Mac OS 8

 

Apple Computer (AAPL) is set to unveil tomorrow its most significant upgrade

to the Macintosh operating system in

several years--and in terms of timing, maybe ever.

 

Apple is delivering the operating system (OS) not only on time--no small

feat in the computer world--but also at a critical juncture in the

company's history. The release of the OS comes in the wake of a

well-publicized, high-level management shakeup.

 

The upgrade will sell for a suggested retail price of $99 and will offer an

updated user interface, improved performance, and new features that

make file organization easier. Tomorrow's unveiling is also expected

to mark the beginning of a marketing blitz designed to get people into

stores to buy the software.

 

Though the official announcement is tomorrow, Apple is expected to

actually begin shipping Mac OS 8 onJuly 26, as reported in June by CNET's

 

"We are really optimistic that Mac OS 8 is going to get a lot of people to

upgrade," said Peter Lowe, Apple product manager for Mac OS 8.

 

Analysts agree the updated OS will help keep sales of Mac computers and

Mac OS clones growing and think it will give a modest lift to Apple. Rob

Enderle, analyst at market researcher Giga Information Group, said,

"Upgrades do produce a spike in revenue."

 

Retailers are also looking forward to a lift from the new Macintosh OS.

 

"With Mac OS 8 we expect to see a big surge in sales. It looks to be a very

major upgrade in terms of functionality," said Mike McNeill,

president of Pacific Business Systems. His company runs ClubMac, a large

catalog-based sales operation in Irvine, California.

 

Mac OS 8 is an important release to clone vendors as well, but matters are

less clear on this front--at least today. While Apple is expected to ship

the new operating system to retail customers on time, none of the Mac

clone vendors have yet indicated that they have signed agreements to license

the new software. This could, however, become clearer on Tuesday.

 

Sources at the various clone vendors report that they are in the midst of

drawing up agreements and are expected to resolve the licensing question

soon, but any last-minute changes could hold up delivery of systems that

have Mac OS 8 pre-installed.

 

Mac OS 8 is a critical component of the Common Hardware Reference Platform

(or CHRP--it's also called the PowerPC Reference Platform) specification for

Macintosh hardware. The new OS and CHRP-compliant hardware are key

technologies that will allow Mac clone vendors to enhance system performance

and introduce new products more rapidly.

 

Among the most noticeable features, the new system's user interface will

help reduce screen clutter when many applications and files are being

displayed at once. Folders appear as graphical file folder tabs at the

bottom of a computer screen and pop back into view with one click, and

dragging files over a folder causes the folder to automatically open.

 

Apple is also attempting to integrate Internet connectivity into the OS in a

move to enhance productivity. The upgraded OS has a feature called

Personal Web Sharing that enables any Macintosh to become a mini-Web server,

so that it can display Web pages to a small network, for example.

 

Apple has also bundled "push" software from Pointcast and Marimba that

distributes, or pushes, information and software automatically to

computers. The OS also includes a new feature that allows users to connect

to the Internet right from the main desktop menu interface.

 

Changes in the appearance of the Mac desktop will be the most visible, but

unseen changes will offer improved performance. Apple says that more of

the system software is being written specifically for the PowerPC

processor, to increase the speed of functions such as copying files, for instance.

Apple says it has also worked to increase the stability of

the system software so that programs don't quit unexpectedly and force the user to restart.

The End

 

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