Mac OS X Unleashed

By John Ray and William C. Ray

• Table of Contents
  • Copyright
  • About the Author
  • Acknowledgments
  • Tell Us What You Think!
  • Introduction
  • Part I: Introduction to Mac OS X
  • Chapter 1. Mac OS X Component Architecture
    • Mac OS X Overview
    • Darwin
    • QuickTime
    • OpenGL: Open Graphics Language
    • Quartz
    • Classic
    • Carbon
    • Cocoa
    • Java 2
    • Aqua
    • Migration Issues
    • Summary
  • Chapter 2. Installing Mac OS X
  • Chapter 3. Mac OS X Basics
  • Chapter 4. The Finder: Working with Files and Applications
  • Chapter 5. Running Classic Mac OS Applications
  • Part II: Inside Mac OS X
  • Chapter 6. Native Utilities and Applications
  • Chapter 7. Internet Communications
  • Chapter 8. Installing Third-Party Applications
  • Part III: User-Level OS X Configuration
  • Chapter 9. Network Setup
  • Chapter 10. Printer and Font Management
  • Chapter 11. Additional System Components
  • Part IV: Introduction to BSD Applications
  • Chapter 12. Introducing the BSD Subsystem
  • Chapter 13. Common Unix Shell Commands: File Operations
  • Part V: Advanced Command-Line Concepts
  • Chapter 14. Advanced Shell Concepts and Commands
  • Chapter 15. Command-Line Applications and Application Suites
  • Chapter 16. Command-Line Software Installation
  • Chapter 17. Troubleshooting Software Installs, and Compiling and Debugging Manually
  • Chapter 18. Advanced Unix Shell Use: Configuration and Programming (Shell Scripting)
  • Part VI: Server/Network Administration
  • Chapter 19. X Window System Applications
  • Chapter 20. Command-Line Configuration and Administration
  • Chapter 21. AppleScript
  • Chapter 22. Perl Scripting and SQL Connectivity
  • Chapter 23. File and Resource Sharing with NetInfo
  • Chapter 24. User Management and Machine Clustering
  • Chapter 25. FTP Serving
  • Chapter 26. Remote Access and Administration
  • Chapter 27. Web Serving
  • Part VII: Server Health
  • Chapter 28. Web Programming
  • Chapter 29. Creating a Mail Server
  • Chapter 30. Accessing and Serving a Windows Network
  • Chapter 31. Server Security and Advanced Network Configuration
  • Chapter 32. System Maintenance
  • Appendix A. Command-Line Reference
  • Appendix B. Administration Reference

Quartz

The final piece of Apple's imaging framework is Quartz. Announced only a year before Mac OS X's final release (a year is not a long time in the development of an operating system), Quartz provides a graphics model unlike anything seen before—with the possible exception of the NeXT computer.

In all previous versions of the Mac operating system, the graphics toolbox was called QuickDraw. QuickDraw was composed of a large number of routines for drawing and manipulating graphics primitives. Over the years, QuickDraw expanded to include new technologies such as color, but for the most part, it stayed the same. Windows computers quickly caught up with the Macintosh and offered programmers features similar to the QuickDraw toolbox. When Apple created Mac OS X, it decided to go all the way and create an entirely new imaging model that was far more advanced than the competition.

The original NeXTSTEP (and later the OpenStep) operating system was based on Display PostScript. PostScript is a page description language from Adobe used to create resolution-independent output (usually on printers). NeXTSTEP extended that technology to the operating system's display API. For the first time ever, the user could truly get a WYSIWYG display because both the output printer and the display device were using the same language to generate their images. Additionally, NeXTSTEP offered the capability to work with remote displays; that is, to display the output of a program on a computer other than that which was running the software.

The first release of Mac OS X Server used the same Display PostScript standard found in OpenStep and NeXTSTEP. Licensing issues and the availability of more modern standards meant that a change needed to take place before the consumer version of OS X appeared. Instead of PostScript, Apple based its new Quartz 2D imaging model on another Adobe standard: PDF, the Portable Document Format, which combines PostScript with several additional features.

Quartz offers the capability to create dramatic effects within applications with only a minimal amount of work. For example, it automatically handles tasks such as

• Anti-aliasing graphics and text
• Image scaling and rotation
• Image compositing with translucency
• Buffered windows

These might seem like operations reserved for graphics applications, but in fact they are available across the entire Mac OS X system. Figure 1.6 shows the Mac OS X Terminal window on top of the iTunes application. As iTunes creates its dynamic visualizations, they are visible through the partially translucent Terminal window.

Figure 1.6 Quartz's advanced features allow real-time compositing of graphics.

What is truly remarkable is that the terminal remains fully responsive and usable. Quartz handles the compositing of the two windows without the need for either of the applications to know anything about one another. Although it is not responsible for the look and feel of the system, Quartz is the driving force behind the incredible effects that make up the Mac OS X interface. Speaking personally, I'd be surprised to find a Mac fan out there who did not brush away a tear when Steve Jobs demonstrated the Dock and Genie effects for the first time. Quartz is the engine that makes it all possible.

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