It’s clear that trust is hard to earn, and extremely easy to lose. Here in the U.S., we don’t trust government, and we certainly wonder about those lavish promises the presidential candidates are making that will be promptly forgotten the day after the election.

With the endless battle between Apple and Microsoft taking on new directions, it’s important to consider just how much of their PR chatter can be believed.

Back in the 1990s, for example, Apple made all sorts of promises, but few came to pass, and where they did, the products were often something less-than-spectacular. Most of you remember Copland, for example, the vision of a world-class operating system that was killed during the fitful start of its initial beta stage.

When Steve Jobs returned and took control of the company, he also made promises that were difficult to deliver, such as the first iteration of Mac OS X, known as Rhapsody. It’s not that Apple couldn’t produce what was essentially an updated version of its NeXT operating system, but Apple’s key software developers balked. They didn’t want to undergo the time and expense to do major rejiggering of their applications.

That’s why Apple went back to the drawing board, and created Mac OS X’s Aqua interface, a modern updating of the original Mac’s look and feel.

Story continued in this week’s Tech Night Owl Newsletter.

This article was posted on Sunday, February 24th, 2008 at 7:30 PM and is filed under News and tagged with: Aqua Interface, Beta Stage, Copland, Iteration, Mac Os X, New Directions, Night Owl, Operating System, Os X, Owl, Rhapsody, Software Developers, Steve Jobs.