Mac OS X sports Web services

The computer industry can't stop talking about it, software makers can't stop promoting it, but there are few instances in which the concept of delivering services across the Web has become a reality. Apple Computer Inc.'s new Mac OS X operating system is one of those.

During a presentation unveiling Mac OS X 10.1 at the Seybold Conference and Expo here Tuesday, Apple executives demonstrated one of several Web services built into the operating system -- an application that allows users to get up-to-the minute weather information displayed on their desktops.

"Using a public Web service, the operating system pulls weather information from a public database," said Sal Soghoian, an Apple product manager for AppleScript, the 10-year old technology that enables Web services like this to work in Mac OS X. Once a user types a U.S. zip code into a small pop-up window, the operating system will send a query across the Web and within seconds return the temperature for that region.

Apple has built several similar Web services into the operating system. For example, there is a service that delivers real-time stock quotes. The company said it will soon post a directory of all the Web services available though the operating system at http://www.apple.com/applescript/.

The technology works based on AppleScript, a commonly used technology built into Mac operating systems, according to Ken Bereskin, director of Mac OS X product marketing. AppleScript is a scripting language that allows developers to write simple commands that can then be carried out on the operating system.

"Mac has been doing this for a decade," Bereskin said. "Now, we've just enhanced AppleScript to talk to Web services."

In the new operating system, Apple has enabled AppleScript to extend those simple commands to Internet sites that host Web services using a number of industry standards. When a user creates an AppleScript command, the operating system then wraps that in XML (Extensible Markup Language) and sends it out on the Internet. A Web service then takes that request and returns an XML-based response, such as a description of weather conditions, which then appears on the user's desktop.

In addition to XML, Apple is embracing many other industry standards that facilitate this process, including RPC (Remote Procedure Call) and SOAP (Simple Object Access Protocol). During the keynote Tuesday, Phil Schiller, Apple's vice president of worldwide product marketing, said Apple's operating system is the "most open desktop you can use today." Much of that is due to the new foundation of the operating system, which is based in part on Unix.

Sign up for ITworld's Daily newsletter
Follow ITworld on Twitter @IT_world

• Email
• Print
• Share
  • Slashdot
  • Digg
  • Stumble
  • Reddit
  • Newsvine