On Saturday, August 11, 2001, at 10:12 AM, John Hinsley wrote:

> My own guess is that Apple will, sooner or later, have to drop Mac OS in
> favour of OSX. That is, if it remains in the software business at all.

[snip]

> OSX looks to be BSD with the Mach microkernel and a pretty front end. As
> such, it wouldn't seem to offer anything that isn't already out there in
> some shape or form for free.

Ah, yes, the proverbial "Apple is about to go under, or out, or 
something" troll, combined now with the "BSD is dying" troll.  All 
evidence to the contrary.

> You could argue that the combination is
> exquisite and that a microkernel is a must have, but to me it seems like
> an idea 5 years too late (and, what, 10 years after Jobs originally
> started pushing it?).

Let me take a wild guess: you haven't installed it or worked with it 
yet, have you?  Suggest you hold off on the dissing with generalities 
until you have something meaningful to inform the debate.  Certainly, 
you don't need to try it -- just don't pretend you have based upon the 
stereotypes suggested here.

I've been playing with MacOS and Unices for decades now (only a year or 
so short of a few decades since I got my first seed Mac), and i can tell 
you that it presents overall a desktop and environment better than I 
have ever experienced on a Unix box.  For me, at least, the combo is 
extraordinary -- and has now become my desktop of choice.