When Will Apple End OS X and Develope OS 11 ?

If it jumped from 10.5 to 11, I think there would be a worldwide riot if it weren't somehow PowerPC compatible. Apple could lose its Mac consumer base if it tried something like that. On the other hand, I could see Apple trying something like continuing OSX specifically to support the PowerPC while introducing another Intel based operating system which would abandon the numbered OS system. Call it Vasta. The last G5's were made in 2005, so typically (for legal reasons?) the last year of support for PowerPC should be around 2010. Apple usually gives up support after five years. This may be a special case, though, which would require a longer support in order to keep the Mac community faithful. But who knows what could happen in the next years. Bill and Steve could marry and start a whole new world.

They've committed to support PPC through 10.5, but there's no word on 10.6 and I doubt it'll be supported. 10.4 was released in April of '05, or 2.5 years ago. OS X tends to upgrade at a rate of once every two years. If I were to guess, I'd say we'll see 10.6 on sale by MacWorld 2010 (January), or just over two and a quarter years from the OS 10.5 release. The delay in producing Leopard has likely pushed back the schedule for 10.6 as well, otherwise I would have expected it sometime during the spring or summer of '09.

If those predictions hold, and to be honest those numbers are complete guesses, then the last PPC Mac will have had just under 5 years of support by the current OS. I very much doubt 10.6 will be PPC compatible.

As for how long OS X will be around, I doubt they'll skip to 'OS XI' anytime soon. OS X is not just a brand but a naming scheme. The iPhone, for example, runs "OS X v.1", while Macs currently run "Mac OS X 10.4".

My thoughts are like this: Apple seems to be supporting machines as old as 6 years. The oldest Mac Panther ran on when it came out in 2003 was the 5 year old original iMac. The oldest Mac Tiger supported when it came out was the 6 year old (at the time) B&W G3.

so, following that logic, and that apple is on track with Leopard, there must be some form of G3 support for the 6 year old Dual USB iBooks and higher. But there is a fault in that the Cube, and 1999 and 2000 Power Mac G4s are cut off, even though they are far more capable machines. Maybe they will stick in G3 support for the 02 or 03 iBooks.

But then I can see them also shifting to dropping a architecture a release. For Example, say Leopard has no G3 support. Then, when 10.6 comes out, they drop G4 support. 10.7, G5 support is dropped, and by 10.8, they drop support for the original Core Duos. By then, and following the 2-2.5 year release schedule, this should be 2013 or so, and we will have much much faster machines, which is also following Moore's law.

Buy by that time, OS XI should be out, so I don't really know. They may go back to rewriting the OS every 10-20 years, and sticking a different core in it, which would be nice, unlike windows, which is using a bloated NT kernel that has not been good since Win 2k.

just my 2 cents.

-digital

They went from OS 9 pretty fast to OS X. What was it, three versions? 9.0, 9.1, 9.2? with a few small updates in between? OS 8 only went to 8.6, OS 7 to 7.6(?unsure of that)?

System 1 went up to 1.1
System 2 went to 2.1
System 3 went to 3.4
System 4 went to 4.1
System 5 went to 5.1
System 6 went to 6.0.8
System 7 went to 7.1
System 7.5 (a paid upgrade) went up to 7.6.1 (became Mac OS from 7.5.1 onward)
Mac OS 8 went to 8.1
Mac OS 8.5 (a paid upgrade) went up to 8.6
Mac OS 9 went to 9.2.2 (with stops at 9.0, 9.0.2, 9.0.3, 9.0.4, 9.1, 9.2, 9.2.1, 9.2.2)

Mac OS X 10.0 (Cheetah) went to 10.0.4
Mac OS X 10.1 (Puma) went to 10.1.5
Mac OS X 10.2 (Jaguar) went to 10.2.8
Mac OS X 10.3 (Panther) went to 10.3.9
Mac OS X 10.4 (Tiger) is currently a t 10.4.10 (although there are reports of a seed for 10.4.11)

That's Why I'm thinking Mac OS X 10.5 could be the last OS X but it probably won't but the way OS 9 Came and Went Apple Could do that again but it would some what of a problem for the user base...
Well Only time will tell.

On the other hand, System 7 and its iterations were around a long, LONG time. 7.0 was released on May 13, 1991, and went through 17 updates before Mac OS 8 was released on July 26, 1997. That's over 6 years for System 7.

