"You are holding the future of the Macintosh in your hands."
I thought I was getting a plaything in the Mac OS X Public Beta -- a pre-release version of Apple's next-generation operating system that's being offered to interested users for $30. I wasn't even going to get it until The D offered to pick up the tab so I could write this article. But then I read the phrase above, and I couldn't help but be a bit sobered.
"Mac OS X...will usher in a new era for the Macintosh," continued the prose on the CD's sparse packaging. A new era! Even such a fanatical, diehard Mac supporter as myself had to wince here -- it's a little much, isn't it? Mac OS X is the Second Coming! Mac OS X will invent a reliable cold fusion process! Food will taste better after you use Mac OS X!
The last time Apple talked up a new product's imminent release with such unabashed self-love was before the unveiling of the iMac. This computer will change everything, Apple said.
And to a large degree, it did, and not just within the sphere of Apple and its users. Notice how that Game Boy, that alarm clock, that telephone all come in fruity-colored translucent cases now? I wonder where they got that idea.
But I was still skeptical. Then I started up from the installation CD and began the process. At the same time, OS X began to convince me -- with a progress bar.
Yes, a progress bar. Those nasty windows that come up when you're downloading a QuickTime movie or, in this case, installing software, telling you how long you're going to wait. But OS X's progress bar was something new; it was deep blue and translucent and just nice to look at. "This is great," I said.
It's inane, I know, but the progress bar was an indication of Apple's attention to detail, a trait that is visible in every corner of Mac OS X. Apple CEO Steve Jobs says that OS X is so beautiful that "you just want to lick it." While I wouldn't go that far, OS X certainly makes current operating systems -- including Mac OS 9 -- look crude by comparison.
The new interface design is called Aqua, for its heavy emphasis on the color blue and its liquid look. Buttons look like Tylenol gelcaps, and any aspect of the interface is translucent if it would look good that way. OS X will run Mac OS 9 applications seamlessly alongside "Carbonized" or "Cocoa" OS X-native programs, but the old apps look lifeless alongside their shiny new counterparts.
Everything in OS X has subtle, pleasing visual touches. When you minimize a window, it slides into its place on the Dock (more on that later) via an animation Apple calls the "genie effect." Drop shadows are everywhere, giving a sense of depth. Buttons throb, icons go "poof" and traffic lights illuminate -- there are too many tiny effects to list, but just enough so they're not bothersome.
One worrisome change, though, is that everything is bigger. The menu bar, the icons, the text. I've often felt a little claustrophobic during the short time I've had this beta, as I ran out of workspace more quickly than in Mac OS 9. Apple has constructed a gorgeous OS here, but I wish they wouldn't do it at the expense of precious screen real estate.
Initially, one of the biggest space hogs appears to be the Dock, which you see at the bottom of every screenshot on this page because it's always there in OS X (you can resize it, though).
The Dock is a sort of replacement for the Apple and Application menus that formerly occupied the left and right sides of the screen, respectively. Drag an application, document or folder icon to the Dock and it takes a seat where you dropped it. Minimized windows "genie" into the dock for later recall, and the Trash resides there, too.
This new Dock concept takes a little getting used to, as does most everything in Mac OS X. The aesthetics are great, but the metaphors that govern your interaction with the computer are where the real changes are happening.
Take the Finder. This is what the basic OS program used to be called in every previous version of the Mac OS. When you start up your Mac, you're in the Finder. Now the desktop program is called Desktop, and Finder is a window in which you find things. It took them 10 versions to get this straight?
Finder operates on different principles from Mac OS 9 and its predecessors. The goal in OS X is to simplify the user experience as much as possible, and one of the results is that windows don't proliferate as you double-click through folders anymore.
Instead, when you double click a folder in Finder, the window changes to show the contents of that folder, and a Back button lets you retrace your steps. And then there's a browser view, which lets you navigate the hierarchy much more rapidly than the standard double-click method -- once you get used to it.
Just as exciting as the interface changes are the modifications to the inner workings of the OS. Mac OS X is based on a BSD core, which is a "flavor" of Unix. Unix is a powerful, robust operating system that has traditionally been restricted to use on servers and by computer experts. You've likely heard of Linux, the open-source OS that's also a flavor of Unix, making it somewhat of a cousin to Mac OS X.
The reason your average computer user has probably never even seen Unix is because it's ugly, complicated, requires arcane navigation techniques and hasn't historically been suited to a user-friendly GUI. That's why it's such a huge accomplishment for Apple to put a smiling face on Unix.
Mac OS X users will have the speed and stability of Unix without having to deal with the intimidating core of the technology. The speed isn't all there quite yet in this pre-release version (which is to be expected), but the stability is, thanks to protected memory. The Mac OS X beta hasn't crashed or even manifested a significant bug once while I've been using it. This is a beta -- it's supposed to crash!
Part of what makes OS X a revolutionary piece of software is that the hackers and programmers and computer science majors who want to poke around in the Unix underbelly can do so, while Grandma never has to see a command line if she doesn't want to. OS X bridges the gap between nerd and novice.
OK, he's gone, you're thinking. He's using words like "revolutionary" to describe a computer program, for God's sake. You're right. I've succumbed to Apple's siren song again. After all, I'm just another Mac nut, so go ahead and blithely dismiss this piece without the slightest twinge of guilt.
But this is genuinely big. Big for Apple, big for computer users in general. It's not perfect, but Mac OS X will offer the best user experience out there.
Sound the death knells for the poor, beleaguered computer company in Cupertino. Point to one earnings report and recent stock woes, note those trend-setting freshmen who picked PCs over Macs, cluck your tongue at Apple. Ask a Mac user who was around in the mid-'90s, and he'll tell you that it's going to take a lot more than that to kill the sorry little computer maker.
The press loves to write about Apple because its fans are devoted and others are fascinated by this phenomenon. So an Apple headline sells papers -- especially a negative one. Even The D put the scent of Apple blood in the water, and here you are reading this special feature, aren't you?
The fact remains that there is no dearth of Mac software, nor is there a life-or-death crisis facing Apple, nor will there be -- there is always a market for the consumer who wants the quality product. And Mac OS X will be just that, a quality product.
Last night, after I had explored the OS X Beta for a while, I went to Food Court to get my routine snack, an egg-salad sandwich. Maybe it was my imagination, but I think -- it tasted a little better than usual.
