The hoopla surrounding the release of Microsoft's Windows 95 operating system raises questions about the next major version of Apple's operating system, code-named Copland. Apple plans to take a new approach to its release, rolling out pieces of the OS to developers in stages, thus ensuring a more stable general release.
In the past, Apple has widely distributed to developers first an alpha release and then a successive series of beta releases of new system software. A system release was not considered to have reached the alpha or beta stage until all of its components had reached that stage.
Instead, with Copland, Apple will first provide, in late 1995, what it calls a "tools" release to an extremely limited set of developers. These are the folks who produce the compilers and other software-development tools that all other developers depend on to create their software. The tools release will contain early versions of Copland's core operating-system features, such as the microkernel and the new file system.
By doing this, Apple will help ensure that when it distributes a more general developer release, early in the spring of 1996, developers will have a working set of tools available to them. The primary goals of this second release will be to enable application developers to check their existing programs for Copland compatibility and to give extension and control-panel developers a foundation for rewriting their products. All extensions and control panels will need to be rewritten to work with Copland.
Apple is also considering another departure from tradition with Copland. In the past, Apple made new system releases available to customers only when they were ready for commercial distribution. But, intrigued by the success of Microsoft's widespread customer beta seeding of Windows 95, the folks in Cupertino are evaluating the efficacy of following a similar approach with Copland.
And when might customers expect to receive such a release? Or, for that matter, when might Copland go final? Apple won't say. Rather than making predictions it might be unable to live up to, it's decided to delay further prognostication until it sees what problems crop up in the two development releases. This decision, although probably wise, casts doubt on whether the company still expects to deliver Copland by mid-1996, as previously announced.
In the meantime, the OpenDoc SDK (software development kit), which is a major component of Copland, was due to be released in November. That's good news for developers. But mum's still the word on when you'll be able to get OpenDoc in your hands and do something with it, nor is Apple ready to say how OpenDoc will be delivered to customers.
