The show fell flat for several reasons, beginning with the Steve Jobs keynote, which has been almost universally panned. No grand surprises this summer—no innovative new machines, no announcements of important new software being ported to OS X. Instead, we had small, incremental advances: faster G4s and iMacs, a more stable OS 10.1 (Mac OS X version 10.1, in full) coming this September. We also had the usual, tired Photoshop comparison (while Adobe couldn't be bothered to mount a presence at the show). Macromedia, another Mac stalwart that, like Adobe, is seeing its customers drift to Windows, contented itself with presentations that focused on its Classic Mac OS Web authoring tools—only FreeHand has been ported to OS X, and no mention was made of Web application tools like ColdFusion and JRun, which are already available for Linux and various flavors of Unix, and which could therefore be ported to OS X without undue difficulty, if the company's heart was in it. And while we're trashing Macromedia, how about some new presenters? The company's glib, oh-so-cool trade show persona has grown quite dated.

We're not as concerned as some by the absence of new machines, though. While design will continue to be an important differentiator for Apple (both the computers and the new stores), the company's future clearly lies with OS X. More specifically, the future depends on Apple's ability to "leverage" X's Unix underpinnings into new market areas, including the enterprise. And the company is running behind. Oracle has made some noise about offering an inferior Mac client, but there are still enormous gaps in what's available for the new platform.

Yes, Microsoft plans to release Office 10 (or whatever it will eventually be called) this fall—this is essential for the platform, but in and of itself it will do nothing to help Apple break out of its small, "creative" niche. Mac OS X needs solid commercial database software and Web application servers (see Macromedia, above) to gain credibility in the business marketplace. And Apple must establish a strong enterprise niche, or its long-term (even its middle-term) prospects will be in serious jeopardy—consumers, education and "creative professionals" will not suffice indefinitely.

That said, we would love to see a sleek new flat-panel iMac that drives people into the stores. Anything that generates sales buys Apple time, and that's to the good. But the company needs to work flat-out at making OS X a success where it counts, as a genuine alternative to Windows 2000/XP and Linux/Unix in the business marketplace. We have no illusions that OS X can displace those platforms, but Apple needs to develop a business niche to supplement its position with consumers.

The company is trying. Mac OS X version 10.1 does look faster and more stable, and also features interface improvements (more control over the problematic Dock, for instance). And thanks to the new system's BSD Unix base, a broad range of proven open source programs is already available (Apache, MySQL, the GIMP). Mac OS X is also the only major OS to bundle Java 2, and this could yet be a competitive advantage, particularly now that Microsoft has announced plans to decouple Java from Windows XP.

So, there is opportunity ahead, as well as danger. Microsoft's ongoing legal vulnerability (such as it is) means that, should Apple succeed in making OS X the most widely distributed "brand" of Unix, the company has a real chance to improve its place in the world. It would be wonderful if the new Macintosh could become enough of a solid corporate citizen that consumers would see it as a "safe" choice at home, and for their kids—different, yes, but an established and viable option to the Windows hegemony.

It could happen, and God knows, it should happen—we need it. But Apple will have to make all the right moves, and make them quickly. Where is Oracle? Where is WebSphere? Where, for that matter, is Photoshop? We hope to have these answers, and a lot more, by the time the next Macworld rolls around.

(Reviewed July 20, 2001)