Steve Jobs claimed OS X will be conforming to IOS
The new Mac program aims to be user friendly.
Before the famed Steve Jobs died, he held a presentation for his new ideas and products. One of those was that he was going to focus more on Mac. Mac and Apple are the same brand, except Apple focuses on things like iPods, iPads and iPhones, while Mac focuses on computers. Jobs admitted that he had been neglecting his computers in order to make the newest and greatest gadgets such as iPads and iPhones. In his seminar, he spoke about how he was going to begin conforming the operating system Mac OS X, to be more similar to IOS, which is the operating system on which iPads and iPhones run. When I first heard this, I thought that it was an awful idea.
Jobs went on a rant about how PC’s are like trucks and Macs are like cars. He explained that PC’s, like trucks, are for more specific and technical use, whereas Macs, like cars, are better for everyday use. He continued to explain how the new Macs would become more like IOS, which is obviously a much more simplistic and user friendly interface for “everyday use.” However, the people like me, who enjoy accessing the more technical side of computers, would be disappointed. Jobs also talked about how he was going to make Macs more versatile and be able to access both sides of the computer. To me, it was beginning to sound like Jobs was trying to get ahead of his time, as far as hardware goes. To be able to do what he was talking about would almost require two different operating systems, or stick to the foundation of one. The near future of Mac’s hardware probably isn’t anywhere close to being able to do such a thing and still have two well-rounded sides of a computer. It would seem that Macs are going to become much more user-friendly.
It sounds nice, sure, but the simpler one makes a computer, the second one needs to do a complicated task, it becomes impossible, because the computer is just too simple. Troubleshooting is nearly impossible to do by oneself on an iPad or iPhone, and if a computer, a clearly much more vast interface, had a problem, then it would be nearly impossible to troubleshoot oneself. Besides, talking about conforming an operating system that runs a computer into a system that runs a phone is crazy talk in the first place. IOS is simple for a reason: if the operating system were more complex, the hardware would melt in ones hands.
However, so far there haven’t been any drastic changes, and the ones that have come are not bad; a lot of them are actually great and make life a lot easier. For example: the beloved App Store. The App Store originated on phones and took the iPhone users, and promptly after, the Android users, by storm. It’s essentially a super highway for applications. This is great news for developers and users alike. Making applications easy to sell, and easy to get. With just two taps of the finger, one can have an application downloading on ones phone, shortly after one can launch it and use it to ones heart’s content. There are millions of fantastic apps available on the iPhone and iPad, alike. But it gets better; the app store came to Macs. Although there are fewer apps on the Mac OS X App Store considering it’s newer, there is still a staggering choice of apps through which one can browse. What’s even better: there are thousands of free ones. A lot of these apps make life a whole lot easier and more fun for an avid computer user, which, let’s face it, is almost everyone now-a-days. Another great thing about the App Store is that all the applications one downloads come in one little complete package. All the support files and other junk that would be tightly packed into a folder, is now compressed into a neat little icon making installation and un-installation a breeze.
In the newer operating system versions, such as Lion and Mountain Lion, there is quite the amount of noticeable changes. One can see Macs slowly transforming into the ultimate easy to use and user-friendly tool. New apps are coming with the new operating systems. Familiar apps like Sticky Notes, iCloud, and a few social networks are coming as built in applications for the computers. It’s not all bad; however, some things, like the Launchpad, Mission Control, and Notifications, are a waste of space in most peoples’ opinions.
What does this mean for the millions of students who use Macs daily? One of two things: either it will make life simple, or it will make life a lot harder and inaccessible. For the average student, it could work wonders. For the most part, a good majority of people use their computers for browsing the Internet and listening to music, occasionally opening up Word. So if that long range of activities becomes easier, then it should be no problem. However, to the people who do complex technical work, this could be a nightmare.
For now, there haven’t been enough changes to reach a strong verdict, but from the way it’s been unfolding it seems reasonable and not quite as insane as Steve Jobs had made it sound. Some of the new features are actually pretty great and practical. However, I hope that it doesn’t get out of control and computers don’t become a toy as opposed to what they truly should be: the most powerful tools available.
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