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Applications and underpinnings

Bundled with OS X are several applications, including Mail (an email client), Internet Explorer 5.1 Preview Release, QuickTime 5.0, and the standard set of utilities, such as the Calculator. All are either Carbonised, or built using Cocoa, which Apple is pitching as the best way to create entirely new applications. In addition, you can run any application within what's called the Classic environment: effectively, OS 9 running in tandem with OS X. The great thing about Classic is simply that it works - you really can run just about anything, other than control panels and applications that require the occasional odd extension.

Once Classic is started up, you can effectively forget it's there, and use any application, though this can be confusing. The menu bar changes from the new OS X one to the old version, complete with the application menu on the right and multi-coloured Apple on the left. You can even use the 'old' Apple Menu to access recent documents and applications, but not OS 9 control panels, which are not supported.

If most of your applications are old, it's easy to forget you're actually running OS X. But integration between the Classic interface and the rest of OS X is limited. Although you can cut and paste between OS X applications, you can't drag and drop. Applications can't use the OS X printing system, either, but have to rely on the older Chooser system.

The Internet is much closer to the core of OS X than has been the case with previous versions. Apple has integrated iTools into OS X, so there's a direct option to mount an iDisk from one of the Finder menus. Apple has also worked to improve OS-level support for key Internet technologies and standards, such as WebDAV

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and the Apache Web server. There a full suite of Unix-based Internet services, like Telnet and FTP, most of which are turned off by default, both as a security measure and to simplify things for most users.

Underneath the flashy interface, OS X is Unix. What the Unix underpinnings mean is that this is simply the most reliable Mac OS ever built. This doesn't mean applications don't crash - they do, although less often. But it does mean that a crashing application won't kill your whole system in the same way as was possible before, and that you can just restart your crashed application and pick up where you last saved. And, if an application freezes, you can simply hit command-option-esc, and kill it using the Force Quit Applications dialog box.

Conclusions

OS X is finally here, and by and large it's better than we'd hoped it would be. It's stable, works on a surprisingly wide range of Macs, is lacking in only a few features, and retains a large measure of compatibility with older applications. The interface changes, while taking a fair amount of time to get used to, are sensible and add to the feeling of sleek power you get when using the new OS.

Anyone considering an upgrade, though, should consider the golden rule of upgrading your OS: if you have a system that's stable, that runs all the applications you need, and that you're happy with, don't upgrade it until there are features or applications for the new OS that won't work with your old one. If your Mac is crashing several times a day, OS X will mean an end to constant restarts - but it won't stop your old applications crashing and, if none of them are Carbonised yet, taking all your other Classic applications down as well.

OS X is without doubt a great step forward in Mac history. What it isn't, yet, is complete. There are elements missing, such as support for DVD and CD-RW drives, which means some users should reject it immediately. There's no real compelling reason to upgrade at present, but as soon as the majority of the applications you use on a day-to-day basis are Carbonised, it will definitely be worth upgrading your Mac.

OS X review part 1 - installation and interface

The full version of this review will appear in MacUser issue 7 on 6 April.