Last Saturday the latest release of Apple Computer Corp’s flagship operating system, Mac OS 8, hit retail stores around the world. Its new features – native QuickDraw and AppleScript, faster file copying and improved file and internet search capabilities through Sherlock – came as little surprise, having been the subject of keynotes and demonstrations all summer (CI No 3,487). In fact the biggest shock to consumers may not be that Apple writes neat demo-ware, but that the long- promised Sherlock has finally shipped. Macromedia was quick to the newswire on Monday morning, pointing out that Apple is shipping Flash and Shockwave with the OS upgrade, hopefully netting millions of new users for Macromedia. Finally, in a display of solidarity it would have been difficult to imagine even a year ago, business software behemoth Computer Associates has also become a fellow traveler, boasting support for Mac OS 8.5 clients in its Unicenter TNG enterprise management system.
