April 22, 2009, 9:11 AM — Apple Computer Inc. is making its Unix-based OS X the default operating system for all new Macintosh computers, a move that no doubt pleases Sybase Inc. The Emeryville, CA developer of enterprise-class software recently announced that it would be porting its Adaptive Server Enterprise 12.5 relational database product to OS X.
OS X has made Unix accessible to the mass of users unfamiliar with Unix. As with all Macintosh systems, users work with a nearly intuitive GUI, rather than with command strings.
Not that OS 9 is about to disappear: Apple will continue to include it, giving users the option of running OS 9 applications from within OS X or booting into the older OS. At this time, more than 2,500 native applications are available for OS X from such companies as Adobe, Macromedia, Microsoft, and Sybase.
Adaptive Server Enterprise (ASE) 12.5 is Sybase's flagship database product. In developing a version for OS X, Sybase will give developers a way to build applications with native OS X support for database apps. ASE 12.5 is targeted at the financial-services, healthcare, and telecommunications markets and designed for applications that require high availability, intensive transaction handling, and scalability.
Will all this give a boost to Apple's marketshare? Steve Jobs can only hope. As of January 2, 2002, WebSideStory Inc.'s StatMarket pegged the Macintosh's global usage share at a measly 2.32 percent and Microsoft's at 96.28 percent -- though reports from users in Switzerland and Japan give the Mac OS a 6 percent share in those countries. StatMarket defines usage share as the percentage of Internet users.
"Although Apple is a distant second in the race overall, in some regions and industries it is too prominent to be ignored by companies developing Web applications," said Geoff Johnston, StatMarket's vice president of product marketing. "In others, dropping support could actually be the best choice."
