Overview

• Delivering the highest system performance and stability, by fully exploiting the power of RISC processing
• Redefining ease of use, with active assistance and a customizable user interface that allows a user or organization to control their particular computing environment and level of expertise
• Enabling new and more productive ways of working, by delivering and refining next-generation graphics, multimedia, and group collaboration capabilities

With the delivery of Copland, Apple will also be extending its licensing strategy, since Copland is being developed to run on the new Apple-IBM-Motorola common hardware reference platform for PowerPC RISC microprocessors. Any vendor building computers that follow the PowerPC Platform (also called the common hardware reference platform) specification will be able to offer complete Mac OS compatibility. Application developers can expect an increased number of personal computers will run the Mac OS, and customers will want to purchase newer and more innovative software. Customers will have a wider variety of Macintosh compatible personal computers and software to choose from. Apple's goal is to make Copland available to customers in the middle of 1996.

General Questions

Answer: Copland fits into Apple's vision for the Mac OS by: making computers easier to learn, use, and support with active assistance and a customizable interface;

• enhancing individual and organizational effectiveness to present and communicate information through advanced, yet simple, 2-D and 3-D graphic and multimedia capabilities;
• enabling people to put information to productive use by simplifying information access, with an unified mailbox and new ways to search and manage files and information;
• raising organizational productivity by facilitating real-time teamwork by way of document and video conferencing;
• lowering the flexibility-versus-standardization dilemma by integrating OpenDoc component software

Copland is a critical milestone towards Apple's implementation of the Mac OS strategy. It will fully exploit the power of the PowerPC RISC processor, and it will begin the integration of the OpenDoc component software architecture as the software foundation for the future. With Copland, customers can expect their computer to be even easier to use, to provide a more dependable computing experience, to deliver more flexibility and choice at a variety of levels, and most importantly, to make them more efficient while accomplishing tasks.

Copland Benefits

Answer: Copland will advance the Mac OS by delivering enhancements in human interface, improving system performance on PowerPC-based personal computers, and delivering technologies that will enable users to work more efficiently.

Copland will redefine ease of use beyond what today's personal computers offer, by simplifying how people use personal computers, providing new ways that a computer helps the user accomplish tasks (in some cases by actually performing them automatically), and by offering unique personalization and customization capabilities, so the computer can be adapted to the needs and style of each particular user.

Copland will deliver the highest system performance and stability by fully exploiting the power of RISC processing. Copland will be written almost fully in native RISC code and will be optimized for performance, concurrency, and robustness ¬ providing the most productive working environment of any personal computer.

Finally, Copland will enable new and more productive ways of working by delivering next-generation versions of Apple's existing industry-leading core technologies in the areas of multimedia authoring and playback (QuickTime), two- and three-dimensional graphics (QuickDraw GX and QuickDraw 3D), component software (OpenDoc), international language support (WorldScript) and communications and collaboration (PowerTalk) and Open Transport).

Copland Hardware Requirements

Answer: One of the key design goals for Copland is to run on 8 MB systems. Copland also is expected to require 40-50 MB of hard disk space, for both the OS and for the swap space needed when the virtual memory system pages to disk. Question: What will the performance be like on an 8 MB system?

Answer: Our goal is that you will be able to launch your applications as usual, as well as the OS. We expect that performance will scale directly with the amount of additional memory installed, since more memory means less time transferring data between the system's hard disk and physical memory. Question: Will Copland work on all types of Macintosh systems?

Answer: Copland is being designed to be an uncompromised PowerPC operating system, that will fully exploit the advanced capabilities of this acclaimed RISC architecture. Apple is currently targeting current and future PowerPC-based Macintosh and Macintosh compatible computers. Also, Copland will run on computers based on the Apple-IBM-Motorola common hardware reference platform (CHRP) which are expected to be available in 1996.

Apple is currently exploring options for the millions of 680x0-based Macintosh models. While it would be possible to program Copland's actual software for a 680x0-based system, many features (such as PowerPC-optimized code) will not provide any benefit to these customers. We are approaching this issue from the perspective of "What do we need to do for our 680x0 customers?" rather than "What is Copland on 680x0?".

Question: Will Copland still need Macintosh ROMs to run?

