Sneak Preview: Mac OS X Public Beta
for the Unix administrator and Mac user
October 9, 2000
by Tim Orbaker and Ron Merritt
For The Mac User
by Ron Merritt
For seasoned Mac users, moving to Mac OS X is going to take some adjustment. Many are sure to miss the Apple menu! All Those conditioned responses built up over years of using the classic Mac OS are about to become useless. There's no reason to fret, however. Mac OS X may have many changes in store and contain potential pitfalls for the seasoned Mac user, but with the power and mindshare of Unix and the usability and friendliness of the Macintosh combined, Apple's new OS will definitely be for the better in the long run.
The Interface has changed
The Macintosh interface that is so familiar to Mac users has been dramatically altered in Mac OS X, leaving only a cosmetic similarity. Called Aqua, the new interface's widgets work much the same way as those that ship with Mac OS 9. But the locations of many system function interfaces have been moved around, and almost all look very different from their Mac OS 9 counterparts. Mac users will have to re-learn how to flick the mouse pointer to access given functions in a timely manner.
Mac OS 9 UI Widgets
Mac OS X UI Widgets
Classic Mac OS Compatibility
Mac OS X maintains compatibility with Classic Mac OS 9 applications in two ways. First, it uses an emulator of sorts, simply called "Classic," which launches when a Mac OS 9 application is opened from within Mac OS X. This emulator basically boots Mac OS 9 in the background. Hidden to the user, Classic launches the application that displays on the screen right along side Mac OS X applications. Unfortunately, Mac OS 9 applications that directly access hardware are not supported through this method.
Mac OS 9 compatibility
The second method is to boot the computer directly into Mac OS 9. This allows applications to run that directly access hardware but most Mac OS X applications that are not written to work with both, such as Carbon compatible applications, are unusable while using this method.
Seasoned Mac User Beware
Mac OS X is not the Mac OS. It is basically Unix with a Macintosh like front end. Keeping this in mind will save a lot of headaches for the Mac administrator. Because of its Unix underpinnings, there are many important things to keep in mind.
Mac OS X has a Unix like directory structure that may be a cause for confusion among Mac Users who are unfamiliar with Unix. Fortunately, Mac OS X tries to hide much of it from the average user but not all of it. Unix Directory and File permissions will also be something new to the Mac community. However, Mac OS X uses an AppleTalk permissions convention that will be familiar to Macintosh file server administrators.
The potential downfall here is that the Classic Mac OS does not recognize these file permissions. So users booting their computer into Mac OS 9 will need to be wary of mucking with things that they would normally need root permissions to touch. Files saved to the base (root) directory of a hard drive from within Mac OS9, for example, will suddenly become owned by the Root user when Mac OS X is booted.
The previous Mac OS did not have as large a variety of network services as it does now, so the potential for a security oversight is greater. Thankfully, for the casual Mac user that doesn't understand or care about network security, Apple has left many potential security loopholes such as telnet and ftp access turned off by default.
The installation and uninstallation of most applications seems to require only a simple drag and drop of an icon, which will make many Mac users feel right at home.
Don't Forget Your Password
Because Mac OS X is Unix based, logging in with a user name and password is normal behavior for such a system. However the traditional Mac OS has not supported this sort of function until very recently. It is still not even required behavior on Classic Mac OS. It is possible to set up Mac OS X to default to one user so that user is not bothered with entering a password every time the system is booted. However a password is still needed with root level permissions every time a change is made to system preferences, such as network configuration.
users must authenticate in order to change system settings.
Don't Worry Grandma
While it wouldn't hurt for the Mac user to learn about Unix, Apple has gone to great lengths to ensure that the average Mac user does not need to access a command line or know any Unix commands. Grandma can still use her Mac to send e-mail. And for the experienced power user, a whole new world of capabilities has been opened up.
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Send your comments on this article to Tim Orbaker at orbaker@data.assist.comand Ron Merritt at Ron.Merritt@pearsoned.com.
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