On OS ‘Ten’ →

Dr. Drang:

On ATP 25, Casey Liss was shamed after asking whether the new Logic Pro X should be pronounced “Logic Pro Ex” or “Logic Pro Ten.” This came a few days after a similar incident on The Prompt when poor Myke Hurley was laughed at for saying “Logic Pro Ex.”1 And there was, I believe, an incident back in January on The Frequency when Haddie Cooke committed the unforgivable sin of saying “Oh Ess Ex” instead of “Oh Ess Ten.”

The Good Doctor goes on to explain that he believes the X should be pronounced as “Ex” and not “Ten,” laying out three very reasonable reasons why. On Twitter today, there’s been talk about how referring to Mountain Lion as “Oh Ess Ten TEN Point Eight” is awkward at best.

Again, Dr. Creepy Snowman:

But we are, as I said, twelve years down the line now, and Apple has been giving point release version numbers to its full releases for too long. It’s time to stop playing X games. Apple should resolve its numbering problem with a deus X machina.

Twelve years is a long time, and according to comments at WWDC, Apple’s looking at another decade or so of OS X releases. The problem isn’t going to get any better.

So, what will happen after 10.9 is released? Would Apple release a 10.10?

“They have to go to OS 11!” will be the cry of bewildered analysts who will be lighting themselves on a fire, the flames fueled by logic and gasoline.

(God forbid they release a 10.10.10, but a 10.11.12 would be adorable.)

I think all of this is why Apple is moving away from numbering its operating system releases. The only place I have seen OS X Mavericks referred to as 10.9 is on the installer itself and in the footnotes on Apple’s website. From a marketing perspective, it’s “OS X Mavericks.”

I wouldn’t be shocked if Apple moves away from the “10.x.x” nomenclature for minor updates as well.[1] “OS X Mavericks Update 1” or “OS X Mavericks Release 2” still gets the point across, without tripping over itself.

At the end of the day, I think this whole conversation is probably a little silly. It’s “ten” because that’s how Apple’s executives pronounce it on stage. (And in this support article.)

It’s easier to think about X as a statement or simple label instead of a number. While that doesn’t make much sense, it’s what Apple’s done, and we should just continue to embrace it.

It isn’t perfect, but it is what it is.