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10.5.4: Why Bother?

He's not gone. His spirit lives on.


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OS X 10.5.4 is here. The fifth release of Leopard. Nothing has changed.

It's 59 MB to download. That's relatively painless. What's not painless is removing all the unwanted localisations the update puts back on the hard drive yet again.

And for what? Are we really waiting for even more unused Automator actions?

No. We're waiting for bug fixes. We're waiting for Apple to correct bad code that used to work well, that Apple somehow screwed up for the first release of this wretched system.

That $129 seems like a waste of money at this point. Nobody got what they paid for back in October. So OK - forget and forgive. Maybe next release will be better. Everyone be patient.

But the next release was not better. The one after that wasn't any better either. And so on.

It gets to the point where you just don't care anymore. Where you ask yourself: 'why bother?'

Same Old Same Old

The same inexcusable bugs found in the first release are still here in 10.5.4. Table view selections still don't work, making Apple rather unique as simple things like this simply work on any platform but theirs today; file I/O is still fucked up, making Apple enviable in yet another way; handling of services is still totally borked - the Apple developers still don't understand how this core Cocoa technology works; Safari still lets you alter read-only pages - more of the same.

You have to ask yourself: have any other company ever announced a new version of their operating system and then screwed up this bad? The answer has to be 'no'.

Those who said Apple would never be able to handle the NeXTSTEP legacy are getting their day in the sun. But it's doubtful anyone ever thought things were this bad. Apple are simply not a professional software company.

A long time ago a German journalist interviewed Bill Gates and suggested Windows users went for the new releases simply because they wanted bug fixes. Bill became enraged. That was the most outrageous thing he'd ever heard. It simply couldn't be true.

And yet anyone working professionally with both Windows and Apple's OS X knows two things to be very true: there were indeed egregious bugs people wanted fixed in Windows, bugs so annoying users would upgrade just in the hope the bugs would be gone; and despite all Microsoft have never screwed up as bad as Apple. Not even close.

Put quite simply: Apple are an outrage.

designable.nib

There's been quite a buzz of late about designable.nib - when someone finally realised this site really found something. Today designable.nib is all over the web - but what happens with the 10.5.4 release? Now the slobs are shipping them in /System/Library too!

Some things follow a distinct trend; so do Apple.

83 items, 8204799 bytes, 16376 blocks, 0 bytes in extended attributes.