Answer: Apple's goal is to design Copland so that a small, cost-effective bootstrap ROM is all that's needed, and traditional 2 MB or 4 MB Macintosh ROMs are not required. This will provide an opportunity for hardware manufacturers to deliver a more affordable product.

Copland and Compatibility

Answer: Apple's goal is to ensure a high degree of compatibility with existing applications, so that customers' investment in software and hardware is preserved. Apple is working closely with developers to ensure the transition to Copland will occur with a minimum of disruption, and will make more detailed information available so organizations can prepare for Copland.

Question: What will be the compatibility of Copland with existing drivers and extensions?

Answer: Two of the primary goals of Copland are to increase the Macintosh computer's performance, and to improve the stability of the Macintosh (which is already perceived as superior to our competitors'). One way Copland will offer increased performance is by supporting a new I/O model. This high performance I/O model will require that some device drivers be rewritten.

In terms of stability, Apple recognizes that today's extensions model for patching and extending the OS could be improved, so Copland will provide developers with a robust and clearly defined API [applications programming interface]. We expect that this will result in a more stable system, and make programming easier and more predictable on a wider range of Macintosh and Macintosh compatible computers. An outcome of this approach is that system extensions will have to be rewritten to work with Copland. We are working closely with developers to ensure that the necessary drivers and extensions will be updated in a timely fashion.

Copland's Advanced Graphics Capabilities

Answer: Copland will help customers more easily prepare, view, and print documents that look as good on paper as they do on-screen, and will deliver the capability for them to manipulate three-dimensional data as easily as they work with text and graphics today. Copland delivers these capabilities through the integration of optimized versions of QuickDraw GX and QuickDraw 3D.

QuickDraw GX will be the standard printing and imaging technology for Copland. This means that all Copland users will be able to take advantage of QuickDraw GX printing enhancements, including its desktop printer interface, portable digital document technology, and color matching. In addition, new applications will be able to build on GX to provide next-generation type, graphics, and color capabilities.

QuickDraw 3D is a technology for creating, manipulating, rendering, and sharing 3-D graphics. With the addition of 3-D graphics technologies, Apple will extend its lead in publishing, multimedia authoring, and education, by providing these customers with next-generation 3-D solutions. It will also make Apple even more competitive in the technical markets as well as in the rapid growing consumer markets, where games and entertainment products are also using 3-D graphics.

Question: Will Copland make any improvements to the versions of QuickDraw GX and QuickDraw 3D that are available today?

Answer: Copland will include improvements to both technologies -- each will be rewritten to improve their overall performance, reduce their RAM footprint, and address requests from both customers and developers for enhancements.

Copland's Advanced Networking Architecture

Answer: With the delivery of Open Transport, Apple intends to make the Mac OS the best desktop OS for multiprotocol networking, anywhere. Easiest to set up, easiest to use, best performance, most manageable.

Question: What is Open Transport?

Answer: Open Transport is the new modern networking and communications subsystem for the Mac OS. Open Transport consists of new implementations of every aspect of Macintosh networking and communications, including new programming interfaces, a new model for integration with the underlying operating system, and new human interface components. Open Transport is not just for LANs and WANs, but also integrates serial communications and modems as well as remote, or dial-up, networking in one consistent framework.

Copland's Advanced International Support

Answer: Apple's goal with Copland is that any user, anywhere, will be able to run software with a computer that is architected to support their preferred language, input methods, fonts, etc. Correspondingly, we want any developer to be able to easily write software that meets this goal. In this way, more applications will be available for Macintosh worldwide, with built-in support for many languages. Today, with WorldScript (Apple's integrated technology which supports all modern non-Roman writing systems, including Japanese, Chinese, Arabic, Hebrew, and many others) and QuickDraw GX, we are closer to that goal than any other vendor. With Copland's new capabilities, we will extend our lead by adding support for Unicode, the new international standard for character sets; by improving date, time, calendar and sorting functions; and by expanding support for an open font architecture.

** NOTE** The information discussed in this document is based on features and functionality planned for a future release. The discussion of Copland herein does not represent a commitment on the part of Apple Computer, Inc. for providing or shipping the features and functionality discussed. Information is subject to change without notice.

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