Third - party developers heft a sigh of relief this morning as Apple finally announced the appointment for its 2010 Worldwide Developer Conference . But that sigh was promptly accompany by a raised eyebrow of curiosity as they noticed that Apple had throw away the Mac software category fromits long - run Apple Design Awards . Instead , the laurels will pass over only iPhone and iPad applications available on the App Store .
The Apple Design Awards , which recognize the good computer software create by third - party developers for Apple platform , are among the most in demand accolade in the Mac community and developers were n’t shy about sound their letdown over the lack of Mac .
“ I think it ’s a mistake for Apple to miss such an easy opportunity to acknowledge Mac developers , ” say Red Sweater Software owner Daniel Jalkut . “ While the iPhone and iPad are understandably hot right now , the Mac is still a huge part of Apple ’s clientele , and Mac developers are important in nourish that . ”
Rogue Amoeba CEO Paul Kafasis agrees . “ Ultimately , I find these movement unsatisfying . Having an iPhone slant at WWDC is one matter , but completely cutting the Mac out of the ADAs ? That feel like a snub to pile of Mac developers who continue to do great study on a well - established , popular platform . ”
While ADAs are handed out every year at WWDC , the inclination of family change to take into account Apple ’s latest technologies . In 2005 , for example , Apple recognized “ Best Mac OS ecstasy Tiger Technology Adoption ” ; in 2006 , “ Best Automator Workflow . ” iPhone apps were first given awards in 2008 , a calendar month before the App Store ’s debut . But while iPhone and iPad apps are intelligibly the matter of the consequence in 2010 , it would also have been the first class for demo off apps that take vantage of features in the latest variation of Mac OS X , Snow Leopard , which debuted last August .
The ADA are n’t the only place that the Mac seems to have father myopic shrift . Apple ’s dub WWDC 2010 “ the middle of the app universe ” and the inclination of sessions reference “ how to harness the rotatory engineering in iPhone oxygen . ”
Apple ’s also reorganized the conference ’s structure , which in the past has been divided up into tracks for the company ’s various political platform and other general topics : iPhone , Mac , IT , and so on . This year , Apple ’s taken a technology - centrical approach , dividing its academic term up into topics on software Frameworks , Core osmium , Developer Tools , Graphics & Media , and Internet & Web .
give that Apple has already show off iPhone group O 4.0 , which is due to be released this summer , it ’s not needfully a surprise that the bulk of WWDC would focus on iPhone development . The next version of the Mac OS X , on the other hand , has n’t yet consider the luminosity of twenty-four hour period , and some estimate that it ’s still a class or more off .
“ This twelvemonth , because of their focus on iPhone and iPad , there is n’t anything exciting to sell about Mac OS 10 , ” say Red Sweater ’s Jalkut .
“ I do n’t think we ’ll see any info Mac OS X 10.7 at all , ” tell Kafasis . “ Apple clearly wants to focus on iPhone OS . ”
There ’s also the late introduction of the iPad , which is undeniably a hot property at the second . It also means that half of Apple ’s major product lines — the Mac , iPod , iPhone , and iPad — execute the iPhone osmium . And the iPhone alone make up a major part of the Apple ’s revenue ; last quarter , it accounted for40 percent of the company ’s $ 13.5 billion income .
Mac OS X is n’t completely absent from the 2010 legal proceeding . There are several WWDC sessions that deal specifically with the Mac , such as “ I / O Kit machine Drivers for Mac OS X , ” and “ OpenGL for Mac OS X , ” and several of the other seance descriptions put the Mac on even footing with the iPhone osmium . And of course , since the Mac and iPhone operating systems share an underlying foot , many of the sessions apply to both political platform .
But the geological fault towards the iPhone is undeniable , and when copulate with other recent fear , such asthe lack of update to Apple ’s popular Mac OS X Downloads varlet , some developers are uncomfortable with the message that Apple seems to be commit . “ Is that intentional , or are we reading too much into it ? ” question Kafasis . “ It ’s inconceivable to say , but it ’s all we have to go off of for now . ”
That suppose , Kafasis does n’t find the move surprising , return Apple ’s sometimes tumultous — and often close - mouthed — relationshp with third - company developers . “ At meter , they ’ve needed us — to help keep the caller afloat in the late ’ 90s , to get hoi polloi to try Mac OS X ( and leave Mac OS 9 ) , to move hoi polloi to Intel from [ PowerPC ] . But when they do n’t need us , it often feels as though they do n’t really need us either . I think that in the brain of Steve Jobs , the Mac is largely complete , without any third party applications . ”
Despite the fault in focus , Mac developer seem more gall than disquieted for the future of their chopine . After all , Mac sales agreement have been steady growing over the last several years , with 2.94 million computers sold in the last quarter and replicate disc - setting Mac sales .
“ The iPhone OS is certainly bigger than Mac OS go now , and that ’s incredible , ” Kafasis says . “ That does n’t imply the Mac is suddenly irrelevant , however . ”
“ It ’s not the end of the Mac , or even significative that Apple does n’t handle about brook Mac developer , ” add together Jalkut . “ Apple just gets this galling tunnel vision sometimes and this is a sodding example of that . ”
