Minority Report: Apple's blues

Users spot Leopard problems…

Last month's Leopard launch should have been a triumph. Instead, the OS' 'blue screen of death' has left Apple with damage to its image and credibility, argues Seb Janacek.

For Mac users, it was to be a time of celebration and for many it was - but not for all. For true Mac geeks - the ones who live not for the upgrades to the shiny metal exteriors but for the upgrades to the shiny goodness in the operating system - a new iteration of the big cat OS X is like Christmas come early.

With OS X Leopard, an upgrade which has been a long time coming for Mac users, expectation and excitement was high. And so were initial sales of the software - Apple claims it shifted two million copies in its opening weekend.

Those are the kinds of sales you can liken to historic opening weekends of record-breaking movie blockbusters.

However, reports soon began to flood in claiming there were serious problems with the upgrade path. Users found despite an apparently successful installation, their Macs soon hung on restarting and presented users with a blank blue monitor. The Mac had its very own blue screen of death (BSOD).

For an operating system that had mocked Windows PCs by representing them as monitors displaying the BSOD in its networking set-up, this was an unpleasant irony. Although some might say this was no more than Apple's recent hubris deserved.

Apple's support lines and site were swamped. Fixes to the problem soon appeared on the website and, with the exception of the incredibly silly people who decided to upgrade their system software without backing up their files first, there was no permanent damage.

The root of some problems with Leopard's blue screen apparently lay with application enhancement programs developed by Unsanity. The company, which has admitted its software may be causing some problems with Leopard upgrades due to compatibility issues, produces 'haxies'.

The word 'haxies' is a combination of 'hack' and 'OS X', a clue that the software touches areas of the Mac system software that really shouldn't be touched.

Apple's support note said it all: "You may have third-party 'enhancement' software installed that does not work with Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard". You've got to love those quotation marks.

Overall, the problems will have affected a very small proportion of Leopard upgraders. But it's been a damaging episode for Apple's image and for its credibility.

While Apple doesn't need to support third-party apps, particularly ones that mess with system libraries, it's unfortunate - given the prevalence of the haxies in Macs - Apple didn't catch the problem.

While third-party software may be causing the problems, the headlines will still read users had problems with Leopard.

For Apple, it has to deal with the ignominy of a flagship software launch resulting in a problem that resembled one of the most ridiculed phenomena in Windows.

It left me wishing it had been any colour but blue. Black or red, yes. But blue is a state synonymous with the flaky image of certain older versions of Windows.

The fact Apple mocked the BSOD in its representation of a networked Windows PC in Leopard won't help. Publicly making fun of its competitors, in particular Microsoft, has been a malaise spreading among Apple execs in recent years. It may be funny but it's not particularly becoming. Perhaps this episode will teach Apple a little humility.

The other profound irritation for Apple is the affected programs seek to alter the appearance of OS X - even though Apple has gone to great lengths to get the fine details just right.

The blue screen problems are unlikely to have a significant effect on Mac sales. Analysts are predicting sales of Leopard are likely to be double those of its predecessor Tiger. But the blue screen problems on the weekend of the launch are embarrassing.

This month's column was to be about how Apple is clawing back market share at an impressive pace over its competitors, thanks in no small way to its operating system. I was going to review the new features that might continue the trend.

It seems only fair I spend some time with Apple's new big cat to assess what features will help the Macs sustain its remarkable market renaissance.

But at this point a confession is required: I've previously installed Unsanity software on some of my home Macs. Yes, what an idiot. So this weekend or possibly the next, I'll be backing up all my data, creating a bootable external drive and trying to work out the best way of installing Leopard on my machines without running into the BSOD.

Expect a proper assessment of Leopard and what it means for Apple in a few weeks. It's probably overcautious but it'll take me that long to pluck up the courage to install, which is a crying shame.