Apple Computer Inc will roll out its Copland operating system in pieces but isn’t saying how those pieces will be priced or when they’ll be available-or even what they are – until the end of next week. What Apple has explained is that Copland, or System 8 – which is over a year late – […]
Apple Computer Inc will roll out its Copland operating system in pieces but isn’t saying how those pieces will be priced or when they’ll be available-or even what they are – until the end of next week. What Apple has explained is that Copland, or System 8 – which is over a year late – will be available in staged releases from January 1997. Apple says the initial code drop will be whatever its developers finish first. The strategy, an unprecedented way of shipping an operating system upgrade, was unveiled by Apple chief Gilbert Amelio at his MacWorld keynote this week. The company is saying it may be forced to abandon some of the less important features because its programmers are having such trouble making them work with existing Macintosh applications. Apple’s adoption of the Common Hardware Reference Platform or PowerPC Platform, has been put back a year to await Copland’s completion. Apple says it may eventually also license Windows NT from Microsoft Corp, presumably only the server version. Built around a pre-emptive multi-tasking microkernel with support for threads, Copland is written entirely in native RISC code and will eventually include integrated QuickTime, QuickDraw GX and 3D, OpenDoc, WorldScript and Unicode, with Open Transport and QuickTime Conferencing communications, plus direct Internet access via Cyberdog. There are big changes to the Macintosh user interface, including variations for different skill levels, new metaphors for file searching and more consistent behaviour. Meanwhile, critics will suggest maybe Apple should’ve made Copland more of a priority instead of squandering time on other products it demonstrated at MacWorld: search engines extensions and an object-oriented programming tool called Cocoa aimed at – we’re not kidding you – children.
