Apple opens OS X to public scrutiny

Apple has released a public beta of OS X, its next-generation operating system for the Macintosh. The company is offering discs via its online AppleStore for £24.95.

While getting users to pay to test its incomplete software may seem a little strange, it's not unusual: Microsoft has done this in the past.

In addition, it allows enthusiastic Mac users to preview new developments and helps make the final product better by highlighting problems. The final version is not expected until early next year.

The core of Mac OS X is centred around a version of Unix, a tried and tested operating system used on workstations and noted for its stability.

Known as Darwin, it provides pre-emptive multi-tasking, allowing the Mac to allocate resources more efficiently to applications, and advanced memory protection to stop programs crashing each other.

Among the other new features are an updated graphical interface called Aqua, a 2D graphics system called Quartz, developed around Adobe's industry standard PDF format, and improved support for the OpenGL 3D graphics language, which is often used in the latest games.

Users with OS 9 installed can run existing applications under OS X in a special 'Classic' environment, but these will not take advantage of all the new features on offer.

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