Mac OS X 10.1: due for release in September

At today's Macworld Expo keynote, Steve Jobs briefly demonstrated some of the new features in what he characterized as the first major update to Mac OS X since its initial release, 10.1. The performance improvements were clearly evident, although it should be noted that he never revealed the identity of the Mac that was used in the demo. Applications launched much faster, windows resized quickly -- including the newly resizeable multi-column view, and menus reacted faster.

Beyond performance improvements, the most noticeable changes include new system menus in the main menu bar for such tasks as setting the audio volume, the ability to relocate the dock, and some additional personalization features in the Finder. From the press release, a look at what else is new:

• Dramatically enhanced system performance, especially application launch time and window resizing;
• Fine tuning of the Aqua interface for a more customizable experience that includes the ability to position the Dock on the left, the right or at the bottom of the screen
• Data CD burning capabilities within the Finder and DVD video playback and authoring capabilities to support iDVD, making Mac OS X the ultimate engine for the digital hub
• Broadened support for hundreds of third-party peripherals such as printers, cameras, camcorders, MP3 players, rewriteable drives and storage devices
• Unprecedented network integration with Mac, Windows, Linux and UNIX environments through AFP/AppleTalk, SMB/CIFS, WebDAV and NFS file services running on Mac OS X Server, AppleShare, UNIX, Linux, Windows NT and Windows 2000 servers
• Greatly enhanced 3D graphics performance with updated OpenGL software and full support for NVIDIA GeForce3
• A more powerful and efficient iDisk leveraging the Internet standard WebDAV protocol to allow users to stay connected to their iDisk, even behind corporate firewalls
• Substantial improvements to AppleScript throughout the system and full support for Internet scripting using SOAP and XML
• The final version of Internet Explorer 5.1 with full support for Mac OS X’s Java 2 runtime.

Mac OS X 10.1 is a free update for existing users (although it will also be available on CD-ROM for $19.95) and should ship in September.

Developers demonstrate Mac OS X products In addition to Mac OS X 10.1, the keynote also included a series of demos of applications running on Mac OS X. Most of the applications are still in development. (More info from Apple.) They are:

• Microsoft -- Mac Office
• Adobe -- Illustrator and InDesign
• Quark -- XPress
• FileMaker -- FileMaker Pro
• Connectix -- Virtual PC for Mac OS X. (The VPC Test Drive is available today as a free download for VPC 4.0 users. Traffic is very heavy at present on the Connectix site).
• IBM -- ViaVoice for Mac OS X
• World Book -- World Book for 2002
• Blizzard -- Warcraft III
• Aspyr -- Tony Hawk Pro Skater II
• Alias/Wavefront -- Maya