Flash Coder

No, that’s not a typo in the title. This level of unreliable install, broken functionality and application incompatibility…actually, strike that, application sabotage, is utterly Microsoftesque. I left the Microsoft world behind me, for the most part, because I wanted to concentrate on using my software and hardware to develop on WITHOUT having to be an engineer in order to do so. I don’t want to be able to guarantee that I will have to check through and upgrade all my software and drivers just because I update to the latest version of the OS. I don’t want to be greeted with a huge list of software than is no longer compatible, or worse, discover it for myself. Yes, I know that some of this is unavoidable, but at least with Apple the OS is usually written with the idea that ‘people’ have to use it and so it should just work. It’s one of the things I love about Apple. As a software developer myself, I know this is not an unreasonable request. It’s how all software should work and on the whole, how Apple software and hardware works.
However, this release, Snow Leopard, is as close to Microsoft OS upgrade stress as you can get. Actually I would argue that at least Windows doesn’t cause MS’s own applications to die. Take for example the very commonly complained about “application exception has occurred” error than many, many people are getting. The most annoying example of which, is when Mail (Apple’s own Mail client) crashes when I attach any file to an email. Dear God!! Surely, given the number of people out there complaining about just this (never mind all the 3rd party applications that crash), surely Apple must have tested their own applications????

There is speculation that with the imminent release of Windows 7, Apple wanted to be first to launch their new OS. Well, I just want to say to whom ever made that decision at Apple: You sir, are an idiot of the highest calibre. Go back to Microsoft, where that kind of approach is lauded as promotion worthy, or at least is an excuse to wheel out the Ballmer Chimpanzee show.