OS X is poised for greatness as Steve Jobs bangs the last nails into OS 9is coffin at the WWDC. A revolutionary OS that is stable, nimble, and a breeze to write apps for because of the development environment called Cocoa, OS X is sizing up to be the next big thing; but are the two really revolutionary?
Such are the questions asked by Simson Garfinkel and Micheal Mahoney, two well respected computer industry experts. The two authors answer these and other questions in a two-part article entitled iSteve Jobs and the History of Cocoa, Part Onei, an in-depth, and unbiased look at OS X and Cocoa. The article examines the history of Apple and Steve Jobs from the first Apple I to the Lisa to Appleis latest hardware and software offerings. From the article:
If "X" stands for that which is unknown, then Appleis next-generation operating system is fundamentally misnamed. Unlike that other "X" operation system, Microsoftis Windows XP, very little about Mac OS X is unknown or unpredictable. Indeed, some of the most innovative goodies in OS X are actually mature, stable technologies that have been painstakingly developed over the past 15 years by Apple, NeXT Computer (which Apple acquired in December 1996), and the open source community as a whole. The real pleasure that is Mac OS X comes from the seamless integration of these technologies in a single desktop.
The article is a fascinating read. Whether you are a dyed-in-the-wool Mac fan, or just have a passing interest in what makes Apple tick, we think youill throughly enjoy this article.