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rom the moment you see Mac OS X, you know that it’s different from

any other computer operating system on the planet, including earlier

iterations of Mac OS. Nothing else looks quite like it. Yet, use it a bit

and you’ll see that there is familiarity about its operation. Apple has made

great efforts to ensure that Macintosh users as well as Windows users can

leverage their previous OS skill sets. But what sets Mac OS X apart from its

predecessors and its competition is the sum total of its parts.

This chapter provides an overview of the core technologies that comprise

Mac OS X. Knowing the core technologies can help you master the overall

operation of this world-class operating system. The chapter concludes by

examining the system requirements of Mac OS X and its installation.

What Is Mac OS X?

Mac OS X is Apple’s answer to the quest for a modern operating system. It

combines the power and stability of Unix with the simplicity of Macintosh.

In 1996, after continual failed attempts to develop its own next-generation

operating system, Apple management looked outside the company and

acquired NeXT Software, Inc. NeXT’s OS at the time was called OpenStep.

It had all the features that Apple desired in a modern OS: protected memory,

preemptive multitasking, multithreading, and symmetric multiprocessing.

With OpenStep as the foundation, Apple initially designated the code name

Rhapsody for its new OS, but as the project matured, it was renamed to Mac

OS X, keeping in line with the progression of Apple’s existing system soft-

ware monikers. Apple has enjoyed phenomenal success with Mac OS X,

which has been adopted by over 5 million users, and Apple is now generally

considered the largest vendor of Unix-based systems on the planet.

IN THIS CHAPTER

What is Mac OS X?

Understanding the core

technologies of Mac OS X

Reviewing the installation

process

Installing Mac OS X

Running the Setup Assistant

Running Software Update

Introduction and Installation

of Mac OS X

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Summary of content (16 pages)

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TE RI AL Introduction and Installation of Mac OS X MA F TE D rom the moment you see Mac OS X, you know that it’s different from any other computer operating system on the planet, including earlier iterations of Mac OS. Nothing else looks quite like it. Yet, use it a bit and you’ll see that there is familiarity about its operation. Apple has made great efforts to ensure that Macintosh users as well as Windows users can leverage their previous OS skill sets.
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Part I Getting to Know Mac OS X Mac OS 10.5 is another evolutionary step in the OS X product line. Apple claims it has more than 300 enhancements. One of the more significant enhancements, though most likely unperceivable to most users, is that the product is now a 64-bit Universal OS that is capable of running 32-bit software without recompilation. What does this mean in layman’s terms? Mac OS X 10.
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Introduction and Installation of Mac OS X Protected memory Protected memory isolates applications in their own individual memory workspaces. When an application crashes, the program can be terminated without having a negative effect on other running applications or requiring a restart of the computer. Advance memory management Advance memory management automatically manages physical RAM and virtual memory dynamically as needed. Virtual memory uses hard disk space in lieu of physical RAM.
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Part I Getting to Know Mac OS X by reducing floating-point unit (FPU) CPU utilization by offloading it to the Graphic Processing Unit (GPU) of the video hardware. Not all video cards are Core Image/Animation capable, but it’s safe to assume that if your Mac has shipped within the last two years, it will be either fully or partially compliant, because the technology is scaling and is dependent upon hardware capabilities. For a complete list of Core Image/Animation-compliant video cards, visit www.apple.
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Introduction and Installation of Mac OS X Cocoa Cocoa applications are specifically developed for Mac OS X. Cocoa applications are incompatible with older Macintosh operating systems and, therefore, do not run on Mac OS 9. Cocoa applications take advantage of all of Mac OS X’s modern OS features, such as advance memory management, preemptive multitasking, symmetric multiprocessing, and the Aqua interface.
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Part I Getting to Know Mac OS X FIGURE 1.1 When pondering packages remember the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. Installation Considerations for Mac OS X Now that we have reviewed the core technologies of Mac OS X, let’s focus on its installation process. Although Mac OS X has a very structured installation process, several variations of installation are available. The user’s needs dictate the appropriate installation strategy.
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Introduction and Installation of Mac OS X Leopard’s revised DVD Player requires a 1.6GHz processor or faster for improved de-interlacing. As for third-party hardware, Apple states that OS X natively supports many third-party hardware devices, although some devices may require additional driver updates from their respective manufacturers to utilize a product’s full feature set.
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Part I Getting to Know Mac OS X names cannot be customized after creation. Apple states that “a UFS format may be desired for developing Unix-based applications within OS X,” and you should not choose this format unless you specifically need it.
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Introduction and Installation of Mac OS X Running the Mac OS X installer After the destination volume is prepared, you’re ready to run the Mac OS X Installer application, but before doing so, make sure to have your computer plugged in if you’re installing on a portable system. You don’t want your iBook or PowerBook going to sleep in the middle of an installation. At the time of this writing, the Mac OS 10.
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Part I Getting to Know Mac OS X Select Language The Mac OS X installer supports installations for many languages. Select the appropriate language for the remainder of the installation process and click Continue. Welcome The Welcome screen acts as a prelude to the rest of the installation process. No action is required except for clicking Continue. More Information The Read Me screen presents the same contents that can be found in the Read Before You Install document on the Mac OS X Install DVD.
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Introduction and Installation of Mac OS X help protect the data on your hard disk from unforeseen failures such as system freezing or power outages. As previously mentioned, case sensitive means that it matters whether or not letters are capitalized. For example, passwords in Mac OS X are case sensitive.
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Part I Getting to Know Mac OS X Using the Setup Assistant After the Mac OS X install process has been completed, the computer automatically reboots. Next, Mac OS X’s Setup Assistant automatically launches and you hear some snazzy music as well as see some flashy graphics. You are also audibly prompted to choose if you would like to use Voice Over interface technology throughout the rest of the Setup Assistant process.
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Introduction and Installation of Mac OS X attached to a cable or DSL modem as well as a local area network (LAN) via Ethernet. If none of these options suffice, click My computer does not connect to the Internet, and you are taken to the Personalize Your Settings screen. Later, revisit the Network preference pane within the System Preferences application to configure your Network settings.
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Part I Getting to Know Mac OS X Make sure to pick a Short Name you like, because it can’t be changed after the fact. After you’ve chosen your short name, you’ll need to provide a password. Although OS X accepts more than eight characters for this field, it checks only the first eight. The last entry field allows you to provide yourself an optional password hint if desired. Finally, you need to select a picture that serves as an iconic representation of your user account.
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Introduction and Installation of Mac OS X FIGURE 1.3 No installation is complete without checking for product updates. Summary Mac OS X is a Unix operating system. It is built upon open standards, providing preemptive multitasking, symmetric multiprocessing, protected memory, and advanced memory management, as well as world-class graphics capabilities. Though it may be complex in design on the inside, on the surface, it retains its world-class usability and appearance that customers expect of the Mac OS.
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