Follow Up--Mac OS X 10.2 Upgrade Commentary

Reader Bob Patterson pointed out that there is another aspect to the upgrade issue, i.e. who qualifies for the Mac OS Up-to-Date Program. In his MWNYC keynote address, Steve Jobs stated that the MOSUTD program would only apply to those who bought a new Mac on or after July 17, the date of the keynote. If you bought 10 Macs on 7/16, you're SOL according to current policy. It'll cost you another $1,290 plus tax on August 24th, just over 30 days after your purchase, to get the latest Mac OS--$690 if you are an educational customer.

As we recall, the original MOSUTD program was for those who bought a new Mac and it didn't include the latest Mac OS that had already been released. Those were the days when Apple did not do as good a job of keeping channel inventory down so it was easy to buy a new Mac with an outdated Mac OS. It happened to us a couple of times. There was also something like a 30 day grace period as well but some claim it was 90 days. We don't remember for sure and the rules might have changed over time as well.

Still, it seems to us that it would be a good idea for Apple if the MOSUTD program were extended back in time, perhaps back to the introduction of the new iBooks and PowerBooks. To not do so just reinforces the often-given advice "Do not buy anything from Apple within 60 days of a Macworld event." Apple tries to avoid the slump in sales prior to Macworld's and that is one reason Apple gives for being secretive about it's hardware introduction plans. Well, the same is true for software. We hope Apple will smother this controversy and help itself in future sales by extending the Mac OS Up-to-Date Program backward to an appropriate cutoff if our suggestion is not deemed correct.