Although I can empathize with the "developer's lament," it is hardly Apple alone that does this. Every software developer that themselves has third-party developers does exactly the same thing, Intuit included. Intuit has not, and never will, hold back releasing a new version or update to a software product like QuickBooks just so that their third party integrations and other toolmakers can build against the release version. They release GM RCs with a small amount of lead time to shakedown major regressions and give those third parties a little headway, but the release timeframe is based on Intuit's needs, not those of third parties.
