South African print and production professionals who have made the change to a faster, more reliable operating system are running slicker, more profitable companies.
When Apple`s CEO, Steve Jobs first unveiled its OS X operating system, he promised two important benefits. The first, OS X is based on a superstable, industrial-strength foundation, Unix. The second, Mac OS X is so beautiful, "you just want to lick it."
Nevertheless, many South African companies involved in the print and production markets have been slow to take advantage of numerous benefits offered by Apple`s latest operating system. Those companies which have made the switch are already benefiting from faster processing speeds, lightening-fast graphics rendering with the stability of UNIX. As tens of thousands of professionals around the world have discovered, spending less time fighting with applications and more time delivering the goods increases productivity, quality and ultimately ensures better payment cycles. Simply put, it`s more profitable to run a faster, more stable operating system.
OS X`s latest upgrade, OS 10.2 (dubbed Jaguar) packs a much bigger upgrade smack than its version number suggests. Like it`s older OS X brother, Jaguar is virtually crashproof, and still features a command which tells you in months, days and hours how long your Mac has gone without having to be restarted. In short, Jaguar greatly improves Mac, Windows and internet networking, sports refined web and hard drive search tools, upgrades performance and includes Bluetooth support.
In terms of beauty, the "Happy Mac" icon users have been accustomed to seeing at startup has been replaced by a light grey screen and dark grey Apple logo in the centre. Generally, only subtle, refined changes have been made to the already stylish Aqua interface. Primary coloured buttons now appear flatter and more subtly tinted, while other indicators sport a three dimensional design.
The beloved spring-loaded folders (of OS 8 and OS 9 fame) also make a welcome reappearance to the OS X interface in Jaguar. Folder after folder opens automatically as you drag a file over them, and all but one will close when you release the mouse button.
Arguably, Jaguar`s most compelling interface changes lie in its revamped Find commands. Apple has moved hard disk searching functions out of Sherlock (award-winning searching tool) to the Finder, incorporating a handy field that enables folder, drive or network volume searching. Apple`s searching systems are routinely updated through an indexing function, enabling extremely fast, seemingly intelligent search functions. With these features, the professional will spend less time trying to locate "that job we did for Bill last year" for more valuable pursuits - like updating "Bill`s" job and taking it to print.
Mac OS 10.2 whizzes through a blistering startup, providing a prelude to overall increased performance. Cnet.com found that in everyday use, the revamped Quartz graphics engine, new multithreaded Finder, and updated FreeBSD 4.4 Unix core all add up to a more responsive Mac OS X, especially when opening windows with hundreds of files and switching between menus. Cnet.com also found that the Classic environment (which enables users to continue using earlier OS applications) launches faster than OS 10.1.5. Their tests on a PowerMac G4/350 proved that Jaguar started a whopping 20% faster than OS 10.1.5 and that Jaguar`s Classic environment launched in less than half the time of Classic in 10.1.5.
Everything you see on a Jaguar screen is the result of millions upon millions of calculations by Quartz, the revolutionary composited windowing system in Mac OS X that uses the Portable Document Format (PDF) as the basis of its imaging model. Quartz delivers crisp graphics, anti-aliased fonts, and blends 2D, 3D and QuickTime content together with transparency and drop shadows. Simply no other operating system delivers the high-quality graphics rendering of Quartz.
Jaguar delivers across-the-board optimisations to Quartz that makes any system more responsive, no matter the hardware. Admittedly, users with a G3 processor will detect a small improvement. But those with later G4 processors will instantly recognise faster window redraws and scrolling - which is even more effective on multiple processor Macs.
But the real innovation in Jaguar comes with Quartz Extreme. While other operating systems hope to introduce comparable technology in late 2004, Jaguar has it now. Quartz Extreme uses a supported graphics card built into a Mac to relieve the main PowerPC chip of on screen calculations. This dramatically improves system performance, making Jaguar much more responsive.
Quartz uses the integrated OpenGL technology to convert each window into a texture, then sends it to the graphics card to render on screen. The graphics processor focuses on what it does best - graphics - freeing the Power PC chip to do more operations in the same amount of time. Everything is zippier.
Jaguar delivers numerous other improvements to the Mac OS X graphics subsystem. The new Quartz delivers device-independent and resolution-independent rendering of anti-aliased text, bitmap images and vector graphics. In addition, Quartz can both save and print transparency and the Preview application honours PDF file security. A "Save as PDF" button in the Print dialog streamlines PDF creation.
