Then lets steelman this point of critique: Why doesn't Apple keep their OSes in beta for a couple of months more to release something that is really stable? Is the sample size of beta testers really too small? I doubt 6 months or so later would be a big disadvantage to the competition, quite the contrary, I think releasing more stable 1.0s could be a considerable advantage.
>Why doesn't Apple keep their OSes in beta for a couple of months more to release something that is really stable?
First, because a lot of those bugs you only find in real-life bizarro setups, and beta testers are not enough. Besides not all beta testers actually help with bug reports -- some programmers just test their own software, others just want to play with the latest OS, etc.
Second, because not all of those bugs will be fixed even if a beta tester finds them. There will be a cost-benefit (opportunity cost) analysis, and some might need extensive changes to some subsystems, and only get fixed with the X.2 or even X.4 or X.5 release, half a year or more later.
Third, because there will always be bugs, and at some point you need to release.
Fourth, because OS releases usually also enable or leverage several new hardware features in Macs and iOS devices. Delaying the OS would mean delaying those hardware units, or putting them out with the old OS and no way to use some new advanced hardware stuff they are advertised with (stuff like Bluetooth 4 back in the day, Retina support, or something similar).
