TidBITS#430/18-May-98 ===================== So where is the future of the Mac OS? Geoff Duncan looks at Rhapsody, the Mac OS, and the path to Mac OS X. Also this week, we report on new QuickTime licensing policies, and Jeff Carlson takes special notice of Apple's snazzy new industrial designs. In the news, we note antitrust suits filed against Microsoft; releases of Internet Explorer 4.01, GoLive CyberStudio 3, AutoShare 2.3, and Adobe Photoshop 5; and bid a fond farewell to MacWEEK as we know it. Topics: MailBITS/18-May-98 Apple Revises QuickTime 3 Licensing Look Different: Excellence in Apple Design Mac OS X: Rhapsody a Mac Developer Could Love Copyright 1998 TidBITS Electronic Publishing. All rights reserved. Information: Comments: --------------------------------------------------------------- This issue of TidBITS sponsored in part by: * APS Technologies -- 800/443-4199 -- -- How do you back up your APS hard drives? Try APS tape, removable, and CDR drives! Weekly specials at ! * Northwest Nexus -- 1 888-NWNEXUS -- Internet business solutions throughout the Pacific Northwest. * Small Dog Electronics -- Improve your access - 56K Modem Sale! Global Village 56K with OS 8 and Free ITU V.90 upgrade: $115! TDK CyberExpress 5600 56K PC Card modem: $119 For Details: -- 802/496-7171 * Cyberian Outpost -- the Cool Place to Shop for Computer Stuff! <- NEW! Lowest Prices on Photoshop 5.0! Full package: $579.95. Upgrade: $169.95. Order online or call 860/927-2050 x9228 * Microsoft Office 98 Macintosh Edition -- Office applications <--- NEW! so Mac-like, it's unbelievable. Learn more about how Office 98 perfectly unites Microsoft and the Mac. It's all happening at: * PHOTOSHOP GIF WEB TOOL: A must for busy Web creators, smartGIF <- NEW! exports Photoshop images as individual GIFs for cool effects! SALE! Get smartGIF today for only $89.95 (regularly $149). From SiteJazz: --------------------------------------------------------------- MailBITS/18-May-98 ------------------ **Antitrust Lawsuits Filed Against Microsoft** -- After settlement talks collapsed this weekend, the United States Department of Justice and 20 states have filed closely related antitrust lawsuits against Microsoft. The lawsuits allege that Microsoft has illegally exploited its dominant position in operating systems to extend that dominance into the Internet software market. In addition, the lawsuit filed by the states accuses Microsoft of unfairly using its position to promote Microsoft Office at the expense of competitors. Microsoft has said that it will fight the charges in court, although Microsoft chairman Bill Gates also said the company is still open to settling. For more details, see ZDNet's "Special Report: U.S. v. Microsoft." [ACE] **Farewell MacWEEK, Welcome e/media Weekly** -- Mac Publishing announced that as of the 24-Aug-98 issue, MacWEEK will change its name to e/media Weekly (or Emedia Weekly, or EMedia Weekly, depending on the source you read). The 11-year-old magazine's new tag line will be "The Newsweekly for Digital Media Managers;" the title change is the final step in a shift to focus on digital media professionals, regardless of platform. e/media Weekly will keep its controlled circulation at 85,000 readers, 70 percent of whom reportedly work in multi-platform environments. According to a report from Matthew Rothenberg, director of online content for Mac Publishing, MacWEEK Online will remain in operation. [ACE] **Internet Explorer 4.01: Faster, More Stable** -- Microsoft has released Internet Explorer 4.01, a must-have upgrade for Internet Explorer users. Although there's only a single new feature - support for Apple's ColorSync technology so specially created JPEG images are displayed exactly as their creators intended - Internet Explorer 4.01 incorporates numerous bug fixes and speed improvements. Program startup and overall page display performance has improved noticeably, and Microsoft claims enhanced Java performance as well. Stability is always hard to evaluate objectively, but in our testing, 4.01 crashes less often than 4.0 did. Included in the Internet Explorer 4.01 package is Outlook Express 4.01, which also sports performance improvements, bug fixes, plus a few new features. Outlook Express now provides support for outgoing rules, support for the StuffIt Engine, additional importing capabilities, and improved nickname support. The full combined download ranges