OS X is now FREE for ever!

MacMan

Partition Master
Incredible, but from today all major updates for OS X is now as cheap as Linux..... it's FREE!
 

Rob Williams

Editor-in-Chief
Staff member
Moderator
This isn't a great surprise, given the OS was inexpensive to begin with. It might be free but the hardware is still expensive. Linux can be used on a $40 RPi!

Will jot up a post about this and some of the other announcements soon.
 

RainMotorsports

Partition Master
Damn it microsoft lowers their price to reasonable and then Apple goes for free! The only thing here is its technically updates since there is no bare hardware to buy the OS for in the first place. I assume this means they will be dumping retail packaging which may be a jab at the cloners.

I love this stupid quote from ZDNET
The move is notable because Apple is now on the same bandwagon as Microsoft, which is offering Windows 8.1 free as an update, and Google Chrome OS, which updates continually.
Apple really didn't move into the same bandwagon. Microsoft just did the right thing for 8.1 and I don't think they're planning to do such a thing again at this time.
 

Rob Williams

Editor-in-Chief
Staff member
Moderator
Apple really didn't move into the same bandwagon. Microsoft just did the right thing for 8.1 and I don't think they're planning to do such a thing again at this time.

Microsoft won't do that again, unless it feels insane pressure to compete somehow. As I said in the news post, Apple earns money off the hardware it sells... Microsoft doesn't earn money off of PC sales unless a Windows license is sold with it. That's the difference here.
 

RainMotorsports

Partition Master
Microsoft won't do that again, unless it feels insane pressure to compete somehow. As I said in the news post, Apple earns money off the hardware it sells... Microsoft doesn't earn money off of PC sales unless a Windows license is sold with it. That's the difference here.

Well your talking the PC market when you say that. When it comes to tablet and phone sales they are supposed to be making money and if they ever got their head out of their ass then maybe. If Apple never put out a machine again the iPhone profits alone should fund their entire OS division until the end of time. When you start murdering your operating system to merge all 3 platforms together these are possible thoughts that come to mind. However one would have to aim to achieve something brilliantly successful. Not sure if they has been done since windows 95.

Microsoft doesn't make a lot of money period. 100 bucks for an OS is a fair price but it doesn't come with support. Sure Linux could be free but if you want support Linux is not free. Companies either pay for linux directly or they play tens of thousands of dollars in support contracts instead.
 

Rob Williams

Editor-in-Chief
Staff member
Moderator
Even on mobile, Microsoft doesn't earn revenue like Apple does. Only as of this generation does Microsoft produce its own tablets, and soon, with Nokia under its wing, it will begin earning revenue there as well.

On the Android side, Google gives the OS away for free because it makes money off of those who use it. On the Apple side, people still pay for the OS indirectly... it's just included in the price.
 

Corey Naish

Obliviot
It was a good move for Apple, while I honestly didn't care about Mavericks at all, it's a step toward unifying the platform so that they won't have to deal with so many app compatibility issues.

Honestly I'd love to see the cost of Windows licenses go down further, so if this helps push the market towards that, I'm all for moves like this.
 

Greg King

I just kinda show up...
Staff member
I'm going to necro-bump this threat starting now....

Mavericks was free, in my opinion, as a reaction to Microsoft releasing 8.1 as a free upgrade to the masses that were already running Win 8.

For me, Mavericks as been nothing but trouble. At work, my displaylink drivers were shit until new ones were released.... something that can be forgiven, except that the build has been available for partners for MONTHS. Beyond that, I can no longer use my mouse and keyboard as their functionality has been completely jacked since updating. If I use any secondary pointer device, something other than my built in track pad, I have an unusable experience. I can't use my performance MX mouse because it will just stop responding on clicks randomly... mostly when I switch monitors on my multi-display workstation. I initially blamed this on Logitech not getting their damned drivers out but when trying on my Apple magic track pad, I get the same damned behavior. This is an Apple problem and I have reported it twice already. Here's hoping they choose to fix these issues soon, rather than later.
 

Rob Williams

Editor-in-Chief
Staff member
Moderator
It goes to show that it doesn't matter what computer it is... or OS for that matter... problems can happen.

Out of curiosity, Greg, was your move to Mavericks an upgrade, or a fresh install? I find when you upgrade in-place, issues like what you describe will definitely happen (such as with me and 8.1, though the issues were minor).
 
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