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Student Affairs Daniel Salter Penn State University Editor Stuart
Brown Winter 2002 • Vol. 3, No. 1 |
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Daniel W. Salter Assistant Professor of Education The Program in Student Affairs The Pennsylvania State University |
Somewhere in the back of my cedar closet is the Macintosh we
bought in the Fall of 1986. While many changes have occurred to the
shape and the size of the Mac, it would be fair to say that the look
and feel of the operating system has remained relatively constant
over the years. All that changed last year with the introduction of
Apple Computer's Mac OS
X. Having used OSX for several months now, both on my work
computer (an iBook) and the family iMac, I would like to make a few
observations that may be helpful to someone who is considering making
the switch in the future. And you will switch, if you continue to buy
and use Macintoshes, as OSX is now the shipping operating system on
all new Macs.
This change was dramatic in that it was a total rewrite of an
operating system that has served the Mac community for 15 years. The
new OS is built on UNIX, which is an operating system used more
frequently in large businesses than personal computers. Its UNIX
roots allows OS X to function in different and more powerful ways,
however. OSX is more than more of the same old MacOS, and you will
find that some familiar things (e.g., Desk Accessories, Control
Panels, the Chooser) have been replaced by other strategies (e.g.,
the Dock). These new underpinnings have also meant that ALL the
previous Mac programs needed to be reworked to run under the new OS,
which necessitates the purchase of upgrades in some instances. The
upside is that a bevy of UNIX programs are now being brought over to
the more user-friendly interface of the Mac.
To smooth this transition, OSX will also run many applications
designed for the previous OS, even if they have not been fully
updated. To do so, you have a couple choices. You can reboot your
computer in OS 9 and fire-up those applications as you did before,
but you lose the power of OSX. Or, you can run “Classic”
mode in OSX, which appreciably runs OS9 as one of many applications.
So, with Classic running you have access to both OS9 and native
programs for OSX (i.e., ones written the specifically for OS X).
Unfortunately for me, I use the SPSS
statistical package, which has not upgraded yet and will not run in
“Classic” mode (at least at the writing), so I have to stop
and reboot if I want to crunch some numbers. However, my word
processor and spreadsheet program (Appleworks
6) will run in both OS environments, which helps.
I have a lot of favorite new things about OS X. Tops on my list is
the protected memory scheme that has been a part of the non-Mac world
for some time. Now, when a program crashes (and they do... they
always do), it does not take down the whole system and necessitate a
reboot. Rather, the program simply quits, with no impact on the
others, and then you can restart it. (To be fair, rebooting your Mac
used to provide a nice break in the action).
Few end-users will care what is “under the hood”, however.
Many will be more concerned with whether OSX can get them where they
want to go (to borrow a Microsoft marketing metaphor). OSX is a
beautiful ride, which makes the few bumps a little more tolerable (it
is a new OS after all). The first thing you notice about OS X is the
user interface, called Aqua. Remember the difference between
dot-matrix and laser printers? Same leap of quality. The Aqua
interface takes full advantage of the graphical capabilities built
into OSX, with beautiful icons (some of which “throb” and
others that “dance”) and 3-D graphics. Rather than having
me describe them, I suggest you take a look at Apple’s website
to see Aqua
in action.
As noted, all applications for OSX are “new”. To
discuss them, these apps. need to be examined from two perspectives:
the ones you need for work, and the ones you don’t. In the first
category, the ubiquitous Microsoft
Office became available for OSX in
November. I can’t say that I’ve used it enough to comment
one way or the other (and I never really used it much before OSX). I
have used Appleworks
for many years and find it functions quite well under the new OS,
although I not sure it takes full advantage of all that X has to
offer. Most other business applications that were available for OS 9
have been rewritten for OSX (or are in the process), with new
announcements happening all the time.
OSX is certainly Internet-ready and makes connecting even easier (its
still complex and confusing, though, no matter what the computer).
OSX does come with its own e-mail program, Mail.
My e-mail demands are not too high, and Mail serves its purpose quite
well. It can manage multiple accounts (both POP3 and IMAP) and most
of the media formats for which Apple is famous. Individuals who need
intricate sorting rules for e-mail, may find one of the commercial
packages to be a better fit. Otherwise, a range of Internet apps. are
available for OSX, including everything from web browsers to instant
messengers. Nothing has replaced Claris Homepage for webpage
development, IMHO.
