Operating system showdown (Part 1 of 3)

As we begin the new year, there are many new operating systems hovering on the horizon. Apple, Microsoft and Ubuntu are all scheduled to release their new operating systems in 2007. This series of articles will be covering each of them, with each article covering a different operating system. This is the first of three articles.

The History of OS X

OS X was born out of Apple's need to replace their aging Mac OS. Apple went in a radically new direction with OS X, combining many features from the Mach Kernel and various BSD implementations into the NEXTSTEP operating system. The release of OS X ushered in a new era for Apple.

Since OS X's release, Apple has focused on what is known as the “digital lifestyle”. An example of this is the iLife package. It contains Video and audio editors, Itunes and a program called Iweb to share content created with the other programs. A way to make computer programs relevant to things that happen in a persons life and make it easy.

Part of Apple's strategy is to leverage both proprietary and open source software. In layman's terms, this means that, instead of 'reinventing the wheel', Apple used existing open source software to develop OS X. Like I mentioned earlier OS X is partly based off of the open source Mach Kernel and BSD implementations. Another key aspect of OS X Apple's web browser Safari, regarded as one of the fastest web browsers available. Safari is based off the open source KHTML html rendering engine for linux.

Through OS X, Apple ushered in a new era of home computer use and was able to become a true competitor to the mega-conglomerate Microsoft.

OS X 10.5

Apple's latest incarnation of OS X does not introduce many new ground-breaking features, but instead chose to improve existing versions of OS X. Improvements include a sorely-needed fine-tuning of the automatic backup utility, improved desktop search functions, and a new program called Front Row which serves as a manager for video, audio, and picture files.

Two new features which sound very promising are resolution independence and virtual desktops. Resolution independence, which is expected to appear in all of the operating systems in 2007, fixes a basic problem with different resolutions. By measuring elements in the desktop in units of measure like inches or centimeters instead of pixels, Resolution independence allows the elements of the desktop to appear identical at any resolution.

Virtual desktops is a feature that has existed on Linux for a long time. An easy way to describe it is tabs for your desktop. This makes multitasking much easier, imagine having a desktop for irc, web browsing, and gaming.

Conclusion

Apple has always targeted those who work in the field of video, audio, and graphic design, as well as casual home computers; Through this philosophy, they have always delivered a product that does not need hours of work to be able to use, as well as a product that caters to the needs of its target market extremely well. The newest version of OS X is another stage in the evolution of this philosophy, and Apple once again delivers a quality product geared toward both workplace and casual home usage with a low amount of upkeep. If the reader falls under either of those categories, I recommend considering an Apple the next time you have a major computer-purchasing decision to make