Most printers and repro specialists simply love Adobe Acrobat (PDF) files and many even provide discounts on print jobs delivered in the format. Those trying to create PDF files on older operating systems may well be aquatinted with the Acrobat demon. This computerised nemesis insists on trashing Acrobat fonts and delivering a herd of unproductive Distiller errors. It is not uncommon for those visited by this plague to spend many hours trying to process a PDF file, eventually abandoning the effort with a more costly "Collect for output" option. For the most part, the Acrobat demon resides in font suitcases that lack a post script font. Of course, ensuring all your fonts have post script versions is a mighty task.
As the ultimate creative platform, Jaguar offers professional type controls, unlimited open fonts, cross-platform portability and international language support. Among other things, Jaguar opens the door to powerful new ways of using and managing fonts. The system incorporates a new font architecture free from the limitations that plague other operating systems. As a result, Jaguar provides the most comprehensive support for font formats of any platform. It delivers powerful tools for font organisation and navigation. It offers enhanced character coverage for truly professional typesetting. And it enables smooth cross-platform and cross-media portability.
For more predictable cross-platform and cross-media publishing, Jaguar supports all of the major font formats, including PostScript Type 1 (with the doublebyte PostScript fonts required for non-Roman languages), Multiple Master, TrueType, and OpenType.
Bye, bye Acrobat demon.
Everyone in our creative market knows that colour has the ability to communicate, to please, to excite, and to engage. Colour makes a difference - often a dramatic difference - in our photographs, our graphics, and our layouts. So getting colour right early in the workflow, and keeping it right to the end, is increasingly critical in our fast-paced, deadline-driven digital world. Yet photographers and designers are frequently dismayed when they print an image and the colour is wildly contrary to expectations. These disruptive surprises cost time and money, while causing delivery delays and disappointed clients.
Is it possible to make informed decisions during the production process so that the final result matches your intentions - and your client`s expectations - especially when production involves multiple contributors in multiple locations using multiple applications and devices?
Jaguar provides a robust, standards-based solution for colour management. It`s called ColorSync, Apple`s universal colour translator for delivering consistent and accurate colour across devices and at all stages of production. With ColorSync integrated into Mac OS X and included at no additional cost on every Macintosh, it`s quick, easy, and affordable to get started.
ColorSync extends the capabilities of creative professionals by making the management of colour effective, predictable, and practical. Participants in the creative and production process will experience these benefits:
* Accurate colour that matches expectations
* Consistent colour over time, across media, and using multiple vendors
* Better co-ordination among distributed team members
* Reduced production timetables, based on shorter and fewer review cycles
* Reduced costs, based on greater efficiencies, fewer paper proofs, and less rework
* More satisfied clients, based on faster turnaround, lower costs, and higher-quality product
ColorSync and Jaguar deliver on the promise of higher productivity through the accurate representation and consistent reproduction of colour. The colour you capture is the same colour you see on the screen and in the finished printed product.
Jaguar users don`t just benefit from increased performance and productivity - the new OS adds some seriously impressive networking tools. Rendezvous, a dynamic discovery and self-configuration technology based on ZeroConf standards, ensures painless connections to IP devices. For example, plugging two Jaguar Macs into an Ethernet cable results in instant and automatic configuration of TCP/IP settings. Jaguar also immediately recognises any available 802.11b wireless network.
Connecting to a Windows-based network has also never been easier. Typing in a server or IP address is not longer necessary - available Windows servers show up automatically by name in the Connect to Server command. Double-clicking the name mounts the server on Jaguar`s desktop and enables browsing as usual. Conversely, Windows users can now also log on to Mac OS X and access Mac files - Jaguar is able to generate a URL that can be given out to approved Windows users which provides access to public files. As if this is not enough, Jaguar also includes built-in virtual private networking - enabling users to create a PPTP connection to a Windows VPN server.
From an application perspective, Jaguar includes a number of big ticket items included in the cost of the operating system. Top of the list is a new Mail client with an intelligent junk-mail filter and the ability to "learn" what the user considers to be spam - instantly trashing unwanted messages. Users wanting to retaliate can set Mail to bounce messages - making them look like the mails have been returned from an invalid address. (Hopefully giving spammers a bloody nose in the process).
In addition, Jaguar now features iChat, an instant massaging client that is compatible with AOL Instant Messenger. Both iChat and Mail are linked to a revamped Address Book. This handy computerised book of contacts not only stores relevant contact information, but is capable of linking a photographic image with the subject. (Finally a real use for the photographic cell phone).
Jaguar also comes as standard with MP3 player and music archiving solution, iTunes, home video editing and creation software, iMovie, DVD viewing application, iDVD and digital camera and photography software, iPhoto.
Apple ignited the personal computer revolution in the 1970s with the Apple II and reinvented the personal computer in the 1980s with the Macintosh. Apple is committed to bringing the best personal computing experience to students, educators, creative professionals and consumers around the world through its innovative hardware, software and Internet offerings.
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