Mac OS X 10.4, code-named Tiger, should hit the market 'long before Longhorn', as Apple's CEO, Steve Jobs, is fond of saying. Like previous versions of Mac OS X, Tiger will be based on an open-source Unix-like core. New is a 64-bit system, which does not mean an across-the-board speed boost, but memory-hungry applications such as large databases will probably benefit.
Apple is also embedding new technologies such as support for the High Definition H.264 video codec and Core Image, which co-opts video cards for rendering better on-screen images even in the OS, extending the Mac's media and graphics capabilities.
Tiger's Spotlight is an operating system-level search feature that indexes the computer's hard drive and helps find anything contained in a file or its metadata. And whenever you migrate to a new computer, Setup Assistant automates migration of all your personal files, settings, applications and folders -- a feature already found in Windows XP. Another new feature, Dashboard, populates your desktop with widgets that show the weather, flight information and more; these disappear from your desktop when not needed. Automator is an application that promises powerful scripting capabilities in an easy-to-use graphical interface.
Some new technologies, such as Core Image, should enable Tiger to feel faster and more responsive than previous Mac OS X versions. So far, each Mac OS X update has improved performance, an admirable trend that we expect to continue. Spotlight promises powerful search capabilities across every file, from email to PDFs. For example, you can find all of your email messages that contain a single keyword. Alhough details are scarce, Apple promises that Tiger will also improve compatibility with Windows. The messaging client iChat AV also gets a boost, allowing up to three users to establish a full-screen videoconference.
The much-touted features Spotlight and Dashboard may end up just another layer of eye candy, further moving Apple away from its halcyon days of interface design based on good science, rather than style. In general, some features that rely heavily on fancy graphics tricks may not run well on older machines.
Apple claims that this upgrade will include more than 200 new features, a claim we can't verify or discount at this time. If true, this should be compelling enough reason for most Mac OS X users to upgrade. Check back this summer to read our full review of the new Mac OS X 10.4.
Talkback
"And whenever you migrate to a new computer, Setup Assistant automates migration of all your personal files, settings, applications and folders -- a feature already found in Windows XP"
I believe this is a feature of the current OS X also.
I migrated a G3 Desktop to an iMacG5 last month without a single hitch. It was just a case of connecting up the two units with a firewire cable and holding down the "T" key when restarting the source (old) unit.
The process did not take son long either.
"The much-touted features Spotlight and Dashboard may end up just another layer of eye candy"
I fail to see how "Spotlight" can be called eye-candy.
It's a kick ass function that I will probably use a lot.
But don't compare it to the genie effect when hiding windows.
iChat AV allows videoconferencing for four users, not just three.
thank you
Perhaps someone who actually uses a Mac should have written this article. He talks about a few things:
- Migration assistant: For one, it's already in the current MacOS X. And for two, it can use your old computer as an external hard disk and get a solid 400 Mbps connection (or 800 if you have Firewire 800), something a PC cannot do. But in one erroneous sentence the author tries to make it sound as if MacOS is playing catch-up.
- Spotlight - eye-candy? How is instant searching of any content on your computer eye-candy? How is libraries for developers to integrate this functionality within their own apps eye-candy?
- Dashboard - again eye-candy? Come on. Until Longhorn comesout with their stupid sideboard thing, then it'll be another MS innovation, right? Dashboard is simply instant access to the old desk accessories. Yeah, they've been prettied up, but the usefulness is there.
Wow, this article is poorly informed.
And sorry, but calling Spotlight eye-candy is just a jaw-droppingly stupid thing to say. It's a much-needed advance in searching and functionality... hello? Ever use -- or hear about -- BeOS?
Dashboard, OTOH, is pure eye-candy, but it also looks playful, fun, and (gasp!) genuinely useful. And how you can complain major advances in functionality like Spotlight are eye-candy in one breath and whine that older computers might not *see* some of the *actual* eye-candy (flipping, rippling effects, etc.)?
