The future of computing, will iOS replace Mac OS in 5-10 years?

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I reckon this is what Apple is planning to do with iOS, make it the main operating system for all their devices.

I have had computers since the early 80's. It has been wonderful watching them evolve from the ZX81 home computer to the present day. The most frustrating part though has been watching the non computer types finding them annoying and fiddly to use, then giving up entirely. We are just seeing over the last couple of years with the advent of the iPhone and iPad a massive upsurge in non techies that have a smartphone and can work there way around iOS. My mums 1st computer is an iPad, it's been fantastic for her.

I was in the office fixing my pc again and when watching it boot up with all the legacy dos stuff and bios info I just thought why in 2010 I have to be messing with this stuff I don't know. Instant on is where it needs to be.

Watching ios development they are adding things at quite a pace now. Coming shortly are printing and multitasking to the iPad. Within 5 years we will have a decent system to add files and manipulate them etc. The iWork apps will have been upgraded many times to include many advance features were used to in office, iWork etc. Productivity will not be an issue.

Don't quite know how desktops would figure in this. I personally would be happy with a big multi touch screen with keyboard and a pen and tablet for serious photo work. One thing they will have to do is sort out the resolution problem in ios, make it scalable up and down.

Remember I am talking 5-10 years, not how it currently stands. Maybe the ramblings of a mad man but only time will tell.

What are your thoughts on the future of computing?



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It looks like the obvious progression on the face of it, but no, I don’t think it will. The platforms are too different and it makes little sense to try to cram a desktop OS into a phone or stretch a mobile OS onto a real computer. So, in that sense, the two will remain very different but I’ve no doubt the two platforms will “cross-pollinate” and over time MacOS will become more iOS-like – but only on a high level. I can easily see a MacOS App Store happening for example.

I disagree on the productivity aspect. As good as smartphones and tablets have become, there is absolutely no way they can replace a keyboard, mouse and large screen. MacOS will stay focused around those fundamentals and iOS will remain the touch interface OS.

I think the distinction between the two platforms is a good thing for everybody.
 
It is rumored that the next iMac range will have fully tilt-able screens and will be touch capable so they can be folded down flat and worked on like that. To be honest that sort of tech leaves me cold, so does simple. I much prefer desktops as they are.

Your post however just keeps banging on about iOS when all the smart money is going on Android as the dominant platform. Tablets will be raining down on us by this time next year, the majority of which will be powered by Android and will be a hell of a lot cheaper and more functional than an iPad.
 
Faustus said:
It is rumored that the next iMac range will have fully tilt-able screens and will be touch capable so they can be folded down flat and worked on like that. To be honest that sort of tech leaves me cold, so does simple. I much prefer desktops as they are.

Your post however just keeps banging on about iOS when all the smart money is going on Android as the dominant platform. Tablets will be raining down on us by this time next year, the majority of which will be powered by Android and will be a hell of a lot cheaper and more functional than an iPad.
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I agree, was just saying from Apples point of view though. Android may be bigger than iOS in the future.
 
The problem is iOS isn't what I would classify as a computer operating system. It's a device OS that requires you to plug it into iTunes to function. Plus you need Mac OS X to program for iOS.

I think theheyes is probably closest with the “cross-pollinate” idea. The UI might change to something more like iOS with a Mac App Store as an addition to downloading from the web. But the functionality will still have to be at the level it is now.
 
Nah. Maybe when the Mac stops selling, but that is unlikely to be within the next 5 - 10 years. Apple's last quarterly reports had their highest ever Mac sales, so even though iOS devices are selling loads, the Mac isn't being forgotten by the consumer, and in fact iOS is bringing interest to them.

Even if people want a more tailored operating system to specific needs, like iOS, Android or Windows phone 7, there will always be people who want something more general purpose and more powerful. Apple are ready to supply for any niche, we've seen that, especially with that Mac, so no. I don't think it'll replace it in the short term, Mac OS might begin to change into something that takes on some characteristics of iOS, but it'll remain the general purpose system.
 
No, there will always be a Mac OS.

I think if anything iOS may evolve to the point where it's so close to Mac OS that they then combine them, but it will be iOS that has turned into Mac OS, not the other way around.

I don't think that'll happen either though personally.
 
As above, you have simply described an imac with a touch screen and adjustable stand. This with a simple app store for OSX would complete the picture.

Touch screen when you have a mouse and keyboard always does become an issue on such a large screen, especially when you already have a mouse and keyboard wirelessly connected.

I would like to see it, I do not think they will give it to us though.
 
Mac OS will get bits from iOS and vice versa. However there will always be a desktop version of Mac OS and a device version of iOS.

Apple might want to control the Mac in the same way as they do iOS but it would be a fairly fatal move for the company to do so.

A Mac App store with extra touch functions in the OS makes sense. You get the walled garden app store for those who want it, with some unification of the touch interface and yet still get the ability to install from other sources and use the OS as you want. After all I doubt Final Cut Studio, Logic, Aperture and so on would work with a purely iOS interface and they sure as hell aren't going to be in the Mac App Store!
 
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After what Jobs said at the conference last night about it not being ergonomically viable to sit reaching out at a touch screen, it seems more possible that we will actually see this tilt-able iMac i guess. They'd have to sort something with the screens though, my MacBooks screen already gets full of crap really quickly.
 
Because it makes little sense to try to unify the two. An iOS device is radically different from a Mac, and will continue to be in the future. If you put the two together you'll only end up with one thing: a compromise.
 
Spit said:
I reckon this is what Apple is planning to do with iOS, make it the main operating system for all their devices.
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So you're expecting Apple to take their stripped down, efficient and hugely beskpoke smartphone OS designed for just 4 devices and sort of build it up into a fully-fledged desktop/notebook OS that would work on dozens of configurations? Hmm. If only they already had a fully-fledged OS that could do all that...

I was in the office fixing my pc again and when watching it boot up with all the legacy dos stuff and bios info I just thought why in 2010 I have to be messing with this stuff I don't know. Instant on is where it needs to be.
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If the rumours are to be believed, EFI will take off within a few years - replacing the old BIOS. Instant On is closer than you think, and we don't need a smartphone OS to do it. No smartphone switches on instantly anyway, so I am not sure why you find it an issue.
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Spit said:
Why would Apple have 2 operating systems in the future?
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Why would they only have one? Microsoft has several operating systems, each one does their job fantastically well.
 
I completely agree that OSX will become more iOS-like - we've got the evidence now - but in terms of having one Apple operating system that runs on everything Apple produces we won't see anything like that for a long long time, if ever, because the hardware and requirements are too different.

If you want an example, one of the balls Microsoft have dropped continuously for a long time is trying to put Windows on phones and tablets - and it just doesn't work.
 
When will you be able to develop iOS applications from conception to submission inside iOS?

Nah, they need to keep their "truck" OS for development and other heavy lifting even if normal consumer demand for it fades.
 
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If they need to make iOS massively more advanced than it is now for it to succeed in a Desktop environment in my opinion... And I don't think this could happen in 5-10 years - It shouldn't be the way Apple are thinking...
 
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