I’ve just bought a new (used) Macbook Pro so I can run Mountain Lion, which my 2007 Macbook can’t manage. This prompted me to rewatch the Mountain Lion keynote from WWDC yesterday, and realize that Apple has pretty much started down the road of no return. Lion actually marked the start of it: the importation of features from iOS. Microsoft has already shown that it’s a disaster to combine a mobile OS with a desktop one, with Windows 8 getting some of the worst criticism I’ve ever seen for an OS.
My one worry is that we’re getting to the end of OS X. There are not many big cats left, and we’re already at .8, so Apple isn’t going to continue forever. This could then lead to iOS simply being ported to the Mac, which would be the end. If that happens, I’m putting it on record, I will never buy another Mac ever again.
Mobile OSes and desktop OSes really don’t match and Apple should know that. Who wants reverse scrolling on a computer? I don’t know how Apple can say it feels natural. It’s the opposite of that. Game Center? For the very limited selection on the Mac App Store? I don’t think so. As of 2012, you would be a fool to buy your games off the Mac App Store when Steam has a much better selection.
And there’s another one: the Mac App Store. It fundamentally can’t work on the Mac. The Mac has been an open platform for its entire life, and I have yet to purchase an app off the Mac App Store (excluding Lion and free downloads).
I accept that some features from iOS have been quite good: gestures, for example. But the vast majority just don’t work (at least for me) in OS X. Full screen apps, another example: it feels natural on iOS due to the screen size, but on the Mac, when you really need several windows displayed at once, it doesn’t work.
For me, Snow Leopard is perfect. However, due to Apple’s infernal cycle, you have to upgrade for the latest OS for all apps to work. That’s fine, I don’t mind that, as long as it doesn’t do anything like what Microsoft has done.
When I upgrade to Mountain Lion, I’ll do my utmost to de-iOS-ify it, even though I know there is a limit to how much you can do. But as I said, if Apple’s next step after Mountain Lion/OS X is to simply port iOS to the Mac, then it’s the end of the road for me and the Mac.
Update: I’ve decided I won’t upgrade to Mountain Lion for now, only when I have to. My new Macbook Pro comes with Snow Leopard (which is actually still supported for security updates), and that will do perfectly.
Editor’s note: It’s worth noting that articles written each member of the MacTrast team reflect their own views. For instance, this piece is in stark contrast to a related article written by managing editor J. Glenn Kunzler.
