![]() ![]() Here's the bottom line: While installing Mac OS X is usually painless - back up your data first, just in case - and many people are tickled pink with it today, you may want to wait until more "Built for Mac OS X" programs become available before you take the plunge. Furthermore, restarting Classic isn't any faster than rebooting Mac OS 9.1. Some games don't, and a few Extensions and Control Panels either don't work or only work with Classic apps.īut Classic apps have a big disadvantage: When one of them crashes, it can bring down the entire Classic environment, including all other Classic apps that are running. Mac OS X also includes a "Classic" mode, which runs most existing Mac programs "as is." While these programs - now referred to as "Classic Applications" - don't take advantage of Mac OS X's advanced features, or use the new Aqua interface, most of them work fine. There's are several Web sites - /Apps/ and - with hundreds of "Built for Mac OS X" programs, although most these are freeware or shareware, and many are of limited usefulness. There are "Built for Mac OS X" programs available already, such as StuffIt Deluxe, SoundJam MP and a handful of others.Īpple has a bunch available - you'll find them on your iDisk - and there are several dozen more included with OS X. We have also announced a special offer for Office 2001 users: They're eligible for half off the upgrade price for Office for OS X."ĭon't get me wrong. Our goals are to make a product that works and looks great on OS X, introduce important improvements to Entourage, and ship within one year of the release of Office 2001. "This will not be Office 2001 for Mac OS X, but rather a new release. ![]() "Office for OS X will ship this fall," he said. In fact, Kevin Browne, the general manager of their Mac business unit, was a virtual chatterbox. Surprisingly, Microsoft was the most forthcoming. Its spokesperson replied, "We look forward to creating great solutions for the Mac community with Mac OS X," but wouldn't commit to when Dreamweaver, or any of their other programs, might be X-ified. All they would tell me was, "Adobe is committed to supporting the Mac OS X platform and will begin releasing versions of its flagship applications following the commercial release of OS X." First, I asked Adobe about Photoshop for OS X. Therein lies the rub: Only a handful of commercial programs have been rewritten for OS X so far, and it's unclear when many of the good ones will be. These programs, officially called "Built for Mac OS X," are the only ones that take advantage of Mac OS X's advanced features, display the beautiful new "Aqua" interface, and won't bring down your entire system if they crash. You see, Mac OS X requires existing programs be rewritten to take advantage of its advanced features. But today I want to examine something very important - the state of third-party software for OS X. I'll be running it on my main Mac from today forward. ![]()
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