Cool industrial design, a hint of the old magic and no shortage of big talk have all helped revitalise Apple's fortunes over the past 18 months or so, but the real jewel in the crown has always been its superior operating system.
With no hype, no hoop-la and precious little ballyhoo, Apple has released its first beta version of an operating system. OS X (that's X meaning ten, by the way - apparently Roman numerals are all the rage in California at the moment - was first announced in 1998, with typical Apple overstatement, and was due to be the first major overhaul since System 7, nine years ago. Typically, however, it wasn't long before the release date was pushed back to 2000, and the full release won't be upon us until early 2001.
So what's it like? First impressions are marvellous. Visually, it's simply stunning. (It's also very blue). The smooth, fluid aqua interface reacts, animates and assures, just as the Macintosh OS has always done. It seems speedy, and stable, but because it's not finished software, bugs can only be expected. Hard disks will crash, software drivers will be incompatible, hair will undoubtedly be torn out. Tough. Remember, this is beta software. Approach with care.
But while the new interface adheres to some of the old Mac conventions, be warned that this is not a completely comfortable migration. Much of what is familiar is gone: seasoned users will search in vain for their beloved Apple menu. Apple, for their part, claim that OS X is designed with one principle in mind - a place for everything, and everything in its place. Which seems to be a deeply non-Mac attitude, but there you go.
Why bother releasing a beta version? If Microsoft pulled a stunt like this, it'd be accused of being lazy, of not doing their job properly, of betraying their millions of users. Linux has done brilliantly by fostering a spirit of togetherness in the platform's development. Similarly, the unique character and style of the Macintosh inspires fierce loyalty and affection in users, who hopefully will contribute significantly to the success of OS X. Apple, admirably, has realised this and moved to make the most of the Macintosh community's unending devotion and loyalty.
This is an audacious step forward for Apple. The new OS has a definite air of familiarity, but it remains to be seen whether the faithful will buy into it. Apple has done a great job of putting a friendly face on a tried and tested rock solid UNIX kernel, codenamed Darwin. Three state of the art graphics technologies - Quartz (2D), Open GL (3D), and the superb Quicktime will keep Macintosh light years ahead of the game in the core graphics industry, while proper virtual memory and a robust protected memory manager are vital benefits deriving from the Unix legacy. Word has it that the development tools for OS X are fabulous: which is reassuring, because it won't stand up as a platform until a lot more software is available to run on it. But for Apple, with this dishy, powerful platform, the future seems bright. And translucent. (And blue).
www.apple.com/macosx/