/System/Library/Automator/New Mail Message.action/Contents/Resources/English.lproj/main.nib/designable.nib
/System/Library/CoreServices/File Sync.app/Contents/Resources/English.lproj/NewResolveConflict.nib/designable.nib
/System/Library/Frameworks/AddressBook.framework/Versions/A/Resources/da.lproj/ABDirectoriesPane.nib/designable.nib
/System/Library/Frameworks/AddressBook.framework/Versions/A/Resources/da.lproj/ABDirectoryResultsPane.nib/designable.nib
/System/Library/Frameworks/AddressBook.framework/Versions/A/Resources/da.lproj/ABGroupsPane.nib/designable.nib
/System/Library/Frameworks/AddressBook.framework/Versions/A/Resources/da.lproj/ABMembersPane.nib/designable.nib
/System/Library/Frameworks/AddressBook.framework/Versions/A/Resources/Dutch.lproj/ABDirectoriesPane.nib/designable.nib
/System/Library/Frameworks/AddressBook.framework/Versions/A/Resources/Dutch.lproj/ABDirectoryResultsPane.nib/designable.nib
/System/Library/Frameworks/AddressBook.framework/Versions/A/Resources/Dutch.lproj/ABGroupsPane.nib/designable.nib
/System/Library/Frameworks/AddressBook.framework/Versions/A/Resources/Dutch.lproj/ABMembersPane.nib/designable.nib
/System/Library/Frameworks/AddressBook.framework/Versions/A/Resources/fi.lproj/ABDirectoriesPane.nib/designable.nib
/System/Library/Frameworks/AddressBook.framework/Versions/A/Resources/fi.lproj/ABDirectoryResultsPane.nib/designable.nib
/System/Library/Frameworks/AddressBook.framework/Versions/A/Resources/fi.lproj/ABGroupsPane.nib/designable.nib
/System/Library/Frameworks/AddressBook.framework/Versions/A/Resources/fi.lproj/ABMembersPane.nib/designable.nib
/System/Library/Frameworks/AddressBook.framework/Versions/A/Resources/French.lproj/ABDirectoriesPane.nib/designable.nib
/System/Library/Frameworks/AddressBook.framework/Versions/A/Resources/French.lproj/ABDirectoryResultsPane.nib/designable.nib
/System/Library/Frameworks/AddressBook.framework/Versions/A/Resources/French.lproj/ABGroupsPane.nib/designable.nib
/System/Library/Frameworks/AddressBook.framework/Versions/A/Resources/French.lproj/ABMembersPane.nib/designable.nib
/System/Library/Frameworks/AddressBook.framework/Versions/A/Resources/German.lproj/ABDirectoriesPane.nib/designable.nib
/System/Library/Frameworks/AddressBook.framework/Versions/A/Resources/German.lproj/ABDirectoryResultsPane.nib/designable.nib
/System/Library/Frameworks/AddressBook.framework/Versions/A/Resources/German.lproj/ABGroupsPane.nib/designable.nib
/System/Library/Frameworks/AddressBook.framework/Versions/A/Resources/German.lproj/ABMembersPane.nib/designable.nib
/System/Library/Frameworks/AddressBook.framework/Versions/A/Resources/Italian.lproj/ABDirectoriesPane.nib/designable.nib
/System/Library/Frameworks/AddressBook.framework/Versions/A/Resources/Italian.lproj/ABDirectoryResultsPane.nib/designable.nib
/System/Library/Frameworks/AddressBook.framework/Versions/A/Resources/Italian.lproj/ABGroupsPane.nib/designable.nib
/System/Library/Frameworks/AddressBook.framework/Versions/A/Resources/Italian.lproj/ABMembersPane.nib/designable.nib
/System/Library/Frameworks/AddressBook.framework/Versions/A/Resources/Japanese.lproj/ABDirectoriesPane.nib/designable.nib
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/System/Library/Frameworks/AddressBook.framework/Versions/A/Resources/ko.lproj/ABDirectoriesPane.nib/designable.nib
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/System/Library/Frameworks/AddressBook.framework/Versions/A/Resources/pt.lproj/ABDirectoryResultsPane.nib/designable.nib
/System/Library/Frameworks/AddressBook.framework/Versions/A/Resources/pt.lproj/ABGroupsPane.nib/designable.nib
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/System/Library/Frameworks/AddressBook.framework/Versions/A/Resources/pt_PT.lproj/ABDirectoriesPane.nib/designable.nib
/System/Library/Frameworks/AddressBook.framework/Versions/A/Resources/pt_PT.lproj/ABDirectoryResultsPane.nib/designable.nib
/System/Library/Frameworks/AddressBook.framework/Versions/A/Resources/pt_PT.lproj/ABGroupsPane.nib/designable.nib
/System/Library/Frameworks/AddressBook.framework/Versions/A/Resources/pt_PT.lproj/ABMembersPane.nib/designable.nib
/System/Library/Frameworks/AddressBook.framework/Versions/A/Resources/ru.lproj/ABDirectoriesPane.nib/designable.nib
/System/Library/Frameworks/AddressBook.framework/Versions/A/Resources/ru.lproj/ABDirectoryResultsPane.nib/designable.nib
/System/Library/Frameworks/AddressBook.framework/Versions/A/Resources/ru.lproj/ABGroupsPane.nib/designable.nib
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/System/Library/Frameworks/ScreenSaver.framework/Versions/A/Resources/Pictures Folder.saver/Contents/Resources/English.lproj/RSSPictures.nib/designable.nib
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/System/Library/PreferencePanes/Expose.prefPane/Contents/Resources/English.lproj/ExposePaneMouse.nib/designable.nib
/System/Library/PreferencePanes/Mac.prefPane/Contents/Resources/English.lproj/AdvancedView.nib/designable.nib
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/System/Library/PreferencePanes/Mac.prefPane/Contents/Resources/English.lproj/DeleteDataClassesPanel.nib/designable.nib
/System/Library/PreferencePanes/Mac.prefPane/Contents/Resources/English.lproj/IDiskView.nib/designable.nib
/System/Library/PreferencePanes/Mac.prefPane/Contents/Resources/English.lproj/InternetPref.nib/designable.nib
/System/Library/PreferencePanes/Mac.prefPane/Contents/Resources/English.lproj/SyncView.nib/designable.nib
/System/Library/PreferencePanes/Mac.prefPane/Contents/Resources/fi.lproj/SyncView.nib/designable.nib
/System/Library/PreferencePanes/Mac.prefPane/Contents/Resources/German.lproj/BackToMyMac.nib/designable.nib
/System/Library/PreferencePanes/Mac.prefPane/Contents/Resources/German.lproj/InternetPref.nib/designable.nib
/System/Library/PreferencePanes/Mac.prefPane/Contents/Resources/Italian.lproj/InternetPref.nib/designable.nib
/System/Library/PreferencePanes/Mac.prefPane/Contents/Resources/ru.lproj/InternetPref.nib/designable.nib
/System/Library/PreferencePanes/Network.prefPane/Contents/Resources/English.lproj/ANP8021xAuthenticationDialogs.nib/designable.nib
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/System/Library/PreferencePanes/TimeMachine.prefPane/Contents/Resources/English.lproj/TimeMachine.nib/designable.nib

What's Bertie Up To?

The question must be asked again: what's Bertie up to? Avie never screwed up like this. Avie knew what he wanted and what he needed. And he more or less got it.

You don't ask underage morons to rewrite your code and give them carte blanche to destroy anything there. Not unless you're trying to get branded as the pariah of the industry.

Apples Come, Apples Go

At this point in time Apple are going to have to convince a lot of disillusioned customers they can be trusted again. It's been well over half a year since this so called operating system was available for purchase. People understood Apple released it even though they knew it wasn't ready; they understood the system had taken its place on a back burner as Apple pushed full steam ahead with their iPhone; they said 'bygones' and waited patiently for the next release.

There are hordes of endemic flaws many users won't see. They don't go that deep into the code. And developers won't see them either if all they're doing is writing a single application with a single domain. But anyone really watching what's going on knows this system once called NeXTSTEP and then called OPENSTEP and then called Rhapsody and then called Cocoa/OS X is rapidly disintegrating.

All the while the fanboys have always applauded their favourite golden calf the industry as a whole have laughed at Apple. Apple got a good system with a good open source base and courted/flirted with academica and the open source community; they achieved a comeback because they were 'turnkey' and 'cool'.

But there's a backlash on its way and it's already begun. If you listen closely you can hear it coming.

See Also
Hotspots: 10.5.3 - The Verdict
Hotspots: What's Bertie Up To?
Rixstep FTP: OS X 10.5.4 Upgrade Tracker Report (64 KB)
Rixstep FTP: OS X 10.5.3 Upgrade Tracker Report (135 KB)

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