Apple OS X and iOS Update: Will OS X and iOS Merge? Apple Discusses the Future of Its Operating Systems
Apple celebrated Mac's 30th anniversary last week. The company has big plans for its computers this year but, according to executives, combining OS X with iOS is not one of them.
"Every company that made computers when we started the Mac, they're all gone," Philip Schiller, Apple's senior vice president of worldwide marketing, told Macworld proudly.
Some have speculated that the success of Apple's iPhones and iPads will lead to Apple merging OS X, Mac computers' operating software, with iOS, Apple's portable devices' operating software. The theory is that Apple will eventually use one operating system for all of its devices.
But the company does not plan on fixing what isn't broken.
"[It's] absolutely a nongoal," Craig Federighi, Apple senior vice president of software engineering, said. "You don't want to say the Mac became less good at being a Mac because someone tried to turn it into iOS."
Schiller added that the company does work to make the transition between OS X and iOS seamless, but they are leaving it at that.
"We don't waste time thinking, 'But it should be one [interface]? How do you make these [operating systems] merge together?'" he explained. "What a waste of energy that would be."
Federighi said that the two operating systems are different because they were made at different times. Now, each operating system helps its designated devices function at their best.
"It's obvious and easy enough to slap a touchscreen on a piece of hardware, but is that a good experience?" Federighi asked. "We believe, no."
Apple has no plans to get rid of their hardware, despite an increasingly mobile world. According to Schiller, "Mac keeps going forever."
"There is a super-important role [for the Mac] that will always be," he said. "We don't see an end to that role. There's a role for the Mac as far as our eye can see. A role in conjunction with smartphones and tablets, that allows you to make the choice of what you want to use."
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