During the first week in October 2001, I attended an intensive six day training session on OS X and OS X Server. I was amazed at the ease of use contained within this robust UNIX based Operating System (the graphical interface was quite stylish as well).

Some of the overall advantages to OS X include true preemptive multitasking, protected memory and symmetric multiprocessing. What that means in plain English is you can do many things at the same time, faster than ever before. And since it is based on open standards such as UNIX, it is very Internet-savvy. Also, freeze-ups and crashes have been greatly reduced. You can "Force Quit" any application including the Finder without having to restart in most cases.

For the home or home office it offers ease of operation, an attractive user interface, handy setup assistants, and personal file security. Adding printers and other devices is a snap.

For Administrators, OS X offers total control over folder and disk permissions. The command line is a powerful troubleshooting tool that offers a vast amount of control beyond what is seen in the GUI. Networking and security are two of its top features.

Hot News Reviews and information from Apple, 3rd party developers and national columnists.

Apple's OS X Page Look here for the latest upgrades on OS X. Also for support and technical information.

What can you do? OS X Features described in greater detail.

That depends on your particular situation. If you have older programs, they may not run in Classic mode (the program within OS X that allows you to run OS 9.x applications). You might have to switch back and forth between OS X and OS 9.1.x (or higher). You must be running at least OS 9.1 to use OS X. A few other considerations, if you plan to update from OS 9.0.4 or earlier you may have to re-initialize your drive. This means everything must be backed up (don't forget your settings and desktop). Also printer, scanner and other device drivers may need to be updated. Is it time to upgrade? Most major programs are now "Carbon Applications" which means they will run under OS X and OS 9.1 (or higher). As more and more programs become OS X native, the decision will become much easier.