Hello and welcome to Apple's January Technology Update.
My name is John Perenica and I'll be your host today as we look at Macintosh OS directions,
specifically Mac OS 7.6.
What you'll be seeing today is a number of demonstrations as well as receiving information
from myself as well as a number of product managers that cover Internet, multimedia and
component software technology.
With that, let's take a look at Mac OS 7.6 features specifically.
The key thing with Mac OS 7.6 is we want to continue on Apple's historical ability to
make complex technology very simple.
So what you'll be seeing in the first part is 7.6 does as you would expect, advances
of the total user experience.
We'll do that as well as incorporating our latest technologies, specifically Internet
and multimedia technologies.
We also want to build on our release strategy of how we want to deliver software technology
on an incremental six-month basis.
This chart that I have here gives you a good idea of how we want to deliver that.
Every six months, we release a major reference release where Apple is taking care of delivering
the integration for you, as well as every three months looking at how we do an update
for that specific reference release.
What we think this does is gives you a much better way to plan for and decide when to
deliver our specific releases of software throughout your organizations.
With that, let's look at some of our specific 7.6 technologies.
Along with making Mac OS 7.6 a lot easier to use, we've also improved the install process.
What we found in the past was a lot of times a user wouldn't understand the different steps
they needed to do to go through and install the operating system software correctly.
In this case, we pulled that all into one location, so it's very easy to flow step
by step.
In this case, in my Mac OS installer, I've already done step one and two.
In this case, I'll click on my third step, which is to select a drive I want to install
to.
I'll click Select.
In this case, now I'll go to my fourth step, which is picking which specific software I
would like installed.
In this case, maybe I do things on my network to access the Internet and I would like some
other features.
I'm ready to go and I can click Start.
Here it's also checking your hard drive for any inconsistencies transparently to the user.
One of the things people have been asking for is a better way to manage their extensions.
With 7.6, we give you that functionality.
Here, for example, I'm looking at our extension manager and I can view items either by name.
In this case, I can go down and click on a certain item and if I wanted to, I could get
more information on that, such as specifically what that item allows you to do.
I can also look at items, for example, by folder, as they're typically organized in
the system folder, in this case by either Control Panel or by the Extensions Control
Panel.
Or maybe what I want to do is look at those as I install them on my system, or in other
words as the package that they were installed.
So let's say in this case I was using Apple Remote Access and I either wanted to turn
all those pieces on or off.
I could do that simply with one click.
Another nice feature is the ability to save our sets.
In this case, what I can do is create a new set and call it whatever I'd like to and save
that set.
So in this case, I can go back and look at a folder that has the specific different sets
I have installed.
This way I can use these specific configuration files to ensure different machines in my organization
have the same settings installed.
Another nice feature of Mac OS 7.6 is the new printing features that have been included.
In this case, what's nice is as I sent a document to print, I might decide that I really wanted
to send that to an alternate printer.
Well, I can select that now from a dialog box at this stage in the printing process.
What's also nice is I can look at some of the other features associated with these printers.
In this case, for example, maybe I want to look at the layout and change that to have
it print four pages per sheet.
Another feature is I can look specifically at a printer and get some better information
about that.
So in this case, I might want to get some printer information, specifically status information.
In this case, maybe where the printer is located or how much memory might be on that printer
as well as maybe the different fonts that would be installed there.
Another nice feature included in Mac OS 7.6 is our Apple System Profiler.
What the system profiler is helpful for is determining what type of information is installed
on your computer, both from a hardware or software perspective.
So in this case, we can look at some of the system information that happens to be on our
machine.
We could also go down and select other types of information, for example, device information
or volume information for what's on our hard drives.
What's very nice about this is our customer care code, where just by reading back this
16-digit number, all this information can be transmitted to an Apple Care representative.
Hello.
I'm Jonathan Knowles, Product Manager for Apple's QuickTime technology.
Mac OS 7.6 includes QuickTime version 2.5.
QuickTime version 2.5 continues the tradition of bigger, better, smoother, more innovative
multimedia technology from Apple.
Most people's perception of QuickTime is small, jerky, postage stamp video playing on their
computer screen.
However, with today's QuickTime, we can play full screen, full motion video in software
only that looks this good.
But bigger, better, smoother is only one of the ways we can innovate with QuickTime technology.
It's by supporting different media types.
For example, QuickTime has a text track.
With QuickTime 2.5, we have an API that allows capturing closed caption information directly
into the text track at the time you digitize the video.
This allows me to search the video for words actually said in the dialogue.
In this example, I have a music video, and I want to know where does the artist say the
word got?
When I start playing it now, I'm right there.
This is very powerful.
Imagine searching the internet for information on a particular subject and getting video
clips as a result of your search.