from 12.6 MB to a whopping 29.2 MB, although if you download the Active Setup Installer (327K), you can choose which components you want to download and install. [ACE] **New Photoshop 5 Learns to Edit Type** -- It's taken several years, but finally Photoshop's Type tool behaves like... a Type tool! Photoshop 5, the new version of Adobe's undisputed leader among image-editing applications, began shipping last week with support for editable text; in previous versions, text entered in the Type dialog box was rasterized directly to pixels, which you then had to alter using Photoshop's image tools. Also featured in this release are multiple levels of undo and redo via the new History palette, enhanced color management, built-in support for spot-color channels, built-in layer effects (such as drop shadows and bevels), a more robust Actions palette capable of automating most of Photoshop's functions, and more. Upgrades are $199 (for the full version) and $299 (upgrading from the LE "light" version); the retail price is $999, although prices from companies like TidBITS sponsor Cyberian Outpost are significantly cheaper - see the sponsorship area above for details). Although the product officially shipped this week, Adobe is noting a four to six week backlog of orders, though reports are trickling in that a few users have begun receiving upgrades. [JLC] **CyberStudio 3 Goes Live** -- As the Web design industry evolves, companies offering Web page creation tools are discovering that designers want to build sites with WYSIWYG editors - and they also want to manipulate the resulting code by hand. GoLive's CyberStudio 3, released last week, delivers both approaches and more (see Tonya Engst's "Spinning the Web Part 4: CyberStudio" in TidBITS-387_). While building pages graphically, users can control how the HTML is formatted, add interactivity using pre-built JavaScript Actions, control Cascading Style Sheets and Dynamic HTML (DHTML) effects, and manage all of the assets of complex sites. GoLive CyberStudio 3 Professional Edition is available at an introductory price of $299 (normal price is $549). Owners of CyberStudio 2 can upgrade electronically for free if the product was bought after 01-Jan-98; customers who purchased any version prior to 01-Jan-98 can upgrade electronically for $99. A 30-day trial version can be downloaded (8.7 MB) or delivered on CD-ROM. [JLC] **Apple Logo Losing Its Colors** -- Apple loyalists will no longer be able to claim they "bleed in six colors." According to Time, Apple is peeling away the six rainbow-colored bands from the Apple logo and replacing them with "white or another solid," such as blue for the iMac. Steve Jobs allegedly made the decision about seven months ago with his design, advertising, and marketing executives, saying that the colors echoed color schemes of the 1970s and early 1980s. Likening the Apple logo to Nike's logo, Jobs said, "The shape is our swoosh." [JLC] **AutoShare 2.3 Released** -- Mikael Hansen has released version 2.3 of AutoShare, his freeware mailing list manager and autoresponder. The main new feature is support for the "-on" and "-off" addresses that we helped popularize with the TidBITS list for easy subscribing and unsubscribing. Other improvements in AutoShare 2.3 include support for unknown accounts and enhancements to the bounce module, plus minor improvements and bug fixes. The download is 1.7 MB. [ACE] **Crossed Chips and Cables** -- In TidBITS-429_, the excitement of new PowerBooks and a forthcoming PalmPilot MacPac caused Managing Editor Jeff Carlson's personal wires to suffer a temporary short. It had been reported by many sources that the low-end processor for the PowerBook G3 series is a PowerPC 740 (See "Apple Hardware Strategy: Alluring PowerBooks and iMac"). In fact, Apple's Developer Note released last week confirms that all of the PowerBook models are running on the PowerPC 750 chip; the 233 MHz version's main difference is that it lacks a backside cache. As for the PalmPilot gaffe (see "Claris Organizer Reincarnated as PalmPilot MacPac"), several readers pointed out that the adapter offered in the MacPac enables you to connect to a Macintosh's serial port, not the ADB port. [JLC] Apple Revises QuickTime 3 Licensing ----------------------------------- by Geoff Duncan In a move sure to be welcomed by developers and users, Apple has announced plans to revise QuickTime 3 licensing policies (see "Furor Over Developer Programs & QuickTime Licensing" in TidBITS-425_). The original QuickTime 3 licensing agreement allowed royalty-free distribution, but only if developers copied a Get QuickTime Pro movie to the desktop each time their program launched. This requirement had been labeled "desktop spamming" and was widely criticized for creating technical support burdens as well as opportunities for Trojan horses. Apple also discontinued all licensing of QuickTime 2.x, leaving no option for products using QuickTime under Windows 3.1. The new QuickTime 3 licensing terms, which should be available along with new QuickTime 3.0 installers at the end of May, change the terms of QuickTime 3's royalty-free distribution such that developers must run the QuickTime 3 installer as part of their product's installation, or direct users to it if the product doesn't have an installer. The new QuickTime 3 installer will show an ad for QuickTime 3 Pro and copy the Get QuickTime Pro movie to the user's desktop _once_, rather than every time the product is launched. As before, products can include ad-free versions of QuickTime 3 or QuickTime 3 Pro for $1 or $2 per copy. In addition, Apple plans to revise the QuickTime Web browser plug-in so that it plays the Get QuickTime Pro movie (and copies it to the desktop) only the first time it's invoked, rather than every time. Apple has also introduced new licensing terms for QuickTime 2.1.2 for Windows, so if Windows products using QuickTime distribute QuickTime 3, they can include QuickTime 2.1.2 for Windows 3.1 systems only. Although we applaud Apple for responding positively to the QuickTime 3 licensing debacle, the problems with the original policies and (more importantly) the distrust and animosity they generated during the last several weeks could have been avoided altogether if Apple hadn't acted unilaterally. Look Different: Excellence in Apple Design ------------------------------------------ by Jeff Carlson If you've seen pictures of Apple's new iMac, you probably didn't start talking about its G3 processor or USB ports. No, conversations about the new consumer Mac sound more like: "It's an X-Wing pilot's helmet." "It's a half-melted blue gumdrop on its side." "A big lozenge?" "You know, a roundy-looking, marshmallowish, translucent glob for the rest of us." Although it's been only a short time since the iMac's introduction, the machine is already on people's minds - without the benefit of hands-on experience, application-specific benchmarks, or formal product reviews; the little computer isn't even shipping for another 90 days. Macintosh retailers have even reported increased traffic from customers asking about the iMac. Why the excitement? Good, unique industrial design. **Look Different** -- For the most part, the computer industry has put little effort into industrial design. Most computers are boring, beige boxes that emphasize specifications over appearance. As long as the job gets done, who cares what it looks like? Is it any wonder that many PCs get stuck beneath desks? In 1984, the original Macintosh captured people's imagination partly because of its friendly, all-in-one design. With its rounded edges, slightly angled front, and built-in handle, the Mac became an information-age device you wanted to touch and weren't afraid to use. Time Magazine named it 1984's "Design of the Year." (For a visual history of Apple industrial design, both shipping and conceptual works, check out the book AppleDesign, by Paul Kunkel and Rick English.) Good design invariably makes a product stand apart from the crowd. Although the new PowerBook G3 series was also introduced on the same day as the iMac - featuring a downright beautiful design that laughs at rectilinear PC laptops - it was the iMac's completely different, almost organic (if you consider translucent blue to be organic) form factor that appeared in headlines and around water coolers the next day. **Work Different** -- Striking design prompts discussion (how many people do you know who have asked, "What do you think of the blob?"), and generates valuable word-of-mouth, the best marketing in existence. But good design is also its own communication between company and consumer; it demonstrates that a company is interested in how its customer uses and feels about the product, and that it is willing to expend the resources necessary to improve that experience. This