InternetView: Mac OS Adds Nice Features

ac OS 8.0 may have taught us to "think different," but only Mac OS 8.1, which Apple Computer released last week, has the features that will have us thinking differently about Macs in the enterprise. Tops on my list is PC Exchange 2.2, which has FAT32 and long file name support, as well as the ability to mount DOS-formatted volumes larger than 1 Gbyte. These features will significantly ease the chore of transferring files to and from Windows 95, a task that Web designers, who typically work in both environments, are intimately familiar with.

Speaking of the Web, Mac OS Runtime For Java 2.0, which was released in late December, is bundled with Mac OS 8.1. It's about time. The software implements Sun Microsystem s' Java Development Kit 1.1.3 specification, so it's the first Apple-delivered Java execution environment that supports the Java 1.1 Core API. This means Macintosh users can now take advantage of Java 1.1's many enhancements, such as the JavaBeans Component Model, Remote Method Invocation, Java Database Connectivity, windowing enhancements, and lots of other cool stuff.

Many corporate customers will be pleased with LaserWriter 8.5.1, Apple's latest PostScript printer driver, which is new in Mac OS 8.1. It will let you print using the venerable open standard Line Printer protocol. This means your Mac can print to all those generic PostScript printers that reside on your TCP/IP LAN without the addition of any third-party software.

Mac OS Extended Format (or HFS+ for short) is a promising new file system format available in Mac OS 8.1. It improves Mac OS's ability to act as a server platform because it offers better performance on large disk volumes. HFS+ reduces the smallest file allocation size from 64 Kbytes to 4 Kbytes. That can save a lot of disk space if you have many small files. It also means you can have many more files on a single partition than before, and that individual files can be much larger. However, since third-party backup and recovery utilities may not work with HFS+ yet, it's best to hold off moving to HFS+.

Open Transport 1.3 makes its debut in Mac OS 8.1. It features multi-homing, which lets a single network interface support multiple IP addresses. That's especially useful for Internet service providers and larger corporate sites that want to run several Web servers on a single machine and make it appear as if each Web server is running on its own machine.

Mac OS 8.1 is expected on store shelves in February. Mac OS 8.0 users can download the upgrade free from www.macos.apple.com .

You can Jason's Internet Zone column on InformationWeek Online at techweb.cmp.com/iw/auth or/internet.htm

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