Mac Os X 10.1 Upgrade :: Education by Design Store

Editorial Review
Apple has a way of creating and nurturing intense enthusiasm among users, and not since the switch to the PowerPC architecture have Apple loyalists been as excited as they are now with the release of Mac OS X, the long-awaited, wholly new operating system for the Macintosh.

History lesson
Actually, "wholly new" isn't entirely true. Mac OS X is built on the foundation and architecture laid by the late NeXT Computer, Inc., in its NeXTSTEP operating system. Users familiar with NeXTSTEP (there are at least three of us) will see many familiar features in OS X, such as the spinning rainbow ball, NetInfo, and dot-app folder packages, but there is a lot of new ground here, too.

Mac OS X essentially takes the best of NeXTSTEP (the Unix core, NetInfo underpinnings, OS Services, Objective C, etc.) and goes even further, making it Macintosh. On the surface of OS X, we have fancy new windows and a new desktop (the Aqua interface), new file open/save dialog boxes, new menus... but these are just the fancy interface features. The real strength is under the hood. Think of it as having the power, strength, and flexibility of Unix, but with the ease of use of Macintosh.

Who should (and shouldn't) upgrade?
Who should upgrade to Mac OS X? The answer is both simple and complex: everybody with a blue and white G3 and later Macintosh, especially those with a dual-processor G4, will benefit from the new OS. That's the short answer.

The long answer is this: If you use your Mac on a daily basis to earn your living, you won't be able to use Mac OS X for everything, because the chances are good that as of this writing (late March, 2001), the applications you use most aren't fully compatible with OS X. Adobe, Macromedia, Quark, and others have all promised OS X versions of their flagship apps, but none are yet shipping.

The good news is that it's fairly easy to set up your system to start up using either Mac OS X or OS 9.1, and, in many cases, you can run Mac OS X and still run your legacy application, thanks to Mac OS X's Classic mode. Be careful doing this--not all applications are happy when running under Classic mode, and some features might not work. For now, you'll just have to try them and see.

There are still some things to be ironed out, too. Wacom, the tablet manufacturer, has yet to release a driver for Mac OS X. The company's Web site says a driver will be out by summer, but for now the tablet is useless under Mac OS X. Also, only USB printers work, and only some drivers are available. Ditto for scanners. SCSI support isn't all there, either (rendering our Zip and Jaz drives useless under OS X). USB Zip drives should work, though.

So, why upgrade?
For starters, when you buy Mac OS X, you get three CDs in the box: the Mac OS X CD, a Mac OS 9.1 CD, and the Mac OS X Developer's Tools CD. Most end users won't be interested in the Developer's CD, but there are probably quite a few people interested in learning how to program but who don't know where to start. Programming under Mac OS X is a real pleasure, and giving away the tools to create great applications is a terrific idea. We can't wait to see what the shareware market will look like one year from now.

Many users who haven't already upgraded to Mac OS 9.1 should look at this upgrade from a different perspective: it's an upgrade to OS 9.1, but you also get Mac OS X bundled with it.

OS X has some pretty attractive features, making it worth the learning curve:

Protected memory. In short, if an application crashes, the whole system doesn't go down with it.
Improved multiprocessor support. If you've got a dual-processor G4, you want Mac OS X and as many OS X applications as you can get. Make those two little CPUs earn their keep!
Improved multitasking. Running multiple applications at once is now cause for celebration, not a coffee break.
Improved networking. Internet and intranet networking are now supported at a core level, making them faster and more reliable.
Support for large disks, large amounts of RAM, and more than two processors. So you think a dual G4 is fast? Expect to see a quad G4 soon.
And if the above tangible technical reasons aren't enough, do it just for the interface. The customizable dock, windows, icons, and translucent menus are just beautiful, and the integration of words, pictures, music, and movies is seamless.

Upgrade now. Boot up into Mac OS 9.1 90 percent of the time and the remaining 10 percent use Mac OS X. Learn the interface and nuances of the new features. As more native Mac OS X applications (i.e., the ones you need) become available in the coming months, watch the 90/10 percentage swing toward 10/90. Before you know it, you won't be able to remember the last time you started up OS 9.1, and you'll hate it when you do. --Mike Caputo
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