Summary:
A new startup screen and a more commercial graphing calculator may be the most obvious changes to this 36MB patch, but there's more underneath the hood of this upgrade.
The first thing you'll notice about a computer running Mac OS 8.6 is the new "Mac OS 8.6" startup screen. Other changes are less obvious -- those expecting major changes may be disappointed. Here are some of the highlights.
Compatibility:
As with other OS releases, there are a handful of apps that have problems with the new release. Notably, Both Freehand 7.02 and 8.01 crash with a type 2 error at launch, according to reports at www.ogrady.com. Nobeige.com reports that versions of Connectix VirtualPC earlier than version 2.1.2 will crash under 8.6. Some users also report problems playing DVD discs after the upgrade. Also plagued by incompatibilities is the PowerPrint Parallel-to-USB printer adapter, from Burnaby, BC-based Infowave. Fortunately, a 4.4MB update patch is available from the company's website that solves a problem wherein the computer can't communicate with the printer. Although some reports cite incompatibilities with SoftArc's FirstClass software, our sources at Apple say they have run the latest client without apparent difficulties. Nevertheless, Ontario-based SoftArc posted an update on May 12.
www.macfixit.com and MacNN are both following the topic of compatibility issues closely.
OS 8.6 Tips and Tricks:
1. Press Command+Option+Ctrl and select About This Computer from the Apple menu. Notice that the text has changed to say "About the Mac OS 8.5 team." Presumably, the fact that it doesn't says "8.6" is a bug, albeit a harmless one.
2. Hold the Option key and select About This Computer to see an updated version of the "Finder Mountains" (unchanged from Mac OS 8.5).
3. Want to save a movie without upgrading to QuickTime Pro? Right-click the arrow at the right side of the player and choose Plug-in settings..." and then, in that dialog, choose "Save movies in disk cache." Then, retrieve the ####.mov file from your browser's designated cache directory -- before quitting your browser.
4. Not included in the OS 8.6 download, but available separately on Apple's download page, is a set of USB Mass Storage drivers that require Mac OS 8.6 to access. With these drivers, any number of compliant devices can be plugged in and will start working immediately without the need to install additional software. This feature, plus several others, listed below, are on the CD version of 8.6.
What's Ahead:
Mac OS 9, formerly code-named Sonata, continues the evolution toward Carbon API compatibility and is required to access the new "iTools" features announced at www.Apple.com on Jan. 5th, 2000. Mac OS 9 includes an enhanced 2.0 version of Apple's Sherlock "metasearch engine" that includes LDAP (lightweight directory access protocol) address book support, allowing you to search for people across the Internet, plus an e-commerce-oriented search facility that shows products, prices and availability of products for Internet shoppers. Apple says its goal is to make the Mac OS the easiest way to search for information, people or products on the Internet. The new Sherlock features the same sort of interface stylings as Apple's recently released QuickTime 4 player (the icon-heavy interface of which not everyone likes, due to its omission of classic Mac window controls such as minimize buttons and so on).
Also appearing in MacOS 9 is the recently missing-in-action "keychain," a feature present in System 7.5 that Apple now is refashioning into a network login (complete with a "voiceprint login" option) manager that allows different users to each have their own preferences, desktop settings, default web browser, document folders, and other settings. Network login features have been a part of the Windows environment (and the Apple education community) for years; it's good to see Apple provide this functionality to its base of Mac users, many of whom share a single computer between classmates or multiple family members.
For Further Reading:
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