I’m not sure about which of those apps were developed with code warrior or Xcode, so I don’t know whether to agree or disagree with you. I do believe that QuarkXPress 7 was rewritten and compiled to be a universal app, giving it native functionality on Intel-Macs.

Just my $0.02, take it for what you will.

True enough, Steve, although Intel’s products and Apple’s are as different as…er…apples and oranges. Or at least apples and computer chips.
Intel can draw a roadmap of the United States without harm to its marketplace position, while Apple’s got a pack of me-too’s from Microsoft to Malaysia waiting to iCopy, iInfringe, and iReverse-engineer its eyeCatching iGadgets and gizmos. (And iApologize InAdvance for the iNsufferable i’s…)

(6502 to 68000, 68000 to PPC, OS 9 to OS 10, and now PPC to Intel)

I agree that it is annoying, but it will always happen (and happens in the Windows world too. Try buying a new program for Windows 95 or even 98).

The big irony is that Intel is very forthcoming on their roadmap, and have outlined their plans for for the next 10 years. Apple won’t tell you what they’re doing tomorrow.

Public betas are not definitive signs that a company is open with development. Public betas simply show that a company has a massive market for a product and they want to ensure that their product works well. It is also a spectacular marketing tool and a way to get early adopters. Quark, Adobe and Apple also offer beta programs.

It was only under EU rulings that Microsoft is opening more code.

Time always marches on. How can I get support for Windows 98? The only reason why Microsoft seems to be moving at a better (slower) upgrade pace is because it is a lumbering giant. That is both its asset and its weakness. No one is happy about whiplash development but we would be equally unhappy if we were still using Windows 3.1 and Mac OS 6.

Brian, Jim gets straight to the point: There are no roadmaps to be had. Apple and especially Adobe are responsible for most of the little predictability we have in professional creative and production technologies. Apple brought the graphical user interface to market, priced laser printers within reach of individuals, and created the concept of Plug N’ Play, among many other innovations. Adobe created the printer language on which Apple’s laser printer ran, pioneered non-device resident soft fonts, developed PDF, and is the innovator behind an overwhelming majority of the applications, systems, and methodologies we use to do our jobs. Because of them we know today’s PDFs will work in tomorrow’s workflows, our fonts will serve us for many years to come, and that today’s Macs can exchange files with tomorrow’s PCs (and vice versa).

With the breakneck pace of technology development, there isn’t very much more one can plan on. I think both companies—as well as their contemporaries—are doing the best they can to keep up with, and maintain a slight lead on, the changes introduced by everyone else.

Shirley, you jest.

The past has shown us that there is no way to predict a clear roadmap for the future.