QuickTime 2.5 also includes support for Apple's QuickTime MPEG extension that allows you to
play back MPEG content in software only on any PowerPC computer.
Because it's done through QuickTime, it allows you to do some things that you typically couldn't
do with MPEG content in the past.
For example, I may want to play this video fast forward, or even in reverse.
Or I may even want to copy and paste MPEG content throughout the Macintosh application
space.
Another innovation to QuickTime in QuickTime 2.5 is to the QuickTime music architecture.
QuickTime includes a software synthesizer that allows me to synthesize a variety of
instruments.
In this example, I'm going to play a 10K MIDI file and use the QuickTime software synthesizer
to synthesize a piano.
Keep in mind, this is not a recording, but a file using the QuickTime music architecture
that's only 10K in size.
A clear advantage when talking about multimedia on the internet.
One of the other advantages of this technology is the ability to change the instrument at
the time of playback.
So if you don't want to hear this played back on an acoustic grand piano, but an organ,
no problem.
You simply tell QuickTime to use the organ instrument.
And with QuickTime 2.5, there's an API that allows you to play back any instrument you
want.
It's as simple as dragging a sound file and dropping it in a QuickTime movie, and that
becomes your instrument.
There's lots of new exciting features in QuickTime 2.5.
I encourage you to take a look at the QuickTime website at www.quicktime.apple.com for the
latest information.
Hi, my name is Richard Ford and I'm the product manager for Open Transport.
I'm going to talk for a minute or two about networking in Mac OS 7.6.
New with Mac OS 7.6 is Open Transport, which is now included as a standard part of every
system installation.
Open Transport was first introduced in 1995 with the PCI PowerMax and has been included
with larger and larger numbers of systems as time has progressed.
This is the first release where Open Transport is the default install on all systems.
Open Transport offers new human interface, which we'll take a look at shortly, new protocol
implementations and standards-based APIs.
Open Transport also runs on older Mac OS versions, including 7.1, 7.5.3, and 7.5.5.
Let's take a look at some of the human interface's differences between Open Transport and the
older networking system.
In particular, Open Transport has replaced the network control panel and the Mac T-Speed
control panel that we're familiar with classic networking with new control panels, the Apple
Talk control panel and the TCPIP control panel.
The human interface has also been now enhanced so that it shows you only those parameters
that you need to enter and makes it easier to make error-free configurations.
To see the available configurations and to select one, go to the File menu and select
Configurations.
You can then use the arrow keys or the mouse to select a configuration that's saved and
make it active.
Mac OS 7.6 also includes the new Open Transport PPP software, which makes it so that you can
connect your Macintosh to the Internet over a modem.
One of the other features that's a benefit of Open Transport is that it takes aggressive
use of Apple's help systems.
So let's take a look at an example of how Apple Guide can help you with configuring
Open Transport PPP.
One of the first steps that you need to do in setting up PPP is to configure and tell
Open Transport what type of modem you have.
So let's look at the various, let's look at Apple Guide helping you step through the various
steps that you need to take in order to configure that part of your system.
Apple Guide guides you through each of the different pieces that you need to customize.
And then once you press, as a final step, as you close the control panel, which saves
the configuration settings and leaves you ready to take your next step.
Open Transport also includes new features for network managers, the most notable of
which is the Advanced Administration Mode.
The Administration Mode allows the network administrator both the password-protecting
network configuration and to lock individual parameters of Open Transport.
This can be used to minimize the number of errors that might get made when a user has
to customize just one parameter of a system.
When the user mode is set back to either Basic or Advanced, you'll find that if the administrator
has locked particular parameters, they are no longer editable.
These advanced features give the network manager much more control over Open Transport systems
in comparison to the old networking system.
As we've seen in these demonstrations today, Open Transport delivers benefits for both
network administrators and end users, making networking easier to use on the Macintosh.
Hi, I'm Adam Fingerman.
I work in the AppleNet Product Marketing Group.
Internet access is a very important component of the Mac OS 7.6, and Apple provides three
ways of internet access, America Online, CyberDog, and the Apple Internet Connection Kit.
The Apple Internet Connection Kit is a suite of best-of-class internet access applications
that provide you with quick and easy direct internet access via an internet service provider.
And best of all, the whole thing is integrated via Apple technologies.
The Internet Connection Kit includes Netscape Navigator, the industry-leading browser software,
Clarus Email or Lite to help you manage your emails, a host of multimedia-rich plugins
such as the QuickTime plugins, the Shockwave plugins, and the RealAudio plugin, and Apple-provided
communication software to help you create an account with an ISP or import existing
settings from an ISP that you already have.
Let me show you the Apple Internet Dialer.
If you need to create an account with an ISP or import the settings from an existing account,
all you need to do is walk through the very short and straightforward interview process
with the Apple Internet Dialer.
