MWSF 2003 - Apple Releases X11 For Mac OS X

by , 3:15 PM EST, January 7th, 2003

Apple today released a beta version of its own implementation of the X11 Windows server which takes full advantage of Aqua. Although this announcement did not get a mention in Mr. Jobs' keynote, it is likely to excite many among Apple's UNIX crowd. From the press release.

Apple® today introduced X11 for Mac® OS X that allows X11-based applications to run side-by-side with native Mac OS X applications on the same desktop and makes it even simpler to port X11-based applications to the Mac®. Apple’s implementation of X11, the common windowing environment for UNIX operating systems, is easy to install and is optimized to take full advantage of Apple’s innovative Quartz™ graphics system to deliver hardware-accelerated 2D and 3D graphics for fast text scrolling, dynamic dragging and resizing of windows, and stunning 3D animation through OpenGL Direct Rendering.

“Apple has become the highest volume supplier of UNIX-based systems, and now with X11 for Mac OS X we’re making it even easier for UNIX pros to switch to the Mac,” said Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Product Marketing. “Mac OS X is really catching on with the UNIX community because of its standards-based approach, familiar tool sets and rich foundation for building modern applications.”

With a complete suite of the standard X11 display server software, client libraries and developer toolkits, X11 for Mac OS X makes it even simpler to port Linux and UNIX applications to the Mac. X11 for Mac OS X is easy to get up and running with a single download and install for both the display server and client libraries, and the optional X11 Software Developer Kit for Mac OS X allows developers to build almost any X11R6.6 application with a simple recompile. X11 for Mac OS X is completely integrated with the Aqua user interface for seamless cut and paste between X11 and Mac OS X applications and full access to Aqua controls for zoom, close and minimization to the Dock.

More information on the new X11 beta can be found in the and from Apple's X11 for OS X website.

The Mac Observer Spin:

This is a definite Big Deal™ for the UNIX community. While there has been an X11 server available for OS X for quite some time, Apple's new beta release is bound to make the process of utilizing the X11 window server on Mac OS X much easier for the casual UNIX developer. In the coming months we should encounter more and more ports of software from UNIX and Linux thanks to today's announcement. In the long run, this can only help the Macintosh community

Apple's X11 for OS X Web Site