For the people who create Mac software program , there ’s nothing quite as exciting as a Worldwide Developers Conference tonic that preview the features slate to appear in an approaching OS X inspection and repair . And there ’s nothing as terrifying for those same developers as hold off to see if those new features do similar things to the software they ’re already selling .
Such is the nature of third - party software : meet an unrealized pauperism with your software one twenty-four hour period , watch that same want get address by an operating system update the next .
deliberate the case of Karelia Software and its popular Watson shareware applications programme . At the 2002 Worldwide Developers Conference , Steve Jobs previewed OS X Jaguar , which featured an update version of Sherlock that pulled down info from the Web without using a web browser app — the same functionality offered by Watson . Or take the Tiger prevue at the 2004 conference that introduced Dashboard and its concept of miniskirt - apps known as widgets ; more than a few attendees noted the similarities between Dashboard and the third - political party program Konfabulator .
History repeated itself at this twelvemonth ’s WWDC where Apple previewed Leopard . The next major translation of OS X , scheduled for a spring 2007 release , includes several built - in feature that replicate capability offered by exist third - party apps .
But if developer whose apps are similar to these approaching Leopard features are feeling uneasy , they ’re doing a beneficial job of hiding it . Most still see a spot for their software , even as OS X 10.5 adapts similar capability .
Take Time Machine , the built - in backup engineering that will debut in Leopard . The feature could conceivably make third - party programs such as the cloning and backup toolSuperDuperunnecessary . But Dave Nanian , chairman of SuperDuper maker Shirt Pocket Software , says the program is alive and well .
“ Time Machine was totally expected , ” Nanian said . “ We ’ve been waiting for someone to get along and proffer an program like that . Our program is to complement Time Machine . ”
Nanian points out that SuperDuper has a bootable disk , an crucial feature for many users . With a bootable disk , users can reboot even after catastrophic failures . And that ’s the form of functionality that Nanian believes will keep client coming aback to Shirt Pocket .
“ We take tending of ruinous situations , so there is still elbow room for us , ” Nanian said . “ It ’s a thing of use what Apple has introduced and provide the extras to the consumer — that ’s what we have . ”
Nanian has a naturalistic scene of what Apple ’s Time Machine means for his product . But he also mean a built - in backup feature in OS X has the potential difference to provide more business for him as well .
“ People that had no solution would often total to us , ” he said . “ Now a certain pct of those people will go to Apple . However , as their need grow , we look to see more business too . ”
Another oxygen ten program getting a major renovation in Leopard is iChat . The new reading of the electronic messaging and chat software package adds limited effects capabilities standardized to Photo Booth , the software Apple currently includes with Macs that have ramp up - in camera . iChat user will also be capable to localize themselves in front of any photo or video as the backdrop for their New World chat .
Those feature film are very standardized toScript Software ’s ChatFXutility . Like Nanian and SuperDuper , Script Software ’s Julian Miller plans to proceed offering and get ChatFX . An update to the program is coming relatively before long that will be much quicker and add more compositions . After Leopard arrive , Miller contrive to take reward of new features in that operating system .
Miller ’s programme for ChatFX go well beyond iChat . In the future tense , he say , there are plans to provide musical accompaniment for Skype , Yahoo , Google and video conferencing .
indite on theScript Software web log , Miller strike a philosophical note about the update version of iChat slate for Leopard .
“ In our causa we had a leg up in make what we did through the use of legion Apple technologies that we put together in a originative way , ” Miller wrote . “ ChatFX relies on Quartz Composer which is brilliant and make by Pierre - Olivier Latour , Apple leave it out detached to developer . Also iChat was necessary and is free from Apple and part of the OS . We may have inspired Apple , but Apple definitely inspire us . ”
