MacOS 9
Mac OS 9 is the current revision of main
operating system used on Macintosh computers. This version contains a
number of features not present in earlier versions, this document
outlines a number of these.
Apple's documention on Mac OS 9 starts at
http://www.apple.com/macos/.
See also the Datasheet
and FAQ
in PDF format.
Security
- Multuser support. Mac OS 9 offers support for up to 40
different users, controlling settings and access to files and
folders.
- Voice Passwords. Although it's not that effective in noisy
areas, Mac OS 9 offers support for voice print based passwords for
additional login security.
- File Encryption. Mac OS 9 will encrypt files for you, either
locally or on a server.
Networking
- Automagic Updates. Mac OS 9 will let you know when an update
for it is available, and download it for you from the
internet.
- IP Based File Sharing.Appleshare over IP is now supported for
peer to peer file sharing.
- Applescript over IP. Applescripting can now be used to control
Macs over the internet.
- Sherlock II. Although the new interface is controversial (it
resembles Quicktime 4's Movie Player), Sherlock II offers
additional features to the previous version.
- Keychain. An old feature from the system 7 days, keychain
allows you to store id and password combinations in a secure file,
so that you don't have to type in a user id and password for
servers you use often. Access is controlled by the keychain
password. This is similar to the security keys used in Windows,
with the advantage that all ids and passwords do not have to be
the same.
- Network Browser. Using features from both Cyberdog and
Chooser, Network Browser allows you to choose from a variety of
different network services from a single menu system. It also
supports SLP and LDAP services.
Additional Features
- Multilingual support. Mac OS 9 contains enhancements to
existing support of languages, including Arabic, Hebrew, and
Chinese.
- ColorSync 3. Apple's color calibration software gives users
consistent color output.
- Large File Support. Mac OS 9 supports files of up to 2
terabytes.
- Font Sync. Helps keep your documents looking consistent from
computer to computer.