Don't make no sense.
"Setup Assistant ...a feature already found in Windows XP"
It has been available in OS X and before, and unless you do a feature by feature comparison this is NOT already in XP!!! BTW does the XP version bring all your Viruses, worms and DLL issues with it... hmmmm
Does the setup assistant in XP transfer all of your programs over (with their serialnumbers already entered)
Thought not!
Not sure what you mean by this comment:
“And whenever you migrate to a new computer, Setup Assistant automates migration of all your personal files, settings, applications and folders -- a feature already found in Windows XP.”
I don’t know how Setup Assistant will be different from the current feature in Panther, but I just bought a new G5 to replace my iMac. I connected them by firewire, then sat back as the OS automatically transferred everything from the iMac to the G5. The transfer went absolutely smoothly and when it ended about an hour later, my G5 had all my files, settings, applications, folders, etc. - a mirror image of my iMac. I was able to pick up exactly where I left off from the iMac. So I wonder what will be different?
Unfortunately, this "first look" was written by someone who has only read about, and not actually looked, at Tiger and Panther. From the comment about setup assistant, it sounds like they also don't know much about Windows XP. But they had this deadline and this topic, and a paycheck to collect... Is there any accountability at ZDNet UK?
This story completely misses the mark on Core Image. The significance of Core Image isn't its performance, although that is one of the benefits. The significance is the fact that Apple has placed in the operating system a set of image-processing functions--similar to Photoshop filters--that any developer can easily add to their software. It means that we're likely to see shareware and freeware with speedy and sophisticated image-processing capabilities. The "Image Units," as they are called, were written by Mark Zimmer, a legendary graphics programmer best known as the brains behind Painter (he also developed ImageStudio, the first popular image-editing program for the Mac, years before the release of Photoshop).
You can find an explanation of Core Image here: http://www.apple.com/macosx/tiger/coreimage.html
Written by a moron who didnt do their research
You know, I appreciate an article that doesn't get caught up in Apple's marketing language and can objectively review a piece of software. Unfortunately, this isn't it. Writing an "analysis" piece based purely on a press conference is lazy at best, disingenuous at worst, and utterly moronic when you consider that people can reply straight away and tell you how stupid you are. And maybe Mr Turner should think a little harder on what he's writing -- how is an OS wide search feature a piece of "eye candy"?
(One wonders if he would say the same for the desktop search feature in XP.)
The thing that kills me about all of this is that you know the writer reads it, but have you ever seen a tech journalist correct an article after it was posted? They'll correct typos, but these errors of fact or inference will be in the ZDNet archive years from now.
Quite alarming, actually.
Personally, I'm not surprised. And you, the audience, are? Come on! This is a PC-centric website. They say they 'want' to understand the Mac, but until they actually use one (like David Coursey and the famous "30 days using only a Mac" that turned out to be three months), they have NOTHING to report!
Mac users, like me, often come to PC sites to see if they have finally 'found the light'. However, if the market-share of the Mac remains low, the obvious thing to say is that many people haven't discovered the joy of not only owning a Mac, but using it, too.
The only thing I expect to see Mac-related on PC-based websites is more fear of that which is not known. This comes off as defensive journalistic practices bashing the other side subtly while desperately defending their bread 'n butter. Ultimately, this tech journalist, Daniel Drew Turner, is just like any other corporate, American reporter disgracing the profession and accompanying ethics of journalism. Wake up Danny-boy! Get the whole side before reporting the fact that you know nothing about Macs. I'm not even going to go into your technical errors and omissions.
The real place for Mac users to read about the Mac is on a Mac-centric website for unbiased reporting.
As for the Mac-faithful crowd reading this, Patience, young padawan. Didn't you ever hear the tale of "The Hundredth Monkey" or the saying that "it is always darkest before the dawn?"