I must say that one thing you begin to notice with OSX are the subtle
difference in programs written specifically for it, and others that
were brought over into the new environment. For example, while
Microsoft’s
Internet Explorer comes standard with OSX, an alternative browser
like OmniWeb
was written specifically for this new operating system. Both are
great, but OmniWeb clearly has the OSX look and feel. Actually, I
find the newness of OSX applications to be exciting. In the early
days of the Mac, I remember finding all sorts of diverse shareware
products to fill little niches in the overall operating system
environment. Slowly these programs were incorporated into the OS or
into larger, commercial programs. A quick trip to Versiontracker
shows a range of beta (i.e., not ready for primetime) and shareware
programs written for OSX by all sorts of people, including UNIX
programmers. Some new energy.
iApplications
I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the “i”
revolution at Apple. OSX has become the foundation of Apple’s
positioning itself as a maker of “digital hub” computers.
With the successful launch of iTunes,
followed by iMovie, the
iPod, and most
recently iPhoto; if it
uses digital technology, you can probably do it on a Mac under OSX.
Admittedly, as an assistant professor, I don’t get much
opportunity to do realtime digital video effects editing.
Importantly, these technologies are not unique to the Mac, even if
they are central to its marketing strategy and executed quite
tastefully. What will be interesting is to see how these digital apps
are used in our day-to-day operations. It wasn’t too long ago
that the virtual office or even e-mail did not exist.
Three Major Concerns
If you move to OSX, you will probably need to buy more memory for
your computer. Apple recommends 128 MB of RAM, minimally. I have 320
MB on my iBook, and sometimes it gets a little cramped, especially if
I have Classic running. OSX does manage the memory demands of
applications better than OS9 does, however. RAM is incredibly cheap
now and much cheaper than buying a new machine. You may also want to
upgrade your hard drive, as some of these OSX applications are huge
(MS Office is nearly 200 MB), and iMovies, MP3 files, and JPEG files
can quickly fill up your drive. If your hard drive’s size is not
measured in tens of gigabytes, you may have a problem if you use many
of the digital i-applications discussed above. Computing’s
mantra: buy the fastest and biggest that you can afford
The other hardware concern you may need to address - the items that
attach to your computer. If you have already moved to the newer Macs
(basically everything produced since the introduction of the iMac),
you found that they do not support the ABD or SCSI interfaces for
things like printers and external drives. Even for the newer
machines, not all devices that function under OS9 will work under
OSX, due in large part to the lack of software to run them (which
will hopefully change). Those of us who bought a Que USB CD burner
have been frustrated by OSX’s inability to recognize it. The
webcam and scanner on my family computer don’t work under OX
either (we have to reboot into OS9). Apple does maintain an evolving
list of compatible hardware and software, and most companies are
working on backward support for older peripherals.
Speed will be an issue on older machines, too, especially for graphic
intensive applications like games. The new OS does not currently
support the graphics cards in some of the older machines, even though
they can run OSX (as a matter of fact, Apple is currently being
sued
in California for this shortcoming). My family’s RevB iMac,
which runs at 233 MHz, certainly seems a bit sluggish when compared
to my partner’s TiPowerbook at 550 MHz. For day-to-day stuff,
the differences seem subtle to me. When playing a Quicktime
movie trailer, the lack of accelerated graphics is very apparent
on the iMac. If you play games, the speed issue is larger.
My Recommendation
No doubt about it: there is a learning curve with this new OS.
Some pundits have even suggested that it may be easier for
Mac-newbies to adapt than for Mac-addicts. Old habits (and loyalties)
die hard. In my own case, while I’m still trying to adjust to
the new Font Panel and the browser-like windows, I find most of the
new stuff to be examples of “why didn’t they do this
sooner?” I’ve been very pleased with it and glad I invested
the time in learning to use it. But, if you are planning to make the
switch, I’d suggest you wait until a downtime at work (being
sure to back-up your files first!).
OSX is relatively easy to install (but bring other things to do, as
it does take a while), If you are familiar at all with the Mac, you
will go “wow” when you fire it up and then very quickly
you’ll be back in the computing groove. You may also wish to
spend the money to buy a good reference guide, as OS X does not come
with a decent user manual. I would suggest The Little Mac OS X
Book by Robin Williams (PeachPit
Publishers), especially if you are somewhat new to the Mac (and
don’t be misled by the term “little” in the title...
it ain’t).
Finally, if you are a Windows user and have read this far, you know
what to do *smile*