For the record, the System 7 updates were 7.0, 7.0.1, System 7 Tuner, 7.1, 7.1.2 (looks like I stand corrected from my earlier post), 7.5, 7.5.1, 7.5.2, 7.5.3, 7.5.3L (for the clones only), 7.5.3 rev 2, 7.5.3 rev 2.1, 7.5.4 (never publicly released), 7.5.5, 7.6, and 7.6.1.

Also, I'd like to point out that Apple is treating their Mac OS X updates as major releases, meaning that the step from 10.0 to 10.1 is more like the jump from System 6 to System 7. I don't see Apple dropping Mac OS X for some time yet, and agree that Mac OS 11 (or XI) will probably be a complete rewrite.

OS XI will be written for holographic displays with touch sensitivity...

I don't know, in my mind I can see there never being an OS XI. I'll probably eat those words, but it's interesting to hypothesize. A never-ending train of Roman numerals starts to look like the Superbowl. Geeks and Mac aficionados like this 10.4, 10.5, 10.6 thing because they see and understand every new detail. The general public, on the other hand, sees a familiar big name--XP--Vista--and feels secure that they know what they're looking at year after year and don't have to think about the mind-boggling details. I can see Apple start modeling their marketing scheme more like Windows as they try harder and harder to become the bigger and bigger other kid on the block. You start with Intel processors, then slowly give up the only-on-Mac-hardware licensing, and begin to give Windows an actual run for the money. Meanwhile, technology is revolutionizing the whole concept of a personal computer and the rules of today are not the rules tomorrow.

But that day when Apple finally does abandon the PowerPC is, in my mind, a pretty sad, although inevitable day. It's not like they'll just be cutting the tow lines to a few more stragglers in the rear. It'll be more like they're abandoning the whole big ship of the past 20 years, and the whole population of Mac users still not using an IntelMac will be left stranded on board the big old cut-adrift ship, staring out dumbfounded as they go nowhere, and thinking this thought about the once-friendly crew at Apple, "Who were those people?" Was it the same when Apple switched to the PowerPC? Somehow it seems different--much more like the biggest breakaway of the Mac's history. To a certain extent, like Apple has finally, officially, gone over to the dark side, Luke.

Everyone seems to be confusing the "Mac OS X" name as meaning "Mac OS 10" but every official source it is written as "Mac OS X 10.x.x". Thus, Mac OS X is a marketing name and the 10.x.x is the version. There might never be a Mac OS XI, as I'd venture that the X in the name is a hold over from the NeXT and UNIX heritage of the system. Also, Mac OS X Server 1.0 came out BEFORE OS 9, and its Blue Box ran Mac OS 8.5.1. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mac_OS#Graphical_timeline for an easy to view timeline.

EDIT: So Apple contradicts me, but I still stand by my branding idea. I don't see Apple dropping the OS X moniker anytime soon. It would be a very revolutionary OS change to remove it, as was the change from Classic to OS X.

(and I think, but I don't really know) that the last version of Mac OS X will be version 10.6.1 to end in two to three years from now. At which by that time, Microsoft may have integrated Novell proprietary Unix in the Windows kernel. A somewhat limited and truly 3D video OS may arrive with all of the intensive hardware requirements to upgrade.

Mac OS X 11.1.5 could appear in about four to five years to once again leapfrog the predictable "innovative" copying of features that might appear in Microsoft's OS, if they are still releasing OS's. I don't think Mac OS X 11 will run on PowerPC. It probably will be able to emulate PowerPC apps. The hardware will be more like the iPhone with solid state hard drives, a more interesting screen, and fewer ports. The many processors (plural!) might not be Intel, they could be ARM, or both, or many GPUs or something else.

The 3D video OS will be cool.

\my prediction is that 10.6 will support the g5, and they will dump ppc support my 10.7 if they follow their current trend

I don't think Apple is afraid to go past OS X 10.10-- they aren't afraid of big numbers (Mac OS 8 was going to be 7.7, but making it OS 8 allowed them to screw over the clone manufacturers) and XI is neither pretty nor pronounceable like X is. And for the sake of historical accuracy, xpseth, OS X Public Beta and 10.0 were pretty much a trainwreck.

I thought there was a conference at one point were they stated that PPC support would be completely dropped in 10.7?