h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Here's an extract from the latest TidBits mailing that should interest the more advanced users. If you'd like to get TidBits yourself (it's free) visit http://www.tidbits.com/

"Apple supported Java poorly in previous versions of the Mac OS
with the Macintosh Runtime for Java (MRJ) but has greatly improved
the Java Virtual Machine in Mac OS X to provide much more complete
and current Java support. Despite the solid Java foundation in Mac
OS X, Apple's initial focus has been on supporting Classic and
encouraging developers to use Carbon and Cocoa. More recently,
Apple has started paying a bit more attention to Mac OS X's
underlying Unix layer, and the new attention being paid to the
Tomcat Java servlet environment in Mac OS X would seem to indicate
that Java may be rising on Apple's list of priorities. In any
case, more Java developers are discovering Mac OS X and responding
well to Apple's Java support.


**An Embarrassment of Riches** -- It's ironic: Mac OS X includes
the Classic environment for running existing Mac OS 9
applications, Carbon for developers who are porting large code
bases over to Mac OS X, and Cocoa for programmers starting from
scratch. Then there are Mac OS X's full Unix underpinnings and
robust Java Virtual Machine, which together bring a veritable host
of Unix and Java applications into the fold. With Mac OS X, the
Macintosh has jumped from being known as a closed and isolated
architecture to supporting far more programming environments than
any other operating system. Who'd have thought?"