With everything I’ve written on the subject lately, but the overall lack of other such commentary, it’s great to read MacUser’s Kenny Hemphill write on the importance of Leopard being released on time and truly ready:

Leopard will also represent the biggest time gap between versions of Mac OS X, and has already been delayed twice so far this year. To justify that gap, and the delays, Leopard will have to be ready for primetime use from the day it ships. That’s more than can be said for many of Apple’s recent software releases, which seem to have been updated on an almost daily basis. That won’t do for Leopard. It’s Apple’s flagship Mac software for the next two years and needs to be free from serious bugs from the very first time that it’s started up.

Well, if my last post didn’t cause a flurry of activity. Seems it got picked up on Reddit and a few other places. Over the last few days I’ve seen the comments and trackbacks roll in, read a variety of similarly-timed posts griping about Apple, all a variety on a theme, and I should think everyone is getting sick of it by now, but maybe that’s just me.

It seems most people read my last post as:

I’m mad at Apple because [YOUR GRIPE HERE]

So let’s be clear! I wrote my post as a Mac developer who, for months now, has been concerned that Apple isn’t putting 100% into Leopard, which represents the future of the Mac. I obviously have a stake there because that’s what I do and I don’t want to change jobs anytime soon. My second concern was that, having found continued success with a profitable business model that offered a good deal to its customers, recent events show that attitudes may be changing at Apple.

And why? Because Apple currently has no equal, whether it’s the Mac, the iPod or the iPhone. Unchecked, this can only lead to trouble.

Everyone has their viewpoint and this is mine: as a Mac developer, what’s good for Apple is good for me, except when it’s only good for Apple, then it becomes good for nobody.

As I said, there’s plenty being written about Apple right now, but I haven’t seen much on the state of the Mac. However, I know a number of other developers feel just as strongly about the situation. Our advance exposure to and reliance on future versions of Mac OS X probably places us ahead of the curve.

I’m not saying Leopard sucks, there is plenty of good stuff in there, but there are many concerns about the design decisions made. We also know its development was delayed by the iPhone. We will not know of any further impact until Leopard is released. No Mac user will appreciate a substandard update to Mac OS X and to delay it again for the same reason wouldn’t go down well (although better that than release something that is not ready).

Did the best talent go to the iPhone? We all know the answer to that one.

These next few months should be interesting. Debates around the iPhone will probably burn out soon and if Apple releases Leopard as planned, and it’s sound, it will avoid another, perhaps more damaging backlash. Next month the iPhone will make its European debut and things should stabilise a bit. By the time we get to Macworld in January – the first anniversary of the iPhone’s announcement – the whole landscape will have changed thanks to what must have been the biggest PR whirlwind in Apple’s history. Let’s hope the balance is restored.

There seem to be problems with Feeder and QuickTime 7.2 on Panther (Mac OS X 10.3) systems. I’ve reported the problem to Apple and will hopefully find out more soon. Feeder will fail to launch and the following messages will be shown in the console log:

dyld: /Applications/Feeder.app/Contents/MacOS/Feeder Undefined symbols:
QTKit undefined reference to _OSAtomicCompareAndSwap32 expected to be defined in /usr/lib/libSystem.B.dylib
QTKit undefined reference to .objc_class_name_NSAffineTransform expected to be defined in Foundation
QTKit undefined reference to .objc_class_name_NSCIImageRep expected to be defined in AppKit
QTKit undefined reference to _OSSpinLockLock expected to be defined in /usr/lib/libSystem.B.dylib
QTKit undefined reference to _OSSpinLockUnlock expected to be defined in /usr/lib/libSystem.B.dylib
QTKit undefined reference to _OSAtomicAdd32 expected to be defined in /usr/lib/libSystem.B.dylib
QTKit undefined reference to _ApplicationTypeGet expected to be defined in Carbon
QTKit undefined reference to _OSAtomicCompareAndSwap32Barrier expected to be defined in /usr/lib/libSystem.B.dylib
CoreMediaPrivate undefined reference to _OSAtomicAdd32 expected to be defined in /usr/lib/libSystem.B.dylib
CoreMediaPrivate undefined/usr/lib/libSystem.B.dylib
CoreMediaPrivate undefined reference to _OSAtomicCompareAndSwap32 expected to be defined in /usr/lib/libSystem.B.dylib
CoreMediaPrivate undefined reference to _OSAtomicOr32 expected to be defined in /usr/lib/libSystem.B.dylib
CoreMediaPrivate undefined reference to _OSAtomicXor32 expected to be defined in /usr/lib/libSystem.B.dylib
CoreMediaPrivate undefined reference to _OSMemoryBarrier expected to be defined in /usr/lib/libSystem.B.dylib
CoreMediaPrivate undefined reference to _vm_purgable_control expected to be defined in /usr/lib/libSystem.B.dylib

For now, reverting to QuickTime 7.1.6 would presumably fix the problem but would be quite a pain. So, I would advise any Feeder on Panther users (yes, all three four of you) who read this to not install QuickTime 7.2 if you want to use Feeder anytime soon.

Update, July 18: Apple has acknowledged that this is a known issue under investigation.

I’m flying out to San Francisco for WWDC 2007 (and some extra travelling) in a few hours. This will mean that I’ll be slower to answer emails over the next couple of weeks, but hopefully not that anyone will notice. Like the world would end, anyway! 😉

This is the first WWDC I’ve attended since 2003, when Apple showed us Panther, launched the original iSights (we all got a free one) and the PowerMac G5s, which would get faster and faster and, er, yes. So, this time it will be Leopard and who knows what else. Probably lots of talk about some phone, too.

Since about half the cost of the trip is actually getting to the US, I’ll be spending another week or so there travelling around, visiting friends and generally making a nuisance of myself. I’m really looking forward to it.

So, if you’re going, see you there and if not, I’m sure there’ll be plenty WWDC stuff on the internets to keep you occupied.

KIT is available as today’s MacUpdate Promo for $14.95 – that’s 40% off the usual $24.95 price.

Also, there is a chance to win one of two free copies for people who post comments on the MacUpdate Promo site.

The offer only runs for 24 hours, so if you’re interested go to the MacUpdate Promo site to buy.

Update: The offer is now closed.