"If it Ain't Broke...": Why Users Hang on to OS 9


Why are there so many OS 9 'hold outs'? It's a question Apple probably asks frequently in their pro/consumer research. The answer is: workflow.

PC World asked that question of some pro Mac users, for whom Quark is no longer the obstacle to upgrading. PC World - which is produced, ironically, on Macs - argues that OS X 10.3 (Panther) has reduced the drawbacks to upgrading considerably.

But for pros, a "carefully tuned" workflow process matters more than a mere upgrade. In fact, if things break, productivity goes down, and you've effectively downgraded. But PC World's production suite had begun the transition to OS X and, gradually, most, if not all, machines will be replaced with Macs running OS X only.

Analysis: Woz has been a bit of a hold out. He hosted a Macworld seminar a while back on the transition from OS 9 to X. I still think you need a pretty fast and recent Mac to run OS X decently. And, as a matter of interest, how many Quark XTensions from OS 9 have been ported to OS X so far? Because of Quark's tardiness in moving to X, I seem to recall developers weren't jumping to move their XTensions over.