Apple To Go Mac OS X-Only

Apple

The move is designed to spur third-party software developers to step up their support of OS X, according to Apple CEO Steve Jobs. Since OS X shipped in March 2001, roughly 4,000 native applications have become available for the platform, Apple reported.

"We expect that 20 percent of our entire installed base will be using Mac OS X by the end of this year, making it the fastest operating system transition in recent history," Jobs said in a statement. "Now it's time for Apple and our third-party developers to focus all of our resources exclusively on Mac OS X, rather than dividing them between two different operating systems."

All new Macs sold this year have had OS X as the default OS, but since the platform's debut, users have been able to choose OS X or its predecessor, Mac OS 9, as their startup system. About 75 percent of customers, however, have elected to keep OS X as their default OS, Apple reported. The company estimated that more than 3 million people now use OS X and that 5 million will be using the platform by year-end.

Although OS X will be the sole startup system for Macs starting in 2003, Mac users will still be able to run OS 9 applications via OS X's Classic mode, which Apple said will continue to be bundled with OS X. Apple shipped a major upgrade of the platform, OS X 10.2, code-named Jaguar, on Aug. 24, and more than 100,000 copies were sold worldwide that weekend, setting a new record for Mac OS sales in a single weekend, the company said.

The OS X-only strategy should come as welcome news to software vendors offering OS X-native software, industry observers say. Some of those vendors, such as Microsoft, had criticized Apple for being lax in driving broader acceptance of OS X, which they claimed had slowed sales of their OS X-ready products.

"We're happy to see Apple take this next step to drive adoption of Mac OS X," Kevin Browne, general manager of Microsoft's Macintosh Business Unit, said in a statement. "Mac OS X has really come of age with the release of Jaguar, and we think the combination of OS X 10.2 and Office v. X for Mac provides our customers with the power and compatibility they're seeking."

In other news at the expo, Apple said it has released iCal, its new OS X calendar application, as a free download from its Web site and that Canon, Xerox, Sybase, Philips and World Book plan to support its Rendezvous networking technology in current or future products. Hewlett-Packard, Epson and Lexmark announced their support of Rendezvous in midsummer.

Rendezvous, which made its debut in OS X 10.2 Jaguar, automatically identifies and connects hardware such as printers and computers over any IP network (including Ethernet and 802.11 wireless networking) without requiring users to configure the devices. Canon plans to build Rendezous support into its new ImagePrograph W2200, W7200 and W7250 color graphic and large-format network-enabled printers, while Xerox aims to integrate Rendezvous into its Phaser network printers, the companies reported. Sybase said it is building Rendezvous support into its enterprise database product for OS X 10.2, Sybase Adaptive Server Enterprise 12.5 for Jaguar Server.