iPad OS 26

 The geeks have been militating to make iPadOS more like Mac OS, Android, or even like Windows.   This frightened me.  I take comfort from the fact that with iOS I am more than a click away from contaminating my system.  I take comfort from the fact that one can recommend iOS for children and people born before 1980. 

As beta releases of iPadOS 26 have become available, there have been reviews saying that the iPad is "ready for laptop duty," you  "can finally ditch your mac," and "the iPad is a full-on computer now."  

Thank God!  All the hype to the contrary not withstanding, one still "cannot change the core system or application code of iPadOS 26 directly through the user interface. Apple's operating systems, including iPadOS, are designed as a "walled garden" for security and stability. This prevents users from altering the compiled code, which is what the system and apps actually run on."  That from Apple; I could have saved myself a lot of angst if I had asked Apple in the first place.

Yes, the screen in 26 is much more like that of the Mac.  The windowing and multi-tasking are more like that of the Mac.  The file system is more capable.  There is a task bar with drop-down menus.   One can copy and paste from one app to another, indeed from one device to another.  One takes comfort in the fact that Apple first figures out how to do a feature or a function safely before adding it to the system.  

But the iPad is still an application-only computer.  It still uses purpose built apps, nearly two million of them in the store.  It is still a closed system.  Program code is still hidden.  It is a system in which one can enjoy in safety, most, but not quite all, of the benefits of the general purpose computer on which it is built.  Rest easy, Steve Jobs.