A launch like the one on the OS X Mountain Lion, which occurred yesterday morning, can go wrong in many ways. Servers could crash, the installation could cause problems, many software could prove incompatible, but fortunately none of this happened this time, at least not in a generalized / widely commented way.
Apple learned a lot from the launch of Lion last year and prepared its data centers well for the sudden increase in traffic. Check out a chart that Sandvine shared with GigaOM:
Apple's servers already work normally at a breakneck pace, thanks to the sum of iCloud, iTunes / App Stores, software updates and everything in between. But yesterday the average traffic multiplied 5-6 times, after all, there were thousands (hes?) Of people simultaneously downloaded more than 4GB of data.
There were those who complained about slowness, but positive comments were much more common in this regard. Here in my case, on a 35Mbps connection, I downloaded the 4GB in less than two hours, not bad. Also, with rare exceptions, the experience of installing the system was smooth for everyone.
But Apple cannot say that the launch was perfect, and the main complaints came precisely from its loyal customers, who recently bought Macs and wanted to enjoy the right to download the new system for free. The update form aired about half an hour after the release of Mountain Lion on the Mac App Store, but from then on the soap opera started for some users.
Many people received their redemption codes (redeem codes) quickly and correctly, yes. But there were not a few, in the first place, reports from people who did not receive feedback from Apple even hours after the request. Although the maximum period given by it is 72 hours, this wait is somewhat disappointing when it is known that others already have the system installed and running on their Macs.
Worse than the delay was when codes started to arrive with errors that were expired or had already been used, as reported by TNW. Soon Apple representatives recognized the problem and promised to re-send functional codes to all users.
Today, to close the soap opera with a flourish, MacRumors said that some of the codes re-shipped by Apple were from OS X Server, and from Mountain Lion itself. Once again the company was aware of the error and promised to resolve it, including recommending that affected users contact us by email uptodatesupport@apple.
Fortunately, we are gradually receiving reports from users who have already received new functional codes and are downloading their free copies of Mountain Lion without any problems. Still, the 72-hour deadline given by Apple remains valid and, given the high demand, it is possible that some will actually have to wait until tomorrow or Saturday to get their hands on the new cat.
