By Jo Best, 1 September 2004 16:25
NEWS Apple's forthcoming fifth version of its OS, Tiger, is banking on its open-source heritage to spare it from the security woes that have dogged Microsoft.
The operating system, due to debut in the first half of 2005, is based on the Unix platform and Apple execs reckon it's the open-source nature of the product that means it's inherently more secure than certain proprietary offerings.
Bertrand Serlet, senior VP of software at Apple, said having a greater number of people keeping an eye on source code leads to better software security. "A lot of security problems derive from the core," he said. With open-source code, "thousands of people look at the critical portions of source code and... check those portions are right. It's a major advantage to have open-source code."
Whether the new OS will be the target of malware merchants is yet to be seen. The Mac OS has certainly had its flaws in the past but has yet to be plagued with the number of security scares as rival operating systems such as Windows.
Early versions of the OS are already doing the rounds and some techies have had a chance to play with one potential release which Cupertino handed out at the Apple developer conference in June "so they could get a head start in building apps", according to Ken Bereskin, senior director of Mac OS 10.
Although Bereskin called the developers' version "a solid copy" of Tiger, there's still a lot of work to be done on the OS, Serlet said. For instance, the final arrangement of standard 'widgets' (favourite accessories, like a clock, notepad and dictionary, which a user can bring down over the desktop in one click in a semi-transparent layer) the company will offer with Tiger hasn't been finalised.
Nevertheless, Apple execs are confident - "very confident", according to Bereskin - they won't have the same deadline-meeting grief as the folk over at Redmond.
Apple hasn't exactly made a secret of how it thinks Microsoft has been 'borrowing' ideas from its previous OSes. When CEO Steve Jobs gave Tiger its premiere in late June, the conference building was emblazoned with posters bearing the legend "Redmond, start your photocopiers".
With Microsoft, Bereskin said: "It's good to see they're studying us closely." Do they expect to see Longhorn come fully equipped with MS Widget? "We innovate in user features and we get copied a lot."
Comments
There are 12 comments. Join the discussion
1. stephen
err - I thought Apple copied Konfabulator?
2. Michael Fischer
err... you thought wrong. Apple was copying Apple's Desk Accessories from early Mac OS days. It is true that one of the creators of Konfabulator thought that Apple 'ripped them off', but he obviously forgot who he had ripped off.
3. Peter Scargill
Erm, if memory serves, didn't Apple originally copy Xerox? They just can't handle being a mniority can they :-)
4. bruce
Desktop X was before Konfabulator...
www.desktopx.net
5. craig
err - I thought Konfabulator copied Apple's Desk Accessories?
6. Christian de Larrinaga
Apple's closed policy regards iPod and iTunes is in interesting contrast to the assertion by OSX team that open source is a good thing for Apple users.
Apple's sauce is just for the goose?
7. Ruprecht
Let's not get bogged down in the widgets debate, that's not all that's in Tiger...
We have got our early copy and even the MS-Heads are getting excited about what we will be able to do with this...and of course the new iMac
;o)
8. Michael Fischer
err... didn't copy Xerox neither. Once again memory fails (though I suspect the experience to base the memory on is what is faulty here ... remembering that someone said something is not the same as remembering).
(see http://www.folklore.org/StoryView.py?project=Macintosh&story=Desk_Ornaments.txt)
Although Apple based their general windowing/pointer system on Xerox's uncommericalised work, much of their new OSs (Lisa and Mac) predated Jobs visiting Xerox. It should also be noted that Apple allowed Xerox to invest 1,000,000 in Apple stock (which was a deal at the time) in exchange for the visits. Xerox let them in with their eyes open.
For more info to refresh those ailing memories see the following:
http://applemuseum.bott.org/sections/gui.html
http://www.folklore.org/StoryView.py?project=Macintosh&story=On_Xerox,_Apple_and_Progress.txt
9. craig
Apple's closed policy???
Let me think... HP (iPod clone), Macrovision (CD copy protection), Motorola (iTunes on mobiles -soon-)...
Doesn't sound too closed to me.
Perhaps they are just being picky as to whom they license FairPlay to?
10. mike Robson
Apple will license where a)there is appreciable benefit and b)the user experience is intact.
11. Luftpost
Peter:
Your memory isn't serving you well, plus the info you had was totally WRONG.
Apple's OS, acts, works and looks very different than what Xerox was doing. Only fools still think Apple stole from Xerox. That wasn't the case at all. Maybe you are thinking Windows is a copy of the Mac OS? Eitherway, the entire world uses the Mac UI, NOT a Xerox one.
Sounds like somebody forgot to study computing history.
---
Erm, if memory serves, didn't Apple originally copy Xerox? They just can't handle being a mniority can they :-)
12. anonymous
the tiger preview is an unstable piece of trash.... a few nice new features, but plagued by even more random freezes and GUI inconsistancies than panther if that's even possible...