is apparent not only in how sleek, or eye-catching, or creative something appears, but in how it's used. Steve Jobs said at his Worldwide Developer Conference keynote that he "found the best industrial design group in the world at Apple," and their attention to detail is apparent in the new designs. The new PowerBooks, for example, are more than attractive: they're the easiest PowerBooks to open to perform RAM or hard drive upgrades; the expansion bay modules employ levers to eject batteries and storage devices; the rear door is spring loaded and feels more durable than previous models (it just might stay attached for the long run). Similarly, the desktop G3 models, like the Power Mac 7500 design, open easily for user-installable upgrades. If you've ever had to install a modem or hard drive into most PCs, you'll appreciate the lack of hand-gymnastics required to connect such devices. This kind of detail doesn't go unnoticed, and no doubt contributes to owners' allegiance to their Macintoshes. It used to be that a rectangular metal box was perfectly acceptable for a computer, but no more. Apple is demonstrating that design counts, and I'm willing to bet that buyers will agree in volume. Mac OS X: Rhapsody a Mac Developer Could Love --------------------------------------------- by Geoff Duncan Last week during his keynote address at Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference, Steve Jobs outlined Apple's plans for Mac OS 8 and Rhapsody and introduced two new elements: the Carbon API and Mac OS X ("Ten"). As WWDC unfolded, Apple revealed more information about Mac OS X and future operating system plans. Although many unanswered questions remain, enough detail is available to begin analyzing Apple's OS plans. **The Lineage of Mac OS X** -- Although this is an oversimplification, Mac OS X is best described as an enhanced version of Rhapsody, Apple's forthcoming operating system derived from NeXT's OpenStep technology. Rhapsody is based on the Mach microkernel and runs a version of BSD Unix under the hood, although it hides the Unix command line unless the user specifically asks for it. Also included is the "Blue Box," essentially a Rhapsody application that runs the Mac OS and thus Mac OS applications, although those applications don't receive the benefits of the modern Rhapsody OS, like memory protection and preemptive multitasking. Rhapsody also includes the Yellow Box, a sophisticated application environment. Mac OS applications would have to be rewritten to take advantage of the Yellow Box, but in doing so would become "first class citizens" under Rhapsody, gaining the advantages of the new operating system. In addition, developers would be able to recompile Yellow Box applications for versions of the Yellow Box which run on Intel-based systems or even under the old Mac OS. These capabilities would, arguably, make the Yellow Box the best choice for cross-platform development. Rhapsody also supports Java, so Java applications under Rhapsody reap the full benefits of the operating system. So, essentially Rhapsody can run four kinds of programs: * Mac OS (via the Blue Box) * Java * Yellow Box * BSD Unix Mac OS X adds to this picture. Mac OS X will still be based on the Mach microkernel (version 3), and will also run BSD Unix under the hood and feature a Blue Box that will run most existing Mac OS applications, although without the advanced features of the new operating system. And, Mac OS X will still include Java support and the Yellow Box. The problem that Apple - and Macintosh developers - encountered with Rhapsody was that to gain the benefits of a modern operating system, developers had to rewrite their applications for the Yellow Box from scratch. So, Apple has introduced the Carbon API, a large subset of the existing Mac OS system services that will be fully supported under Mac OS X. Programs written to the Carbon API gain all the benefits of a modern operating system, but don't need to have their Mac OS source code entirely rewritten. According to Apple, typical Mac OS applications would need a 10 percent tune-up to become a "carbon life form." In addition, Apple plans to release Carbon as a set of libraries for the current Mac OS 8.x, so "carbon life forms" can run under Mac OS X _and_ under future derivations of Mac OS 8 without alteration. So, Mac OS X will be able to run five kinds of programs: * Mac OS (via the Blue Box) * Java * Yellow Box * BSD Unix * Carbon Architecturally, Mac OS X is essentially the same as Rhapsody: the difference is that it's allowing a much simpler (and more practical) means for current Mac OS developers to make their programs first class citizens. **What's In & What's Out... For Now** -- In addition to the primary features of Rhapsody, Apple also elaborated on some of the components of Mac OS X at WWDC. * Blue Box applications will run alongside other Mac OS X applications, rather than the Blue Box being accessible only via a full-screen mode or within a separate window. This is a key point for the usability of Blue Box applications, although it may lead to some user confusion about which applications are running in the Blue Box, which are not, and what the differences might be. * Mac OS X will not have a 68K emulator, although (presumably) the Blue Box within Mac OS X will contain an emulator in order to run current Mac OS applications. Mac OS X will be fully PowerPC- native. * Display Postscript, a much-ballyhooed feature of OpenStep and Rhapsody, will _not_ be present in Mac OS X since Adobe has ceased development of Display PostScript. Instead, Apple says it will support a PostScript-like imaging model in Mac OS X and replace the default EPS image format used in OpenStep with Adobe's PDF format. Apple also says it will be adding GX-like capabilities to both QuickDraw and Mac OS X's typographic features. Unfortunately, QuickDraw GX will be dead under Mac OS X and Carbon, which is a shame since it's considerably more advanced than anything Adobe has to offer and Apple owns it. * Mac OS X will include full scripting support for Carbon, Yellow Box, Java, and Mac OS applications. * Apple says full-featured cryptographic technologies will be included in Mac OS X, along with utilities resembling the digital signature manager and keychain that originally appeared with PowerTalk in System 7 Pro. * Although Apple has been emphatic about releasing libraries to enable Mac OS 8.x to run Carbon applications, Apple hasn't been clear about whether it will live up to last year's big WWDC promise to release the Yellow Box for Mac OS 8.x. * Mac OS X will be "optimized" for PowerPC G3 systems; it's not clear whether Mac OS X will support earlier PowerPC 603- or 604- based machines. A perusal through Apple's preliminary specification for the Carbon API reveals that some programs will be harder to port to Mac OS X than others. Extensions as we know them won't exist under Mac OS X - although they apparently can load under the Blue Box and thus only be available to Blue Box applications, which could lead to a confusing user experience. It's not clear what sort of mechanism Apple will provide under Mac OS X to replace extensions. In addition, any program that accesses hardware directly - like Ethernet or PC Cards - will need to be revised to run under Carbon since hardware access is the exclusive province of the Mac OS X operating system. Apple hasn't made decisions on the extent to which some technologies like Game Sprockets, Speech, and the Power Manager will be supported in Carbon. You can check out session notes from WWDC online, although, unfortunately, much of this material consists of large JPEG images of session slides. Apple's preliminary Carbon specification is also available (in PDF format) from Apple's Mac OS X developer site. **What About Intel?** A big question on the minds of some developers is the fate of Yellow Box for Intel, a set of Windows 95/NT libraries that allow applications written for the Yellow Box to run on the Windows platform with virtually no fuss. According to Apple, the Intel version of Yellow Box is alive and well, but the Intel runtime will _not_ be freely distributable, in contradiction to what Apple said at WWDC in 1997. Reportedly per-copy royalty fees will be small (in the $20 arena) and Apple is working on the situation, but the fact there's a fee at all could pose a major problem for developers who are trying to do cross-platform development work for Rhapsody or Mac OS X. Another common question is whether Apple plans to develop Mac OS X for Intel processors: for now, the answer is no. Although the Mach/BSD underpinnings of Mac OS X could be made to run on Intel hardware - and Carbon does not require Macintosh ROMs - all reports indicate Apple has no plans to port either the Blue Box or Carbon to Intel processors. **Schedule in a