Apple Computer is making progress in delivering Web-based
applications through its Macintosh operating system, employing
similar concepts to those of Microsoft's general Internet
strategy.
Apple will today (23 August) officially release the latest version
of its Mac OS X operating system, known as Jaguar, which includes
new technology that allows the system to run applications on the
desktop that access services on the Internet.
Mac OS X version 10.2 features a revised version of the company's
search tool Sherlock that acts as a user interface for accessing
Web-based services.
"In many ways Sherlock changes the way that people will use and
enjoy the Internet," said Ken Bereskin, director of Mac OS X
product marketing. "The browser remains the ultimate Internet tool
but it's designed for browsing. We've got the sense that there are
some key services on the Internet that people use all the time that
can benefit from having really great desktop applications designed
for them."
Apple has lined up eBay and Moviefone to offer services through the
Mac OS X desktop with plug-in applications built for Sherlock. With
eBay's plug-in, for example, users can search eBay's marketplace
for an item to bid on. Sherlock then automatically queries eBay's
Web site for relevant listings, and returns any matches to the
users' desktop.
Other plug-ins include one from YellowPages.com, which allows a
user to enter in a business type, such as "hardware store," and
receive a list of nearby hardware stores, a map of their locations,
as well as detailed driving directions. Moviefone's service allows
a user to search nearby cinemas for film times and also order
tickets.
Microsoft has promised to deliver its own set of consumer-facing
Web services through its Windows operating system that would allow
users to order tickets and book reservations without using a Web
browser. Codenamed Hailstorm, and later renamed .net My Services,
Microsoft has put on hold any immediate plans to roll out the
service to consumers.
While several industry analysts said that Apple's technology is far
less developed than the infrastructure Microsoft aims to deliver
through its .net initiative, conceptually, the Web-based
applications delivered through Sherlock provide an early glimpse at
the future of Web-based applications and services.
"I would agree that they are using a Web services metaphor, but I
think it's drastically different to the Microsoft .net strategy,"
said Tim Bajarin, president of research firm Creative
Strategies.
"It is similar in that they both aim to create applications that
are Web-based, but in Microsoft's case they're going even deeper in
suggesting that they can create the underlying architecture for
delivering Web-based applications," he said.
Like Microsoft's .net initiative, Apple has made use of the
industry standard data format XML to allow a desktop application to
pull data from the Internet and display that data in an interface
other than a browser. However, Microsoft is developing a more
expansive infrastructure for .net with servers and tools that would
be used by businesses to build, host and deliver Web services. Much
of Microsoft's efforts are aimed at linking together the computer
systems of business partners.
"From Apple's standpoint, it's not clear from what they've shown
here how rich its applications will be," Bajarin said, comparing
the technology to .net.
With its consumer-facing .net Web services, Microsoft has said it
plans to integrate all of the transactions that would take place as
users access Web services. For example, if a user were to order a
plane ticket through .net My Services, it could potentially draw
funds from a user's bank account and schedule the flight into the
user's address book, without the user seeing the
transactions.
Sherlock lacks such advanced features, as users still have to
access a Web browser to finalise transactions that are initiated in
Sherlock, such as making an actual bid on eBay.
Still, noted Al Gillen, research director of systems software at
IDC, "by going around the browser [to initially access data], that
really is more like a Web service".
Apple said it plans to release a software development kit (SDK) in
the next few weeks that can be used to build Web-based applications
that plug in to Sherlock. Eventually, users will be able to choose
from a list of available services, called channels, and add them
directly to their desktops.
"We're working with a large number of partners on this," Bereskin
said. "With the SDK, organisations can create their own plug-ins
for Sherlock."