In another stunning announcement by Steve Jobs during the 2002 New York MacWorld Expo keynote, Apple has changed the ship date for the next generation of Mac OS X. Instead of late summer, Jaguar will be shipping to users on August 24, exactly 15 months after Mac OS X 10.0 was released. However, unlike the 10.1 upgrade, this major update to the operating system will not be free.

This has irked many users (on top of the .Mac fiasco), because they were expecting to pay nothing, or at least a much smaller amount for Mac OS X 10.2. Turn back the clocks to when Apple released Mac OS X 10.1. Mac users were going nuts trying to find free copies, which they felt they deserved for 'beta' testing 10.0.x. Now, 10.2 comes out, and Apple says unless you buy a new Mac between July 17 and August 24, you have to pay $129 for the full version of Jaguar. This really sent a lot of Mac users over the edge.

Many people feel that because 10.1 was free, we should get 10.2 for free (or some people suggest $30). But this just isn't going to happen. I must be honest, when I first heard this, I too was kinda ticked off. But then I got to thinking, this is really no different than when we were updating from Mac OS 8.x to 9.x, just the way the OS version numbers change has been modified.

Here's what I mean. A full number version change is when the front most number changes (i.e. 7.0, 8.0, 9.0). A point release is when the middle number changes (i.e. 8.6, 9.1, 10.1). A sub-point release is when the third number changes (i.e. 7.6.1, 9.0.4, 10.1.5). Apple has changed what the version numbers mean, so point upgrades in Mac OS X fall under that same category as what full number changes meant in the days of Mac OS 9.x.

To understand a little more clearly, a sub-point update in Mac OS X is the same as a point upgrade in Mac OS 9. Both feature bug fixes, and minor enhancements. These are almost always free. Furthermore, point updates in Mac OS X are the same as a full number upgrades in classic Mac OS. These both contain a wide range of new features, as well as major improvements under the hood. In the classic Mac OS days, these always cost full price (i.e. upgrading from 8.5 to 9.0). Now, in Mac OS X, the point upgrades will also cost full price.

The reason so many people are angry about this policy, is that they are used to only paying for full number version updates. If you sit back and think about it, you will find this argument to be very logical. It only makes sense that Apple is charging for point releases of Mac OS X. They cannot give away their hard work forever.

By the way, educational users can get the MaCOSX 10.2 update for $69