So can somebody please explain to me why the first gen iPad missed out on ios 6?

I suppose the 256kb RAM and A4 CPU cannot cope with IOS 6

Suggest you ugrade to IOS 5.1.1 and you'll know why.

IOS 5.1.1 runs fine on my iPad 1.

I do agree, however, that iOS 6 might have been asking too much from the iPad 1 hardware.

safrones wrote:

Is that what you really believe?

I don't know cause Apple decided for me.

As does Microsoft anytime that they release a new update that is no longer compatible with the old PC hardware.

I would hope that Microsoft and Apple would both know what operating systems will run on the hardware that is produced for them.

I would also hope that Microsoft and Apple know better than you do as to what would work on their devices, tablets, computers, phones .... How much time and money have you put into research and development on the iPad?

I have an iPad 2, so likely when iOS7 comes out I won't qualify. I gotta say I won't mind. iOS6 didn't give me anything spectacular. And I would rather have a device with an older operating system that runs steady and with good speed, than put a higher OS on it that turns it into a brick.

Both PC's and Macs have limited backwards compatibility. That's the nature of it all.

I do have to say, you really wouldn't have gained anything with iOS6. I can't think of any feature that was a 'wow' to me, and in fact there are many that would envy you still having google maps and the Youtube app.