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Mac OS X Tiger

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Mac OS X v10.4 "Tiger"
File:Tiger Screenshot with Apps.png
A screenshot of Mac OS X v10.4 Tiger.
DeveloperApple Computer
OS familyBSD
Working stateCurrent
Source modelClosed source (Darwin foundation is open source)
Latest release10.4.5 / February 14, 2006
Kernel typeXNU (based upon Mach)
LicenseAPSL and Apple EULA
Official websitewww.apple.com/macosx

Mac OS X version 10.4 "Tiger" is the fifth and latest major release of Mac OS X for Apple's Macintosh computers, and released to the public on April 29, 2005. It was preceded by Mac OS X v10.3 "Panther". Apple CEO Steve Jobs previewed Tiger in his keynote speech at the Worldwide Developers Conference on June 28, 2004, he previewed some of the new features including Spotlight, Dashboard and Automator. Mac OS X 10.4 "Tiger" costs $129 USD (£88.99 GBP); there is no upgrade price available for existing Mac OS X 10.3 "Panther" users. Apple CEO Steve Jobs announced at the Worldwide Developers Conference on June 6, 2005, that almost two million copies had sold in the six weeks since its release.

History

Mac OS X 10.4 "Tiger" was originally previewed by Apple CEO Steve Jobs in his keynote speech at the Worldwide Developers Conference on June 28, 2004. Later in December 2004, several non-commercial developer releases of Tiger were leaked onto the Internet. As a result Apple sued the file sharers who were distributing Tiger for free by using BitTorrent. On April 12, 2005, it was announced that Tiger would be officially released worldwide on April 29. All Apple Stores around the world held Tiger seminars, presentations and demos.

On June 6, 2005, at the Worldwide Developers Conference in San Francisco, it was revealed that Mac OS X had, for the past five years (i.e. since its birth), been engineered to work with Intel's x86 line of processors in addition to the PowerPC, the CPU that the operating system had always been publicly marketed for. A future release of OS X 10.4 will provide preliminary developer support for the x86 CPU and the IA-32 instruction set. Apple announced plans to release the first x86-based computers in June of 2006, transitioning the rest of their computers to x86 by June 2007. On January 10, 2006, almost six months ahead of schedule, Apple released their first iMac and MacBookPro featuring an Intel Core Duo processor. [1]

10.4 is the first version of OS X to be supplied on a DVD rather than on CDs although the DVD can be exchanged through Apple for CDs at an extra cost.

New features

Apple advertises that OS X 10.4 Tiger has over 200 new features [2], including:

