| 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
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| 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! |