Minor factual error in addition to the others noted: iChat AV supports videoconferencing for four, not three. That's what you get for writing a review based on a video of the Keynote. Didn't you notice the small image of the local participant, in addition to the 3 others?
That's not really a factual error, more a difference of opinion over wording -- everyone invovled is videoconferencing with three people, though there are four present.
Wow, funny if you read and compare the story on an upcoming longhorn features:
In Tiger - spotlight is "eyecandy"
In longhorn - the same search functionality is "a powerful feature that Gates has referred to as his personal holy grail."
In Tiger - "In general, some features that rely heavily on fancy graphics tricks may not run well on older machines." (referring to the eycandy of Spotlight and Dashboard)
In longhorn - "It requires not only a fast PC, but a relatively large high-resolution display. Microsoft is gambling that most users will have both by the time Longhorn rolls around. But just in case, the OS will reportedly offer different levels of operation that disable the more intensive Aero effects to boost performance on less capable PCs."
So make Tiger sound like if you buy a computer today, or just bought one last year, it may not be capable of running Tiger. Where as if you buy a Wintel machine today OF COURSE it will run longhorn - (small type) but some features may be disabled to make run. And then in even smaller type "By the time Longhorn ships, according to Microsoft chairman Bill Gates, PCs will have 4GHz to 6GHz processors, more than 2GB of memory, at least a terabyte of storage, and graphics accelerators three times more powerful than those offered by ATI and Nvidia today." So to really make longhorn sing you will need the above.
I won't even go in to the 100% error of setup assitant.
Personally, I enjoy the biased, windoze slanted reporting on ZDnet.
I don't believe that if everyone started using Mac's that the world would be a better place. There certainly would be a lot of IT people looking for new jobs, and virus software companies' days would be numbered.
Not worth anyone's time.
Funny the same thing is presented differently on the sister site cnet (edited).
Not "UNIX-like"
The Mac OS does not have a "UNIX-like" core. It IS UNIX. It is from the Berkely version of UNIX (BSD).
To say that the Mac OS is "UNIX-like" is like saying a Corvette is "automobile-like."
Please get your facts straight.
You Mac people sure are an angry crowd. All I ever read is complaints and dissing of Windows. You even complain that the new mini lacks features typically found in a more expensive systems, instead of being happy about the chance of letting Windows people make a move to OS X. You have such hatred towards Windows people. Come on, it is just an operating system. There is more to life than this.
It's a 50/50 call, yes Windows bashing does go on but the fact of the matter is that in so many cases a good deal of journalism on/about the Mac platform at best contains more than a sly dig at anything Apple related.
If Apple suddenly released a 100 percent crash proof that proved to be the best thing ever released with no faults whatsoever I don't doubt that it would still get a slating from the Windows biased media.
You say that the Apple bunch are keen to attack the Windows crowd, however can you honestly say the reverse isn't true.
Oh I agree that the windows crowd (even more the linux crowd) does just as much attacking. I for one enjoy computers and I enjoy the positives that each platform brings. No OS is perfect, but they each offer plenty of good features.
What do you guys expect from a site that touts Windows XP Pro *OVER* OSX 10.3 (in the computer reviews)? I mean really, all hardware aside, OSX is by far the better OS.
Unix does things that Windows only dreams of doing.
It's based on FreeBSD, actually, which is derived from the 4.4BSD. However, under the terms of the AT&T lawsuit, 4.4BSD onwards can not use the UNIX trademark, and thus has to stick with "UNIX-like".
OS X has always been a little slow to navigate through compared with windows and hopefully Tiger will be improved upon in that issue. What I hate, is the fact that they have to constantly come out with new "major releases" every year and make people want to buy another 130 dollar or so piece of software for a few truly significant improvements. Then after you buy the new software with visual effects that you cannot turn off and require more power, you think about buying a new computer because the one you have is "slowing down" Do you remember 10.2? That was crappy. and two versions later and 130 dollars per copy since 10.1. thats at least 390 dollars for software. XP was out back then.. and you could still be running it right now.
