Anybody have any idea when parts of the NDA on new Leopard tech will be lifted? I’d really appreciate the ability to discuss Leopard stuff before October, since we’re looking at a major upgrade over winter (university schedules). Contrary to the lackluster demo at the keynote, there’s still some stuff in store that will really be a benefit to us.
Historically, the NDA is lifted when the OS ships. There is no real reason to believe it will be any different this time. If this causes problems for you, bring it up with Apple.
I believe that the idea is that once the Beta ships, only people who have legal access to a beta (developers, WWDC attendees) have the ability to discuss it between themselves and Apple, but the general public is still outside of that bubble. So I am guessing that the previous statement, that the NDA is in effect pertaining to the general internet and public, is indeed true.
Until the knowledge is made public by Apple themselves (which, in the case of the specifics of the API, means when the OS is released and the API documentation is publicly available), the information is under NDA. Period.
So where, exactly, do we the people with legal access, discuss these things under the NDA? The Internet won’t do, since the forums like this are available to anyone. Yet it is the only place possible. In this modern world of software development, dear Apple representatives reading this, maybe it’s time to reconsider the issue? You have almost a million adc members now, why would you want to hinder the development unnecessarily?
I’m just really upset that, by their own admission, Leopard was supposed to be released at WWDC, but those of us who are in the position of making decisions that hinge on questions such as “Do I pay over a million dollars to run fiber, or does Leopard have iSCSI?” are now going to be in the dark well beyond the time when we can make those decisions.
I have been in the “business buying cycles require advance notice of features” boat myself. My recommendation is to simply not do business with Apple. Seriously, I have three Macs at home. I love Macs, but Apple’s policies are antithetical to the planning needs of business and academia. Even if you limit yourself to buying only equipment that has been announced and shipping since before the budget cycle started, Apple will still find a way to screw you. For example, Apple will cancel a product without notice or any viable replacement. What can you do if you need 300 identical systems and Apple cancels the system and your order after 200 have been delivered ? Don’t even get me started on the YellowBox fiasco!
Reputable business vendors will give companies five years notice before a system is discontinued, and they will provide optional product life extension for a fee.
Reputable business vendors will custom build large orders to exact specifications and even include �depot� maintenance which means they store spares for rapid response scenarios.
Apple is quite simply not a reputable business vendor. If you don’t do business with them, your problem goes away.
Unfortunately there is no option here. We need Macs, we need Mac software – specifically Pro Tools, Adobe CS3, and Final Cut. Our 2-year all-Windows experiment, while we knew well in advance of upcoming products, was a complete failure.