  • Spotlight - Spotlight is a powerful full-text and metadata search engine, which can search everything from Word documents to iCal calendars to Address Book cards, as well as any text within PDF files. The feature is also used to build the concept of smart folders into the Finder. Spotlight will index files as they are saved, so they can be quickly and easily found through a search-as-you-type box in the menu bar.
  • iChat AV - The new iChat AV 3.0 in Tiger supports up to four participants in a video conference and ten participants in an audio conference. It also now supports communication using the Jabber protocol. A Jabber server called iChat Server is included on Mac OS X Tiger Server.
  • Safari RSS - The new Safari 2.0 web browser in Tiger features a built-in reader for RSS and Atom web syndication that can be accessed easily from an RSS button in the address bar of the web browser window. An updated version of Safari, included as part of the free Mac OS 10.4.3 update, can also pass the Acid2 web standards test.
  • Mail 2 - The new version of Mail.app email client included in Tiger featured an updated interface, "Smart Mailboxes" that utilize the Spotlight search system, parental controls, as well as several other features.
File:Dashboarddemoscreenshot.jpg
Dashboard running on Tiger
  • Dashboard - Dashboard is a new mini-applications layer based on HTML, CSS, and JavaScript, which returns the desk accessories concept to the Mac OS. These accessories are known as widgets. When Dashboard was first previewed there was large speculation that it copied the 3rd party software Konfabulator, though there are in fact significant technological differences between the two. It comes with several widgets such as Weather, World Clock, Unit Converter, and Dictionary/Thesaurus.
  • Automator - A scripting tool called Automator to link applications together to form complex automated workflows (written in AppleScript, Cocoa, or both). Automator comes with a complete library of actions for several applications which can be used together to make a workflow.
  • VoiceOver - VoiceOver is an accessibility interface that offers the user magnification options, keyboard control and spoken English descriptions of what is happening on screen. VoiceOver enables users with visual impairment the ability to use applications via spoken commands. It also allows a user to work collaboratively with other users on a single Mac by allowing multiple users give voice commands to scroll text, etc. VoiceOver is capable of reading aloud the contents of files including web pages, mail messages and word processing files. The complete keyboard navigation lets you control the computer with the keyboard rather than mouse, a menu is displayed in a window showing all the available keyboard commands that can be used.
  • A complete built-in Dictionary/Thesaurus based on the Oxford American Dictionary, accessible through an application, Dictionary, a Dashboard widget, and as a system-wide command (see below).
  • .Mac syncing - Though this is not a new feature, .Mac syncing in Tiger is much improved over Panther. Syncing tasks in Tiger are now accomplished through the .Mac system preferences pane rather than the iSync application.
  • QuickTime 7 - A new version of Apple's multimedia software has support for the new H.264/AVC codec which offers better quality and scalability than other video codecs. This new codec is used by iChat AV for clearer video conferencing. New classes within Cocoa provide full access to QuickTime for Cocoa application developers. The new QuickTime 7 player application bundled with Mac OS X Tiger now includes more advanced audio and video controls as well as a more detailed Information dialog, and the new player has been rebuilt using Apple's Cocoa API to take advantage of the new technologies more easily.
  • 64-bit architecture - Mac OS X Tiger is the first version of Mac OS X to fully support 64-bit computing to take advantage of the PowerMac G5. It also includes backward support for 32-bit programs.
  • New Unix features - New versions of cp, mv, and rsync which support files with resource forks. Command-line support for features like the above-mentioned Spotlight are also included.
  • Xcode 2.0 - Xcode 2.0, Apple's Cocoa development tool now includes visual modelling, an integrated Apple Reference Library and graphical remote debugging.

New applications in Tiger

  • Automator - Automator uses workflows to process repetitive tasks automatically
  • Grapher - Grapher is a new application capable of creating 2D and 3D graphs similar to that of Graphing Calculator.
  • Dictionary - A dictionary and thesaurus program which uses the Oxford American Dictionaries. It has a fast GUI for displaying the Dictionary, and allows the user to search the dictionary with Spotlight, to print definitions, and to copy and paste text into documents. Dictionary also provides a Dictionary service in the Application menu, and Cocoa and WebKit provide a global keyboard shortcut (⌃⌘D by default) for all applications that display text with them. The Dictionary application is a more feature-filled version of the Dictionary widget.
  • Quartz Composer - Quartz Composer is a development tool for processing and rendering graphical data.

Improvements

  • An upgraded kernel with optimized kernel resource locking, support for 64-bit memory pointers and access control lists.
  • A new startup daemon called launchd that allows for faster boots.
  • The printing dialog in Tiger now features a drop down menu for creating PDFs, sending PDFs to Mail, and other PDF related actions. However, the user interface has been criticised for creating a hybrid widget that looks like a plain button but acts like a pop-up menu. This is one of only three places in the entire Mac OS X interface where such an element appears.
  • Dock menus now have menu items to open an application at login, or to remove the icon from the dock.
  • The Window menu in the Finder now features a "Cycle Through Windows" menu item.
  • The Get Info window for items in the Finder now includes a "More Info" section which includes Spotlight information tags such as Image Height & Width, when the file was last opened, and where the file originated from.

Technologies

  • A new graphics processing API, Core Image, leveraging the power of the available accelerated graphics cards.
Core Image allows programmers to easily leverage programmable GPUs for fast image processing for special effects and image correction tools. Some of the included Image Units included are Blur, Color Blending, Generator Filters, Distortion Filters, Geometry Filters, Halftone features and much more.
  • A new data persistence API, Core Data, that makes it easier for developers to handle structured data in their applications.
The Mac OS X Core Data API helps developers create data structures for their applications. Core Data provides undo, redo and save functions for developers without them having to write any code.
  • A new video graphics API, Core Video, which leverages Core Image to provide real-time video processing.
Apple's Motion real-time video effects program takes advantage of Core Video in Mac OS X Tiger. Core Video lets developers easily integrate real-time video effects and processing into their applications.
  • Core Audio, introduced in Mac OS X 10.3 Panther, integrates a range of audio functionality directly into the operating system.

