Apple Announces Mac OS 9: The Best Internet OS Ever
New Operating System Features Sherlock 2 AppleÆ (Nasdaq: AAPL) has announced that MacÆ OS 9, a major new release of the MacintoshÆ operating system featuring 9 Internet power tools, will be available in U.S. dealers on October 23 for a suggested retail price of $99. Mac OS 9 features the debut of Sherlock 2, now the ultimate search engine for news and people on the Web plus the perfect personal shopper on the Internet, letting users find products, compare prices, pinpoint availability and even participate in auctions. ""Mac OS 9 is the best Internet OS ever,"" said Steve Jobs, Apple's interim CEO. ""Sherlock 2 is a groundbreaking way to search and shop on the Internet."" Leading the more than 50 new features in Mac OS 9 are 9 Internet power tools: - Sherlock 2, the ultimate search engine for news and people on the Web, is also now the perfect personal shopper on the Internet. Sherlock 2 features ""channels"" that provide tailored lists of search targets, such as ""news,"" ""people,"" ""shopping,"" etc. Users can create their own custom channels as well. The Shopping channel lets users search for merchandise across multiple sources at once (for example: Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble, eBay and eToys) comparing products, prices and availability from all sources in one convenient window. - Multiple users can now share one Macintosh while protecting their private files and maintaining all their Internet settings, system and application preferences. - Voiceprint Password allows users to log onto their Mac simply by speaking a pass phrase. - The Keychain manages each user's multiple IDs and passwords and stores them securely. When users log in, they automatically gain access to those password-protected sites and accounts without having to re-type individual passwords. - Auto Updating allows users to automatically update their software over the Internet with the latest software and performance enhancements from Apple. - Encryption uses industrial-strength cryptography to easily password- protect files so they can be securely stored on a computer or sent across the Internet. - File Sharing over the Internet lets users turn their Macs into Internet file servers so they can share files or folders with other users as easily as dragging and dropping. - Internet AppleScript(R) enables customers to automate tasks from the most simple to the most complex, involving a single computer or many Macs working in parallel across the Internet. - Network Browser makes finding file servers, FTP servers, and Web servers as easy as selecting a local printer, in small workgroups or the largest organizations. Pricing, Availability and System Requirements Mac OS 9 will be available in the United States on October 23 through Apple Authorized Resellers, The Apple Storeô (http://www.apple.com) and many software retailers for the suggested retail price of U.S. $99. Mac OS 9 will be available worldwide in November. Apple will offer a $20 rebate on the purchase of Mac OS 9 to customers who currently own Mac OS 8.5 or Mac OS 8.6. For more information on Mac OS 9 and this special offer, visit Apple's Mac OS Web site at http://www.apple.com/macos. Minimum requirements to run Mac OS 9 are an Apple PowerPC-based computer and 32MB of physical RAM with virtual memory turned on. Mac OS 9 is optimized to take advantage of the incredible performance of the new Power Mac G4 with Velocity Engine. Source: Apple Computer, Inc. Web Site: http://www.apple.com