New Mac OS Has a Cyberdog, 3D & More
Mac OS 7.6 integrates new Apple technologies to offer educators easier Internet access, state-of-the-art multimedia, built-in OpenDoc support, enhanced compatibility with DOS and Windows files, and improved productivity and reliability.
This release is the first step in a strategy designed to deliver new operating system technologies on a regular, semiannual basis. Updates are planned for incremental release through 1998 as Apple moves towards its multi-platform OS goal, assisted by NeXTís technology.
ìThis approach will help customers stay at pace with the rapid technological changes taking place today,î said Ellen Hancock, Appleís Executive Vice President of Research and Development and Chief Technology Officer.
The new OS enables easy connection to the Internet by offering the latest versions of Apple Internet Connection Kit (AICK), OpenDoc, Cyberdog and Open Transport software, as well as new connectivity tools such as Open Transport PPP and Apple Remote Access Client.
AICK, bundled with the retail version of Mac OS 7.6, provides an integrated collection of Internet applications including Netscape Navigator and Claris Emailer Lite. The combination of Cyberdog and OpenDoc lets one easily embed live Internet links into their documents, and Cyberdog also enables saving and launching URLs directly from the Finder.
Upgrading to the new OS has been simplified through an Installer that combines all of the necessary installation tasks in a single utility. And, a new Extensions Manager makes it easy to configure and share extensions information, or to turn off extensions while troubleshooting.
The new OS also brings together the latest versions of QuickTime technologies including QuickTime; QuickDraw 3D, which brings real-time, three-dimensional graphics to the desktop; and Text-to-Speech, which enables conversion of on-screen text to synthesized speech.
Mac OS 7.6 also includes OpenDoc Essentials Kit, a set of components that lets one view three-dimensional files and various image formats, as well as create buttons that play sound or provide links to Web sites, in any OpenDoc-aware document.
Sure to be welcome in the mixed-platform education environment, it also provides educators with enhanced support for opening, viewing, and saving DOS and Windows documents via new DataViz MacLinkPlus translators.
Finally, Mac OS 7.6 also offers an enhanced PC Exchange utility that, for PowerPC-based desktops, adds support for the Windows 95 file format to its existing support of DOS and Windows 3.x floppy disks, SCSI drives and third-party removable media. Apple Computer, Inc., Cupertino, CA, (800) 293-6617, www.macos.apple.com/macos.
This article originally appeared in the 04/01/1997 issue of THE Journal.