Nutshell** -- Here, then, is Apple's current schedule of operating system releases, along with their lineage, key features, and requirements. * Q3 1998: Mac OS 8.5, codenamed Allegro. A major revision derived from the current Mac OS 8.1 release, which features PowerPC-native AppleScript; HTML-based help (and the V-Twin text search engine) in Apple Guide; anti-aliased text capabilities; appearance "themes"; Internet Config 2.0; new Navigation Services; and numerous interface enhancements. Mac OS 8.5 will be available only for PowerPC systems. * Q3 1998: Rhapsody 1.0. Derived from OpenStep technologies acquired from NeXT. Features: Mach kernel running BSD Unix; Blue Box for running Mac OS applications, Yellow Box for Rhapsody applications, plus Java. Intended for publishing and server markets; should require a PCI-based PowerPC system. * Q1 1999: Mac OS 8.6(?). Incremental update to Mac OS 8.5; support for new CPUs, bug fixes. PowerPC systems only. * Q1 1999: First developer seeds of Mac OS X. * Q3 1999: Mac OS 9(?), codenamed Sonata. Major update to the Mac OS. * Q3 1999: Mac OS X. Features a Mach 3.0 kernel running BSD Unix; support for Mac OS 8 programs via Blue Box, Carbon, Java, and Yellow Box. Optimized for PowerPC G3 systems. Note that the current release schedule calls for Mac OS X to appear at the same time as a major update to the existing Mac OS, indicating Apple anticipates a transitional period where both Mac OS X and future versions of the current Mac OS will be available to consumers. It's not clear how Apple plans to differentiate between these releases, but it's likely Mac OS X, like Rhapsody, will be initially targeted at the high end of the Macintosh market - publishing, media production, servers, and power users - while users with older machines or smaller budgets can continue to update their systems with improved versions of the old Mac OS, sans all the Rhapsody technology. **What Will Developers Do?** It's difficult to look into Apple's operating system future. Mac OS X won't ship for about a year and a half; considering that a year and a half ago, the Mac development world was in a tizzy about the BeOS, take all predictions with a grain of salt. Although Rhapsody offers key technologies the Macintosh needs in an operating system along with several compelling features, few developers are enthusiastic about rewriting applications from the ground up. Until now, most figured they'd let Rhapsody's Blue Box support their current Mac OS programs, then see what happened. After all, if they were going to rewrite from scratch, why not rewrite for Windows NT, which already exists and has an expanding market share? With Mac OS X, however, Apple's message to its developers is much more palatable: most programs will need only minor revisions to conform to the Carbon API, and developers can continue to use their current Mac OS programming expertise under Mac OS X. Increasingly, the transition from Mac OS 8 to Carbon is being compared with the transition from 68K to PowerPC: difficult for some programs, but not bad for most. Not surprisingly, Metrowerks - the company that almost single-handedly made it possible for Mac developers to produce PowerPC applications five years ago - has announced it will fully support Carbon in its forthcoming CodeWarrior releases (withdrawing its similar Latitude technology for Rhapsody). Although Mac OS X won't ship until a year after Rhapsody's debut, it stands a better chance of widespread developer adoption. However, the introduction of the Carbon API in Mac OS X paints a large question mark on the future of the Yellow Box. Although Carbon brings more developers and applications to Mac OS X, those developers aren't any more likely to rewrite their applications for the Yellow Box than they were a year ago. Apple is telling developers any new development should be done for the Yellow Box, especially if the developers intend to release Windows versions of those programs. However, if developers must pay a licensing fee for Yellow Box applications on Intel hardware and Apple backs away from its promise to release Yellow Box for the Mac OS, programming for the Yellow Box might become purely an intellectual pursuit. $$ Non-profit, non-commercial publications may reprint articles if full credit is given. Others please contact us. We don't guarantee accuracy of articles. 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