Nobody is forcing anybody to upgrade every year apple comes out with a new OS X, there are still people out there who are still using OS X (10.1) and even pre OS X OS.
Hi my name is Nikos. I think this was an article not for the viewing pleasure of the reader nor did it offer coprehensive and accurate information about the Tiger OS released by Apple.
I have been a windows user for a few years and it was only by the strong advice of a friend who does computer engineering as part of her degree that I started to explore the world of the Mac OSs.
What I discovered was that apple has elements in its operating system that make it extremely more user friendly form the point of view of the average consumer and as for the compatibility issues I saw very few with exception as in regards to the gaming sector.
I was stunned to see my friend coming into my house, with her Mac, where i have a wireless network set up and immediately without any effort connecting to the network, internet and printer!!!! Within seconds!
I also started exploring the new operating system by apple the OS TIGER and I read all the features before seeing this review. I got to tell you that new storage system of the windows and the way you can look up files looks a lot like the new search method of apple as in regards to the system looking the meta information within the files. Eye candy???? common buddy ....
My biggest concern about the upcoming windows OS is the hardware it would require to actually run it efficiently without pushing you t the edge of a nervous breakdown. If all of what Bill Gates is expecting to happen, so that long horn can run, actually come true then that would mean that the 90% (and constantly being reduced figure) of users that currently run windows will have to upgrade seriously their systems if not throw them out of the window.
Maybe that is what many will do and throw the windows out of the window.
It is undeniable however that Windows is offering many great tools (the one I love the best being the Office) to make our lives easier but it offers them in an environment constantly being more and more complicated and technically difficult to handle. The spaghetti code does not seem to be getting away any time soon.
I think the only reason today the Microsoft operating system has the market dominance it has is because of the period dating back the early nineties where Microsoft used a bad operating system with a good interface to capture the first big consumer chunk and ever since rely on that consumers fear of change to preserve its dominance. As a consequence applications were built for that OS and so on and so forth. The fact that apple is slowly regaining ground is a testament to the quality of its OS and if consumers just spared a few moments to think about it they would change at an instant.
I am not the most technically expert when it comes to assessing OSs but maybe that is why me liking the apple environment more makes my opinion useful to other average computer users. I think the strongest value retained by the apple OS is the fact that it utilizes efficiency of coding instead of quantity. That gives it flexibility to become a lot more compatible with future applications and a lot more user friendly.
I also think that the power of the velocity processors is amazing and coupled with smart OSs delivers power when and where needed and not wasting it away on preserving the 3D interfaces. I think that Microsoft is trying to recreate the early nineties situation by offering again a spectacular interface with true capabilities being left on the side. After all Microsoft is a marketing oriented company.
It is late hours after midnight and I am a bit tired so I will end this opinion by saying that all the reviews I read from interest groups such as official sites retailers and online stores give apple a very good review but reluctantly reserve their "excitement" for pc's (probably gasping from guilt while they write the review) however all the user reviews are raving about the Mac OS and the computers that carry it which by the way are build by the same company!!!
Had enough of constant crashes/spyware/viruses/worms etc. etc.... and what about 'Instant On'; it takes a good 5 minutes for my Windows 2000 laptop at work to boot up in the morning!!
Surely ANYTHING is better than Windoze Bloatware??? So, I ordered an iBook; it comes pre-loaded with all the software I will probably need; take it out the box, plug it in, and enter my ISP details. Oh, and 6 hour battery life(!)
Has anyone managed this with Wintel????
Anyway, Tiger looks interesting, but currently, Panther already does easily enough....
this was obviously wirtten by someone who has no used the system.
Only read what apple wrote on their website and confused spotlite for expose.
Which operating system is the best depends on what you want it for .
For browsing the web and typing up school reports : windows
For graphics design and ease of use: os x
for everything else: linux