Steve Jobs has shaken up the computer industry quite a bit in the
past few years. The
iMac changed computer exterior design from bland boxes to colorful
cases. The iBook has
proven to be a big success, ranking among the top portable 
computers in recent months. However, these triumphs will
appear to be minor footnotes compared to the upcoming course change.
Mac OS X, long awaited and coming soon, is the Macintosh that Steve
Jobs always intended. When the Apple board of directors ousted him in
the 80's, he built a new OS called NeXT. Mac OS X borrows from Steve's
alternate operating system in addition to UNIX and the current Mac OS.
OS X demands major processing power, so only owners of G3 or G4 Macs
with at the very least 64 MB of memory will have the option of
upgrading. However, even the early sub-300 MHz G3s should run OS X
adequately.
The transition should be smooth - both for upgrading Mac users and
for converting Windows users. Any applications that run under Mac OS 9
will operate in the "Classic" mode in OS X. The Dock will take place of
popup windows that some Mac users (like me) put to excellent use,
storing commonly used files and application aliases.
The Finder will be the most dramatic difference for current Mac
users. First of all, there will be no drives on the desktop, at least
from what is shown in the developer previews. They will be on a level
in the Finder. From there, opening a folder or drive can either spring
open another window, as it currently does, or display the contents in
the same Finder window. This strongly resembles Windows, but not quite.
The similarities are enough, however, to make conversion simple and
sweet for current Windows users. Terms such as minimize and maximize
are a good adaptation for the Mac OS. Although being different is the
slogan, being too different is just not good for sales.
As far as the Roman Numeral X standing for 10, it has caused some
problems, though not addressed anywhere I've read. Many people refer to
it as OS X, pronouncing the letter "X" instead of the number
"10." Also, what names will the next versions have? It will be
impossible to upgrade to an OS 10.0.1, since there is no Roman Numeral
for "0". Will OS 10.5 be OS X.V? My only worry is that the upgrades
will be like Windows: mysterious and unnamed. Microsoft upgraded
Windows 95 numerous times before Windows 98, but didn't change the
number. I am hoping that Apple will not do the same.
The new OS will have excellent reliability. With protected memory on
all Carbon and Cocoa applications, system crashes will become a thing
of the past. Also, virtual memory will automatically activate as it is
needed, so "out of memory" dialogs will also have a spot in Mac history
books. The new interface, Aqua, although despised by some, will attract
more users than just about any other feature. You can probably catch it
in movies this summer. Aqua, simply put, is art. It creates an
organic, flowing interface which soothes the eye with beauty. Some
denounce it as "eye candy." Yeah, that's what they said about the iMac.
If you have to sit in front of a computer most or even part of the day,
do you want a dull gray rigid interface staring at you, or one that
almost comes to life? If you don't like Aqua, do me and everyone else a
favor and don't gripe about it. I've read too many irate reader posts
on MacCentral, and it gets kinda old.
Interfaces must and will continue to change with time. Can you
imagine computers a hundred years from now even using graphic
interfaces? I certainly hope that my great-grandchildren's computer
will operate in the background of life, not sitting on a desk. Apple
and the Macintosh must change with time.
Of course, there's nothing wrong with sticking to OS 9 or even 8.
They will do the same things they do now. I plan to keep my current
computer running Mac OS 9. I'll either install Mac OS X on a new
computer or just wait until I can buy a Mac with it preinstalled.
Mac OS X, arriving in stores at midyear and on new Macs starting in
2001 (we hope), will change the computer industry in ways the iMac
could only dream of. Steve Jobs has given us high expectations, and I
feel that those expectations are not bloated. The transfer will be the
maker or the breaker. Hopefully it will go by smoothly. If so, Apple
will undoubtedly gain market share, perhaps beyond to 15% by 2002; if
not, may God help us.
Although, I'm not qualified to make these kind of economic
predictions, I'm just telling you what I think. I'm looking forward to
change. It's the only way to advance. Hopefully the Mac faithful share
my opinion.
