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Well, it's almost, almost here. After nearly a decade of development, Apple is on the verge of finishing its new operating system, OS X, which will replace the beloved but increasingly dated software now running some 30 million Macs worldwide. The company took a big step forward in mid-September when it released a public beta of the new system. This early version has some rough edges, but it still offers a pretty good picture of what's coming.
Why, you may ask, would you need a new operating system? That's a good question, especially if your Mac does everything you need, which I suspect is true for many of you. Still, I think every Mac user should give OS X (pronounced OS Ten) a serious look. It incorporates several new technologies that will not only make your Mac run faster and more reliably but will simplify computing. Besides, it's really cool -- just what you'd expect from Apple. Icons are as sharply rendered as photographs, control buttons throb in soft blue light, and windows don't snap closed -- they fade away.
With OS X, Apple is actually leaping ahead of Linux and Windows, which have been upgrading their operating systems on a more regular basis for the past 10 years. Accepting OS X's changes won't come easily, especially for older users, such as myself, who've been using the current system for 15 years. OS X entails learning new routines. Say so long to such longtime Mac stalwarts as the Apple Menu and the control strip. Also gone is the current graphics scheme, which draws icons on your screen for folders, printers, and, of course, the trash bin. It was all an illusion created by software called Finder.
EMPTY SCREEN. Apple has rewritten Finder -- and therein lies the big difference. In OS X, Apple has basically split Finder in two. There's still a desktop, but you won't find any icons on it when you first start up OS X. You'll see a beautiful, aqua-patterned -- but empty -- screen, which threw me into a panic the first time. I didn't know what to do or how to access my files.
But not to worry. If you want, you can add the old icons to the desktop, although Apple obviously prefers that you don't. What Apple wants you to do is use the desktop as the display for applications. And the new Finder, which opens in a separate window, is to be used to control your Mac and navigate through files and folders.
As an application, the new Finder looks like a cross between Apple's current Sherlock search application and a Web browser. Along the top of the Finder window are five big buttons, each representing a shortcut to someplace on your computer. For example, there's a button labeled "Apps" that opens a folder holding all your applications. Beneath the buttons there's a big panel with icons representing your hard drive, folders, files, network connections, and any connected drives. Click on a folder and it opens up within the Finder window. (If miss the old system, you can drag any of these icons to the desktop.)
Although a bit confusing at first, the new Finder grows on you once you realize how powerful it is. For one, it offers several ways to view the contents of your computer: as icons in a list, or in lists of folders cascading across four separate panels. This column view lets you see at a glance not only the path to a file but the entire contents of your hard drive. Not a new idea, mind you. Windows has had a similar feature for a long time. But OS X's implementation is more elegant and easier to understand and use.
The Finder is just one of the many new features OS X offers. Stay tuned as I dissect Apple's new operating system piece by piece in the coming weeks. If you can't wait, you can download a copy of the OS X beta from Apple's Web site -- for $29.95. Charging for a beta that is commercially untested and traditionally free is a first for Apple and isn't something the company should be proud of. But I still think OS X is really cool.
Haddad, Atlanta-based correspondent for Business Week, is a long-time Apple Computer buff. Follow his column every week, only on BW Online Edited by Beth Belton
Copyright 2000, by The McGraw-Hill Companies Inc. All rights reserved.
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