In the true spirit of OS Version releases and upgrades, Apple’s newly released OS X – Leopard has followed in the footsteps of Microsoft when it comes to the number of bugs that have surfaced in more than a month since it was released. A patch for the much hyped Leopard has already been released to resolve more than a dozen issues. With complaints coming into tech forums, about Leopard flattening out their laptop batteries which could give indications of power mismanagement issues.
In another twist, the predecessor of Leopard, Tiger has also encountered a bug when people who wanted to upgrade their old versions into a newly released patched up version suddenly having their hard disks fail. Consultations with tech support results in having to re-format the entire disk along with the subsequent re-install to regain use of the errant computers and laptops. The issue is blamed on a cross-platform program, called “Boot Campâ€, which allows Microsoft’s and Mac’s OS’s to co-exist on the same computer giving the functionality of a multi-boot system. Many other issues are coming out and even if the Apple market represents only a fraction of the reach Microsoft has in the arena of desktop’s, it is still receiving quite a bad rap.
To think that they might have learned a thing or two from Microsoft who has had the same problems with almost all of its OS releases is an understatement. Just as Apple is intensifying efforts to increase its share in the PC market, it looks like the battle has again been lost even before the battle has begun. We’ll have to wait and see how they get out of this mess. But in fairness to all concerned, all software suffer from a bug or two which may not have come up during beta-testing. The best testing comes when it is released into the wild for there is no tougher challenge for a system than to function in a world when people are just being people.