Mac OS X Public Beta
Volume Number: 16
Issue Number: 11
Column Tag: Operating Systems
by John C. Welch
Edited by Ilene M. Hoffman
An Administrator's Review
Before I review Mac OS X, the next generation of operating system from Apple
Computer, Inc., I'd like to emphasize one point: It's A Beta. The fact that it's called a
public beta should make that emphasis unnecessary, but some comments I've read on
the Internet and mailing lists makes me think that the emphasis is needed. This is a
review of the Mac OS X Public Beta, which means that a lot of what I dislike or like
may change, so don't think that anything I mention will be included in the final
product. Finally, I've only had the public beta for about a week and a half at this
writing, so there are a lot of items I may not cover yet. Okay, enough warning, on to
the Beta!
Installation
The first place to start is the installation of Mac OS X Public Beta. I have been running
the Public Beta on a PowerBook G3 Series, Bronze Keyboard, 1999. It has 192MB of
RAM, and a third-party 18GB hard disk with two partitions, the Beta being on the
second partition, which is about 3GB in size. I have not been using Classic
Compatibility Environment for two reasons: First of all, I have certain extensions and
configurations that aren't compatible with Classic that I need to use in my daily work.
Secondly, I wanted to get a feel for OS X as its own operating system, without falling
back on Classic as a safety net.
After reading the Read Me files, installation notes, and other information available on
Apple's website (http://www.apple.com/osx/), I booted from the Beta CD, and started
the install process. When you boot from the CD, you boot into the OS X install program.
Here is one of my first beta gripes, as a network administrator, one of the things I
really like about the Mac OS over Windows NT/2000, is that when I boot from a CD, I
boot into the Mac OS, with basic networking capability enabled. can boot from the CD,
get onto my network, and have full access to utilities, install points, etc. Currently the
Mac OS X Public Beta CD only boots into the installer, which is annoying, and hopefully
is not the future design of the final product. Aside from that, the install is fairly
uneventful.
You pick the drive to install onto, agree to the license agreement, and go. There's no
options for the install, so custom installs don't apply, yet. On a freshly formatted
partition on my PowerBook, the install took about 15 minutes. Once the installer is
done, the Setup Assistant fires up, and walks you through entering the base
information to set up the Mac. It's pretty much the same as the Mac OS 9 Setup
Assistant, except for entering an administrator username and password. This password
is also used as the password for 'root' or the Unix super user ID
This brings us to another difference in OS X, the concept of the super user. The super
user, or root, is the Unix equivalent of god on that machine. If you can log in as root,
there is nothing you cannot do on a Unix machine. Literally, nothing. Do you want to
rebuild the kernel? Root can. Do you want to delete every file in \etc, which is the
directory that holds all of your configuration files? Root can. The point here is that
root is a very powerful and very dangerous, so you want to be very careful about that
user id. You should never log in as root unless you have a specific need, and then you
should log out as soon as possible.
The Interface
Once the setup assistant is done, Mac OS X reboots, and you are presented with the login
screen. Once you log in, using the user ID and password you gave the setup assistant
you are on the Mac OS X desktop, and ready to roll. One of the first eye-catchers, or at
least mine, wasn't the Dock, but rather the lack of my hard drives on the desktop.
There are a number of arguments for and against this, but for me, the two seconds it
takes me to put an alias to the drive on the desktop renders it somewhat moot. Creating
an alias requires the exploration of the new Finder.
The Finder
In Mac OS 9 the Desktop and Finder were interchangeable words; but in Mac OS X, the
Finder is part of the Desktop application. The Finder, as in previous systems handles
file-system functions. Visually, in the Finder window you see a number of buttons,
similar to Sherlock 2, that are shortcuts to various places on your Mac OS X drive.
These represent folders you would need to go regularly, such as Favorites,
Applications, Documents, and a new one, Computer, as shown below. If you don't like
the buttons, then (command)-B toggles them on and off. Also, if you have placed a
folder in the Dock,-clicking it opens it with the buttons hidden. Both views are
shown below.
The Finder at Computer Level with the Toolbar showing
The Finder at Computer Level with the Toolbar Hidden
Computer is the root level of the system, and should be thought of as looking at the
computer from bottom of the hierarchy, in that everything is above you. This level
shows you all your disks, along with a new entry, Network, which we cover later. This
view of the drives has caused some consternation, as previously, these items lived on
your desktop. Well, the reason for it, although it doesn't apply in a standalone machine
situation, is if you are accessing machines on a network, and you log into that machine,
you are going to see a view that is a container for all the accessible shared drives. This
network-centric view is essentially what Computer is giving you. The advantage to
this view is that if you are in a heavy networking environment, you don't have to
change view modes between your local Mac and Macs on the network. The disadvantage
to this is if you are in a standalone situation, you could care less about the network
view. Fortunately, in the Desktop and Dock preferences, you can set, your removable
media to automatically show on the Desktop, as shown below.
