| Apple recently divulged new details of its system
software strategy for the next few years. This summer,
System 7.5 will introduce such features as multithreading;
drag-and-drop editing; QuickDraw GX (an improved graphics
engine for both screen rendering and printing); MacTCP
(the first in a series of Open Transport network protocols
to be integrated into the Mac OS as AppleTalk is); a
scriptable Finder, which allows macros and applications to
automate file management tasks on the Mac Desktop;
automatic file synchronization between mobile and desktop
systems; built-in DOS file compatibility; and
context-sensitive help. Conspicuously missing from System 7.5 are preemptive multitasking (System 7 is limited to cooperative multitasking) and memory protection (which keeps programs from interfering with each other in a multitasking environment). In contrast, both of those features and multithreading are expected to appear in Chicago, the next release of Windows 3.x. According to Apple's road map, Mac users must wait until the release of an operating system code-named Gershwin in 1996 to get true preemptive multitasking (OS/2 2.1 already provides preemptive multitasking, multithreading, and memory protection). Gershwin will also introduce a hardware-abstraction layer. This layer abstracts upper-level operating-system services from the underlying hardware, allowing easier cross-platform portability. Another notable feature of Gershwin will be an entirely new GUI, but Apple is tight-lipped on details. Copeland is Apple's intermediate step to Gershwin. Among other things, Copeland will offer memory protection and a microkernel architecture. Until the hardware-abstraction layer is added in Gershwin, however, the microkernel will contribute little to Copeland's portability. Table: Apple's and Microsoft's system software road map. Copyright 1994-1998 BYTE |