Daniel, I think you might have miscomputed this. Doesn’t Apple recognize OS sales revenue over multiple years? (I can’t immediately find a statement about this, but they certainly do that for some products such as iPhone.) If so, your numbers do not prove that lots of thievery is going on.

(Unfortunately misspelled, but I’ve seen the data charted before and it’s accurate!)

Jaguar sits in the middle of that time frame, from 2002-2003. Mac sales were essentially flat-lining at that time.

What isn’t in those numbers, I’ll admit, is retail copies of Jaguar. If you can dig those up and compare with Panther then we’re talking.

I should also point out that one of the Macs sold in the Jaguar era was my very first one. A 12″ PowerBook I happen to still be using this afternoon! But the surge of sales only really came about with Tiger.

Yes, but did whining mean fewer sales?

That said, I can’t argue your final comment.

There was actually a lot of whining at the time 10.2 came out. It was right then that the “OS X update tax” myth became established, asserting that Apple charge everyone for regular service packs while MS drops them for free. Even with Tiger lasting for years, that myth hasn’t entirely subsided. All caused by 10.1 being a free “update”, and 10.2 costing the full $129 irrespective of any previous versions you had.

10.6 will cost $129.

10.1 was a free upgrade if you went to the store to pick it up. 10.2+ seem to have sold fairly well.

Running the latest, greatest OS incites word of mouth for Macs and word of mouth is the biggest marketing boost. Apple should get its OS into as many hands as possible because those hands will only multiply sales as so many sales are switchers. Raising Mac sales 2% would bring in more money than selling individual OS copies.

Secondly, with iPhone, Apple is in an important historical place where they can woo developers. The more users running 10.6 and few running <10.6, the more attractive the platform.

Correct.

I did actually try XP on a 1999 vintage laptop once, and to say it was a painful experience is but a polite understatement. Horror, pain and anxiety, all while just trying to run a plain and unremarkable OS. One released when that K6-II was just two years old in 2001.

Meanwhile I’ve run Tiger on two 1999 Macs, a 400 MHz iMac and a 400 MHz B&W G3. Runs like a charm. An OS from 2005 running nicely on six year old equipment.

The idea that Windows is kind to old hardware is a load of bull. I wouldn’t be surprised if it arose during 2001-2007 while XP was all there was, and made new hardware look lacklustre. Little did they know what Vista would bring!