I’m sorry, I didn’t think I was taking your post to an extreme. There is no solid, objective, study that proves Leopard will make people any more productive than Tiger or that Vista makes people any less productive. I think if such a study existed Apple would jump all over it. At it’s truest definition, operating systems are not updated applications such as iChat or Safari. They are much more invisible than that. And that where the problems lie. Today, for the most part, users are buying into updated applications, not operating systems. Innovations in iChat do not make for an innovative OS. Apple, MS and most Linux distros all suffer from the same problem. The underlying core operating systems are either out dated, lacking innovation or poorly implemented.

I do agree that our tools need to be invisible. That’s why the AI5000 in my example is an upgrade from the AI1000.

My favorite tool in the world right now is actually Quicksilver by Blacktree software. It works under this same premise: get the tool out of the way and just think about what you want to do rather than what application you are supposed to do it in.

Interesting.

Of course most functionality comes from applications, but guess what the main thrust of Leopard is? Updated applications. That’s what an Apple OS release mostly IS.

Look, you don’t have to go to the extreme with my post. All I’m saying is that our computers are extensions of our brains. Storing, creating, and experiencing larger amounts of information, that’s what we do with computers. So when you can do those things better, or simpler, or faster — that’s an upgrade to our overall ability to do those same things.

I see OSes as tools boxes and applications as the tools. At the end of the day it’s really about the application, not the OS.

Vista bad. Leopard good.

I’m here all week.

One does not upgrade one’s ability to learn with an OS update. All one does is introduce a new interface in which they have to learn to navigate to get to the information they want to learn. Learning to operate new OSes is a ridiculous waste of human energy because ultimately it does nothing beneficial for the end users. This is why text books and lectures are still the standard teaching tools. The learning curves on the interfaces are practically zero.

People perceive OS upgrades and important because that’s how they are marketed. Rarely does an OS actually improve ones quality of life.

So seeing as (from my point of view) operating Systems aren’t getting any better, since they’re just adding eye candy and (primarily) things which have no value to me, OS upgrades are pretty irrelevant.