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Architosh has a full compliment of material on Mac OS X and adds additional material not found in our older Mac OS X page. Below you will find technical resources, articles and sites devoted to all things Mac OS X.


Mac OS X is Apple's new, next-generation Mac operating system for Apple PowerPC computers. Mac OS X is expected to be completed Feb. 24th, 2001, and has been under development since Apple acquired NeXT in 1997 from Steve Jobs.

Mac OS X is the most modern operating system in the world. Based on a combination of NeXT's OPENSTEP (UNIX) operating system, classic Mac OS X APIs and FreeBSD UNIX, Mac OS X exceeds all other operating systems in existence in combination of legendary Mac "ease-of-use" and industrial UNIX power and stability.

What makes Mac OS X Modern?
In general the use of the word "modern" in OS's is reserved for those OS's which have all of the following UNIX attributes: 1 - a microkernel, 2 - full, protective memory, 3 - multiprocessing ability, 4 - preemptive multitasking, and 5 - multithreading. The current version of Mac OS has only some of these, which is why the Mac has never been a modern OS.

Mac OS X is Apple's first complete leap over Microsoft in many years, providing a truly modern OS to the consumer masses before Microsoft is able to complete that difficult objective. Furthermore, Mac OS X offers some truly revolutionary features that rivals like Microsoft will not emulate for many years to come. In particular are its PostScript/PDF-based imaging engine called Quartz.

Mac OS X, a 64-bit OS, will have the unique ability to run Classic 32-bit Mac OS applications at native speeds—all transparently! Mac OS X will also offer the most advanced Java 2 support.

For more up-to-date Mac OS X information visit the Mac OS X page at Apple and the resources below.

For general information on computer operating systems go to the Web site OS Data.com

 

Mac OS X Ready Applications List
The following list of applications are already in some stage of Mac OS X development. (X = Ready Now, B = In Beta, D = Under development): Updated List!
Status: Application:
X ArchiCAD
D BOA 3.0
X BodyPaint 3D
X Bryce
X CADintosh
X Cinema4D
D

FormZ

X GraphicsConverter 4.1
X LightWave 3D
X Lightworks Classic
X Lightworks Lite
X Lightworks Pro
B MacDraft 5
X Maya for Mac OS X
X Meshworks
X Nonio C
X POV-Ray for Mac OS
D solidThinking
B VectorWorks
B VectorWorks ARCHITECT
B VectorWorks LANDMARK
B VectorWorks SPOTLIGHT
Mac OS X Future / Wish List
The following list of applications are currently Classic Mac OS applications that are available now. We wish to see all of them on the Mac OS X Ready List soon. Here is the development status. (U = undetermined/under consideration, H9 = Heritage Mac OS 9, continued development, HF = Heritage Mac OS 9, development on hold or terminated, H7-8 = Heritage Mac OS, development limited to system 7-8.) Ongoing List!
Status: Application:
U 3D World
U Artlantis
U cumTerra
U DomusTerra
U MCnurbs Creator
U Microspot Interiors
U Neoform
U Pixels3D
U ZOOM

The following listing of websites are devoted to Mac OS X, including some key Apple resources.

Apple - Mac OS X
Apple - Mac OS X Developer Resources
• Apple - Mac OS X Products Guide
• Apple - Mac Classic Compatible Products Guide
Apple - Mac OS X Public Beta
MacNN - OS X
ArsTechnica
Stepwise
Apple - Official Darwin Site
Darwin OS.org
MacCentral - Mac OS X
MacPowerUser

 

Feature/Benefit Mac OS X Windows 2000/NT Linux #
UI (GUI): aesthetics Aqua No Aqua abilities No Aqua abilities
Graphics - native PDF Yes - In Quartz No - extra software No - extra software
2
Hardware-software integration Better Good Worse
Ease-of-Use Legendary Good Worse
Built-in scripting Yes - AppleScript No No  
Number of Bits 64-bit 32-bit (partial 64) 32 or 64-bit
6
Max. Processors-workstation 2-4 2 4
7
Max. Processors-server 2-4 8 4
7
Full Kernel Yes-Mach Yes-Proprietary Yes-Linux
Full protected memory Yes Yes Yes
Multiprocessing Yes Yes Yes
Preemptive multitasking Yes Yes Yes
Multithreading Yes Yes Yes
POSIX compliance Yes No - partial Yes
Java 2 Support Yes ? ?
Enterprise Servers Good Good Better
Web Application Development Good Better Good
Publishing - Print Better Good Worse
Publishing - Web Better Good Worse
High-End Workstation Better Better Better
Web Server Better Good Better
8
Software - Overall Good Better Good
Software - Creative Better Good Worse
Software - Business Good Better Good
Software - Games Good Better Good
Software - CAD Good Better Good  
Software - 3D/Animation Better Better Good  

As you can see from the above chart Mac OS X is every bit as powerful as Linux or Windows 2000 with some key advantages, both at the "usability level" and the "industrial strength level".

Usability

Industrial Strength

Mac OS X exceeds Windows and Linux on usability on the basis of its advanced Mac graphical user interface, complete hardware to software integration and built-in scripting language, AppleScript.

In the publishing and creative industries leading products are often Mac-centric, only Mac or Mac first, providing the richest set of top-tier solutions. Examples include Final Cut Pro and the Altivec enhanced Adobe Photoshop.

Mac OS X exceeds Windows and Linux on industrial strength potential and on current offerings, considering its pre-version 1.0 status.

Mac OS X is fully 64-bit ready, supports more processors in workstations (up to 4) and takes advantage of them with vector processing via AltiVec processing units.

Mac OS X has a fully advanced, customized Apache Web server solution built-in to the OS and includes full support for all Apache modules - something Windows 2000 doesn't have. Furthermore, OS X includes a POSIX compatibility (UNIX standard API set) that Windows only partially has.

Mac OS X offers full Java 2 support.

For a very technical but enjoyable introduction to all operating systems available with a remarkable level of resources go on over to the OperatingSystems.net website.

Technical Notes from Chart Above.

Click on a note number in the chart or see below for explanation. Coming!

 

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