Interface differences

In every major new revision of Mac OS X, Apple alters the graphical user interface somewhat. In Tiger the menu bar displayed at the top of the screen now features a colored Spotlight button in the upper right corner; the menu itself has a smoother 'glassy' texture to replace the faint pinstripes in 10.3.

Also of note, 10.4 introduces a new window theme, often described as 'Unified'. A variation on the standard, non-brushed metal theme used since the introduction of Mac OS X, this theme integrates the title bar and the toolbar of a window. A prominent example of an application that utilizes this theme is Mail.

Comparison with Windows

Microsoft is ripping off features such as Spotlight and Quartz into Windows Vista, the next version of Windows (previously known by its codename, Longhorn). However, Vista is not expected until mid to late 2006, in a similar timeframe to the expected release of next version of Mac OS X 10.5, Leopard. This led to Apple mocking Microsoft at the WWDC presentation, with large posters with slogans such as "Introducing Longhorn", "Redmond, start your photocopiers", "Redmond, we have a problem", and "This should keep Redmond busy". Arlo Rose, the developer of Konfabulator (a third-party product similar in function to Dashboard), mimicked this campaign by prominently displaying "Cupertino, start your photocopiers" on the front page of his website. [3]

Tiger Trademark Lawsuit

File:Mac OS X Box.jpeg

Shortly before the release of OS X 10.4, the computer retailer TigerDirect.com Inc. filed a lawsuit against Apple Computer. The lawsuit alleged that Apple infringed TigerDirect.com's trademark with the Mac OS X Tiger operating system. [4]

The following is a quotation from TigerDirect.com's court memorandum:

Apple Computer's use of its infringing family of Tiger marks to expand sales of products besides its operating system software is already evident -- for example, Apple Computer is offering free iPods and laptops as part of its Tiger World Premiere giveaway. In short, notwithstanding its representation to the PTO that it would only use Tiger in connection with their unique computer operating system software, Apple Computer has in recent weeks used a family of Tiger marks in connection with a substantially broader group of products and services, including the very products and services currently offered by Tiger Direct under its famous family of Tiger marks. [5]

The judge in the case ruled in Apple's favor.

Tiger x86

At the 2005 Worldwide Developers Conference, Apple CEO Steve Jobs announced that Apple will begin selling Macintosh computers with Intel processors in 2006. To allow developers to begin producing software for these Intel-based Macs, Apple made Developer Transition Kits available for sale which include a version of Mac OS X v10.4 designed to run on x86 processors, which has come to be referred to as Tiger x86 or osx86.

This build includes Apple's Rosetta — a translation process that allows Intel processor versions of the OS to run PPC software with little penalty. This is contrasted with the current Mac OS 9 Classic mode, which uses comparably larger amounts of system resources.

Soon after the Developer Transition Kits began shipping, copies of Tiger x86 leaked onto file sharing networks. Although Apple had implemented a Trusted Computing DRM scheme in the transition hardware and OS in an attempt to stop people installing Tiger x86 on non-Apple PCs, hackers had soon managed to remove this restriction. [6] Recently, Apple has released versions 10.4.2 and 10.4.3 of Tiger x86 with newer safeguards to prevent its use on non-Apple hardware. 10.4.3 has recently been cracked and released to file sharing networks, including the latest 10.4.4 build.

At MacWorld San Francisco 2006, Jobs announced the immediate availablility of OS X 10.4.4, the first publicly-available release of OS X Tiger that is compiled for both PowerPC and Intel x86 machines.

Interesting facts

  • Just 6 weeks after its official release, Apple had delivered 2 million copies of Tiger, representing 16% of all Mac OS X users
  • By mid-2006, Apple expects Tiger to account for half (50%) of the Mac user base.
  • Apple claims that Tiger was the most successful OS release in the history of the computing world.

Version history

See also

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