Preference panel for displaying removable media on the Desktop
This is nicer, and less jarring to those of us not used to the NeXT way of looking at
things. I think Apple would do well to add a "Show Internal Disks on Desktop" option
here though.
Another of the changes in the Finder is the Browser view, shown here.
Browser view in the Finder showing path to the folder with the Fire application
The Browser view is a side-scrolling, multi-paned window that shows you your
current location, on either the local hard drives, or the network. If you have a folder
selected, it shows you all the items in that folder in the rightmost pane. If you have a
document selected, it attempts to show you a preview of the document, along with the
standard Get Info information. If you have an application selected, you get the generic
Get Info details on the application. Although a little jarring at first, I have actually
grown rather fond of the Browser view, it is fast, easy to use, and the ability to
backtrack that easily through what can be many, many layers of folders is more than a
little sweet. (To all the NeXTies - yes, you told me so.) I also find that some of the
other modifications to the Finder windows, while jarring in some ways, make
accessing the full features of the Finder windows more intuitive. The new drop-down
list that shows your location in the folder hierarchy, has always been available via
command-clicking the title bar, but this always struck me as too useful a feature to be
hidden away as some power-user trick. Users need to be able to see where they are
regardless of the current Finder view, so placing this feature out in the open is good. I
also like the addition of a Back button, which makes this feature obvious without
having to know oddball key combinations like U. I know that experienced Mac users
are saying, "But that's so intuitive already." Well, for the true novice it isn't, and
making it more obvious and intuitive does not distract from the power of the Desktop.
It just makes it available to more people, and quicker.
Preferences Setting for how the Finder pops windows
I also like the choice between having only one Finder window as you navigate, or the
more traditional multiple windows. As someone who lives with their finger firmly
planted on the Option Key, I'm very glad that Apple gave me this choice. There are, of
course, some issues with the new Finder window. I would prefer the title bar to tell me
the directory name, instead of the application name. I know I'm in the Finder, but what
directory am I in? Keyboard navigation is inconsistent, for example, -Y is gone, so
you have to revert to using -E for eject to dismount network drives or removable
media. That's a little strange, as I'm not ejecting the network drive, (at least I better
not be), I'm removing it from my machine for a while. I also would like the browser
view to scroll as I drag items back from the current location, and better yet, forward
to new locations, which would make up for the missing spring loaded folders. I find that
most of these issues have the feel of beta bugs, more than eliminated features, so I'm
not too worried.
The next set of changes is in the Mac OS X Desktop. At first glance there seem to be a lot
of changes, but, in fact, I couldn't find that many actual changes. If you have been using
OS 9's Multiple Users feature, Macintosh Manager, or NetBoot, much of the way OS X's
desktop works will be familiar. If you have been using your Mac in a single user mode,
then some of OS X's desktop will seem a bit odd. First of all, each user has their own
Desktop Folder. This is so that you don't have situations where someone accidentally
deletes or rearranges your desktop. They can't get to it unless you allow them access.
This is annoying for the single user, , although when we look at the system
preferences, the workaround will be clear. For the networked, business, or home user
with the entire family using the same computer, this is a good feature, and is by far
better implemented than in the current Mac OS's versions. This is not a surprise, as
Unix has always supported multiple users this way, and OS X carries this UNIX-type
support into the Mac OS. Also, in the current beta, you can't rename drives. Although
there are pathname issues for this from the Unix perspective, this is a behavior that
Mac users are used to being able to perform, and it should carry over into Mac OS X. If
there is a reason for it not to be there, then it should be clearly articulated as soon as
possible.
Another obvious change is the location of the Trash icon. It's no longer on the desktop,
but rather on the Dock. This is a different location, but the functionality is still the
same. You drag files to it, open it up to remove things, unmount media by dragging it to
the trash. -backspace places things in the Trash, and shift--backspace empties the
Trash. By placing the Trash on the Dock, it can't get hidden or lost behind other
windows, which is good for new users. Considering the time I've wasted over the years
working with cluttered desktops, and typing t-r-a as fast as I could, it's a good move
for experienced users as well.
The icon size on the desktop is independent of the screen resolution and that is a feature
that is sure to be greeted with joy by the vision impaired everywhere, including yours
truly. I like the fact that I can have room for the way I work, and still be able to resize
my icons to where I can see them without having to drop the resolution.
Desktop Preferences showing Icon Size settings and Desktop Picture Settings
There are some interface issues with the Desktop that seem more like beta bugs than
anything else. Auto sorting by name is not enabled, and the Desktop doesn't refresh its