Apple previews Tiger, Tiger Server, Xcode 2 at WWDC

During this morning's WWDC keynote presentation, Apple previewed Mac OS X 10.4, which will ship in the first half of 2005 at a price of $129 (US). Among the 150 new features are Spotlight, a new function that provides file and content searches; Safari RSS, a new version of Apple?s web browser that incorporates instant access to RSS (Really Simple Syndication) data feeds on the web; Dashboard a manager for "Widgets" that perform various small tasks and a new version of Apple?s iChat instant messaging client with multi-person audio and video conferencing in a 3D interface.

Among the other enhancements in Mac OS X 10.4, as listed in Apple's press release, are:

• Core Image and Core Video provide the foundation for new image and video processing applications
• QuickTime support for the next-generation MPEG-4 video codec H.264 which provides scalability across the entire bandwidth spectrum,.
• Native 64-bit processes for database, engineering and scientific applications to take advantage of the increased performance
• Automator, which automates simple, complex, or repetitive tasks without requiring the user to write scripts
• improved Windows networking compatibility

Mac OS X 10.4 Server includes, among other new features, mobile Home Directories that give mobile users access to files and preferences while on the road with the user?s home directory centrally stored and managed on the network;

The server release of Tiger also includes a Software Update Server that lets system administrators host their own proxy/cache server to control the availability of Apple?s software updates for Mac OS X Tiger and Tiger Server systems.

Tiger Server will ship in the first half of 2005 through the Apple for a suggested retail price of $499 (US) for a 10-client edition and $999 (US) for an unlimited-client edition.

Both Mac OS X 10.4 and Mac OS X 10.4 server will include Xcode 2, the latest version of Apple?s suite of developer tools, which will include 64-bit development tools to build data-intensive applications using 64-bit memory addressing, and an integrated Apple Reference Library to offer a single search and presentation interface to all of Apple?s online and locally stored developer documentation.

Watch for a full report on Steve Jobs' keynote and the events taking place at this year's WWDC tomorrow morning.

Resources