty nice as well.

8. All this is great, but where’s the new and improved (and reliable) Finder? Hell, I’ll settle for a Finder that doesn’t crash every couple of days. Not even the speed (or rather, the lack of) bothers me so much as the dreaded Finder crashes, which for me often means a hard reboot because it’s taken the keyboard and mouse with it, even if the rest of the system is humming along just fine. OS X is miles ahead of Windows, and I’d rather use OS X any day of the week, but it isn’t without its fair share of annoyances.

9. And with Windows so far behind, I’m starting to feel that I have less and less choices, and my data and my workflow depends more and more on one company. I’m not talking about the ridiculous crybaby whinging of all those who are switching to Ubuntu (each to their own, but for christ’s sake keep it to yourself), I don’t feel as though my data is under lock and key and Apple holds the only key. It’s just that there’s not really any viable alternative — such is the lead OS X has over Windows. And with almost every interesting feature ripped out of Vista, I’m worried about the inevitable stagnation in OS design. And I’m worried that if Apple does go bad in the future (the lack of quality control on their hardware being the first chink in their armour) I’m gonna be stuck with it ’cause it would be too annoying to work on another platform. So, come on everyone else, I don’t care if you copy or blatantly steal — competition is good, and I want more options.

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