Apple Computer Inc says it will not be developing any new hardware specifically to host its new Mac OS 10 Server operating system, announced at MacWorld Expo earlier this month. A spokesperson for the company told ComputerWire that the new software, which will be launched this fall, is designed for use on server configurations of Apple’s existing PowerMac G3 desktop computer range and that there are no plans for a new server product per se. He said many educational institutions already use G3s configured as servers. Mac OS 10 was unveiled by Apple’s interim CEO Steve Jobs during the keynote of the MacWorld show earlier this month. The announcement is effectively Apple’s way of finding a home for its long-awaited Rhapsody, originally planned as the next generation OS after System 8.0. Apple couldn’t launch Rhapsody as a standalone OS but it couldn’t just be seen to dump the technology either. The solution? Rename it, throw in a bit of OS 8 technology and you’ve got a brand new OS, which Apple says is especially designed for the server environment. If it is, it certainly didn’t start out life as such. In the meantime, Apple will continue to develop its 8.x OS system alongside OS 10. The latter will feature pre-emptive multitasking for improved performance, protected memory to increase reliability, faster virtual memory and 100% native 32- bit PowerPC code, Apple said. The spokesperson said Apple will be developing the full-blown version of OS X, with the beta to be released in the first quarter of 1999 and the final version will go out in the third quarter that year.