The first thing you'll do is pick your modem type, select the modem port, indicate whether
you have touch tone or pulse, and click on Create an Account.
Then the Apple Internet Dialer walks you through a very simple interview type process, gathering
some basic information about yourself, such as your name, your address, your city, state,
zip code, and phone number, and your credit card information.
And when you're ready, you click on Next to proceed.
An 800 number is dialed, and you're connected with an Internet registration server which
lists a variety of ISPs.
Then what you can do is comparison shop and find the best ISP that meets your needs.
You click Configure, the appropriate settings are downloaded to your machine, everything
set up, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, online ISP account creation.
So once you're connected, Apple wants to make sure that you have the most enjoyable experience.
And for this, we provided Apple Guides, which help you to use the Internet.
For example, if you wanted to learn how to find a QuickTime VR movie over the Internet,
you can start the Apple Internet Connection Kit Guides and search through, how do I view
a movie?
Click OK, and the Apple Internet Guide for Netscape Navigator will explain how movies
come through the Internet, and then actually take you to a website which is a multimedia
QuickTime gallery of movies.
Then all you need to do is go to the Sample section, find the QuickTime VR movie you want,
click on it, and off you go.
Hi, I'm Jim Black, Component Software Evangelist for Apple Computer, and I'm going to talk
to you about one of the most exciting technologies of Mac OS 7.6, something called OpenDoc.
OpenDoc changes the way that developers write their software, and it changes the way that
we use our software.
Today we have specialized applications for different data types.
We have word processors for text, we have image editing applications for graphics, and
we have specialized applications for Internet content or things such as QuickTime movies.
It requires you to learn a suite of applications.
OpenDoc changes that by allowing you to concentrate on the document and combine all of these media
types very easily through drag and drop.
I'm going to give you an example of what that looks like.
I'm going to create a corporate report using OpenDoc components written by three different
developers.
The first thing I'm going to start with is Digital Harbor's Wave word processor.
As you can see, it handles text.
Like most Macintosh applications, we can drag in different data types such as 2D graphics,
a picture from the scrapbook here.
But since it's an OpenDoc word processor, we can also embed something else.
Let's create a table of data showing coconut sales.
We drag in another component written by a company named Quarta, and it handles tabular
information.
Let's drag in yet another to communicate that data in a graphical fashion, something written
by a company called Adrenaline.
And let's link up the information from one piece of software to another.
I'm just dragging and dropping with the command key down.
I'm going to paste this information as a link so that as the information in the table changes,
if we have to change any of this information, it will update automatically down here.
Now you should notice this is using Apple's QuickDraw 3D technology, so the graph is dynamically
shading and it's very fast.
Note also that when I click on this, the menus change.
That's the standard OpenDoc activation model, so that now this component has control of
the menus.
We also have palettes put up that allow us to control the functionality of this piece
of software.
Let's make it a little bit flashier.
Let's drag in a graphic as a background, and let's change the bars to palm trees using
a QuickDraw 3D metafile.
I just drag it from the scrapbook.
It's applied to the chart.
I'll go back to the chart, zoom in so we can see the results a little bit better, and we
can even use this lighting feature to make it a little bit splashier.
So what we've done is create a business report by dragging and dropping that contains a 2D
picture, a 3D graph, and a table of information.
Instead of having to launch four different applications to manage these various data
types, we just drag them into one document.
So the user model with OpenDoc is very much improved and simpler to learn than it is today.
OpenDoc also makes it easy to combine internet content and cutting-edge technologies into
your documents.
For example, one of the most exciting technologies recently is Java, but you can only use Java
inside of a web browser today.
Thanks to OpenDoc, you can use the power of Java applets inside of applications like your
word processor or your spreadsheet or your database, so long as they support OpenDoc.
For example, here we are in Digital Harbors Wave again.
I'll drag in Apple's Java applet viewer and drag in the URL for an applet.
The applet runs in place, and now we can view this 3D structure in the context of our word
processor, even though the word processor itself doesn't explicitly support Java.
Another exciting technology, of course, is Netscape plugins.
Netscape plugins can handle a variety of formats, shockwave, real audio, streaming audio.
In this case, I'm using a Netscape plugin that displays 3D molecular information.
Now this is being handled by CyberDog, so this information is actually coming across
the Internet.
If I click in place on this molecule and go to the About box, we can go to the home page
for this particular company's product directly from within our word processor.
The beauty of this is that we don't have to worry about whether we can configure our web
browser or whether we have the correct software.
OpenDoc just handles it automatically.
So the beauty of OpenDoc is that I can use cutting-edge technologies and Internet content
directly inside of my word processor, my spreadsheet, or my database, any OpenDoc software, just
through dragging and dropping.
Well thank you for your attention.
We've covered a lot of information today about Mac OS 7.6.
We encourage you to check out the following locations for more information.