As a PC and Mac user, I am able to compare and contrast, praise and insult each platform without being accused of bias. To this end, I have been given the task of upgrading my Mac operating system to the latest version and helping to broaden the minds of PC Update readers.

Like Microsoft's Windows, the operating system on the Mac has gone through gradual changes, with each version built on top of the previous one - Mac OS 9.2 being at the top of the pile. But with the release of "OS X" (that's a 10, not the letter X), things have changed drastically.

Much like the philosophy behind the change from Windows 3.x to Windows 95, Apple's latest operating system has been rebuilt from the ground up. Unlike Windows 95, however, Apple really did start completely from scratch and built a completely new system, based on UNIX.

Mac and UNIX? Two words you wouldn't think to hear together. But by creating an OS with the powerful, stable and highly regarded UNIX base, plus industry standard technologies (eg a PDF-based Quartz 2D graphics engine for display and printing, OpenGL for 3D display, integrated ColorSync for accurate colours, Quicktime), topped by the user friendly Apple Macintosh graphical user interface (GUI), it has the best of both worlds.
 
Installation

One of the benefits of Apple's monopoly is that all the system components work well together - there's no driver problems, IRQ conflicts or "plug and pray" bits and pieces. The operating system understands exactly what is in the computer case, so the installation process was purely a matter of double-clicking on the installer file on the CD, and off it went. A few user information entries towards the end, and it was done - although the peripheral test comes later!

Networking and the Internet

OS X continues the excellent Mac Internet, network and multiple-user functionality, which are flawlessly integrated into the operating system and are straightforward to set up and configure. Apparently networking with older Macs can prove to be a problem, but on the other hand, as it uses TCP/IP as its basis, networking with other machines such as PCs is possible without needing costly software such as Dave or PCMaclan. Simultaneous network connections are easy, with any combination of Ethernet, Airport (wireless), Internet connection and printer sharing possible.

The operating system comes with its own e-mail client called Mail, which is straightforward and elegant, but there is an updated version of Microsoft Internet Explorer for OS X available (Figure 1), although it's a bit buggy. Otherwise, any of the pre-OS X software packages can be used (under "classic" - see later in this review). Although there are specific ISPs around for Mac users, I've had no trouble connecting via the Melbourne PC User Group members' service - in fact it's easier to configure for the Internet than the PC.

The Aqua Look

The "aqua" look of the operating system, is quite beautiful, with a lot of details such as shadowing, semi-transparent and morphing windows, bouncing icons, and ultra-smooth text due to improved anti-aliasing - many of which will probably be turned off by the expert user when the fun wears off. The Apple Mac lives up to its reputation of being user friendly with addition of elements such as traffic lights on each window - press green to maximise, amber to minimise to the dock and red to close - and easy to find system options.

New to the Mac is a "dock" along the bottom of the screen, basically like the Windows task bar, which is a depository for just about anything you want such as programs, open files and system information. Its default size is a waste of screen space, but when it's made smaller it's a lot more useful, although I find it clunky in comparison to the Windows task bar. OS X still has the pull down menus from the top of the screen (Figure 2), so I may well dump the dock altogether and set up my shortcuts as per OS 9.

The Mac has always been behind the PC when it comes to file management, but it has finally improved on this, with features such as incorporating previews of movie and graphics files (Figure 3). It's not quite Explorer and feels very different, but there's been a marked improvement. The Icon view is shown in Figure 4.

Figure 3. The finder, with a QuickTime movie previewed  in the right-most column. It can be played there as a  small size (as QuickTime is embedded into the operating system), or double clicked on and opened up in its own QuickTime screen.

Figure 4. Icon view. The icon size can be set at a variety  of different sizes, including quite large like this - it's nice

Software Compatibility

Every single application is affected by such a dramatic change in the operating system, so developers must "carbonise" their programs, which is the term for updating them for use by OS X. The new operating system results in dramatic improvements in the performance of the programs, but for the programs that haven't been updated yet, or for those who haven't bought the latest versions, there are two choices:

1. Open the programs as per normal, and OS X will automatically run the program in a "classic" environment, which is like running a DOS program in a DOS box within Windows. The computer is then essentially running two operating systems at the same time, but can manage quite well if there is  256 MB of RAM available (Figure 5).   2. Change a control panel setting so that a restart will boot the computer into a native running OS 9 - thanks to the seamless dual-boot facility created during the installation process. There's probably a small improvement in performance running OS 9 this way, but the main benefit is access to peripherals that aren't yet accessible from OS X. The lack of carbonised programs is the major hurdle at the moment, particularly as none of the big three in the graphics world - Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator and QuarkXPress are OS X ready, and won't be until their next major upgrades.

Figure 5. "Classic" mode: running an OS 9 program  within OS X.

Peripherals

A major concern with the current version of OS X is its lack of peripheral support, especially when it comes to those connected by SCSI, which is basically being phased out in favour of USB and FireWire (IEEE 1394). This phasing out seems to be the case with PCs as well, but Apple, in its haste to embrace this new technology, has been unusually user-unfriendly in lack of backward support for devices which usually outlast the upgrading of the computer itself. For example, I can only use my perfectly good SCSI scanner and CD-Burner by booting back into OS 9. And even if I was using a USB CD burner, OS X won't support that until the next update comes out (version 10.1). There's the same problem with playing DVDs, despite most mid-high end Macs shipping complete with DVD players.

Conclusion

OS X is an extremely powerful operating system that comes complete with advanced protected memory, pre-emptive multitasking, virtual memory system and built in PDF technology, all wrapped up in the pretty aqua interface while still leaving what's under the hood accessible for the UNIX-experts.
 
However, it's more a matter of seeing the potential at this stage, as it has been released before there is the software and peripheral support for it. Can you imagine the outrage if Windows XP were to come out and couldn't read SCSI devices or access the DVD drive? To some extent the "classic" mode circumvents this short term annoyance.

If you never have the pleasure of using the Macintosh operating system, you'll have to settle for the upcoming Windows XP, which has been described as a hybrid of Windows and OS X. It's not as hard as it seems swapping between two different operating systems, and it has certainly given me the opportunity to experience the good and the bad of both!

Minimum System Requirements:
 
iMac/G3 or up, 128 MB RAM
Review copy supplied by Apple Australia.
RRP $229.00

Reprinted from the October 2001 issue of PC Update, the magazine of Melbourne PC User Group, Australia

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