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

Mac OS X Overview

Mac OS X has had a very long and rocky birth process. In late 1996, Apple purchased NeXT Computer, Inc. with the thought of using its OpenStep operating system as the basis for the next-generation Mac OS. Developed initially under the moniker Rhapsody, this new operating system was little more than a graphic makeover for OpenStep. Mac OS users were left without support for existing software, and developers were left without support for existing code. Steve Jobs touted the component model of the new operating system as being the future of the Macintosh, but people weren't buying it.

Thankfully, Apple listened to the feedback of its users and developers, and slowly but surely molded the architecture of the new system to create a powerful and compatible system. With each successive conference or trade show, it seemed that modules of the architecture would be added, removed, or undergo a name change. Finally, at MacWorld Expo in January 2000, the final model, shown in Figure 1.1, was unveiled.

Figure 1.1 The Mac OS X architecture can be represented using a layered, component-based model.

Each layer represents an independent component of the Mac OS X operating system. The lower levels (such as Darwin and QuickTime) provide the foundation of technologies on higher levels.

The Mac OS X architecture comprises nine components (as represented in Figure 1.1):

• Darwin— The open source core operating system. Darwin includes a full BSD implementation (more on that later in the chapter).
• QuickTime— Apple's award-winning multimedia technologies are built in to the graphics foundation of Mac OS X.
• OpenGL— OpenGL is the SGI-created industry standard for 3D graphics. Although OpenGL is heavily challenged by Direct3D on the Microsoft platform, even Microsoft grudgingly supports the standard.
• Quartz— Apple's new 2D imaging framework and window server based on the PDF format. Quartz breaks new ground in handling the onscreen interface.
• Classic— The Classic environment (originally called Blue Box in the Rhapsody implementation) enables existing Mac OS applications to run under Mac OS X.
• Carbon— An API (application programming interface) to ease the transition to Mac OS X for traditional Mac programmers. This is based on the original Mac OS API, and can be used to create programs that run on Mac OS 8/9 as well as Mac OS X.
• Cocoa— Cocoa (originally called Yellow Box in Rhapsody) is the robust modern API that enables applications to be built from scratch in a fraction of the time it would take traditionally.
• Java— For the first time ever, the Mac OS is a player in the Java development and deployment arena. Java 2SE v1.3 is a first-class citizen and distributed with each copy of Mac OS X.
• Aqua— Aqua uses the Quartz imaging engine to create the most astounding user interface available on any platform. Applications written in Cocoa, Carbon, or Java can access the capabilities of the Aqua GUI.

Let's examine each of these technologies and how it will affect the total end-user experience. Much of what will be covered here will be unfamiliar territory even for the most seasoned Mac fanatic. I highly recommend that you read through these sections to gain an overview of the information that you'll encounter later in the book—it could be quite jarring if you don't know what to expect.

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