Apple's big cat bites

The arrival of "Tiger", the fifth iteration of Apple Computer's OS X operating system, released on Friday, has been eagerly awaited for months - even by some people who don't use Apple machines. That's because it's seen as what Microsoft would like to achieve with the next version of Windows, codenamed "Longhorn". Except that won't appear until the end of next year - and Tiger is here now.

The arrival of "Tiger", the fifth iteration of Apple Computer's OS X operating system, released on Friday, has been eagerly awaited for months - even by some people who don't use Apple machines. That's because it's seen as what Microsoft would like to achieve with the next version of Windows, codenamed "Longhorn". Except that won't appear until the end of next year - and Tiger is here now.

Though Apple touts "more than 200 new features" in Tiger, there are a couple of key elements that you will notice immediately, and a few more that you'll become aware of only gradually, and a whole host which could be called "dog-whistle computing".

Dog what? Well, just as this election has touted "dog-whistle politics", where some parties tout policies that most voters will ignore but key groups will pay close attention to, so, buried among those 200-odd changes, are a few that will be a godsend to some but a "so what" to others.

The key changes? Spotlight, offering deep and clever searching of all the files on your computer and attached discs; Dashboard, an ever-expanding collection of "widgets" that let you do calculations, conversions, translations, dictionary look-ups and heaven knows what else once outside developers put their minds to it; Smart Folders, which can be set to show, say, images you've looked at this month sent by your friend John that he took with a flash; Automator, a system that makes the automation of repetitive tasks, such as grabbing your unread mail and copying it as a note to an iPod, as simple as building Lego; and (though I could go on like this for ages) Safari RSS, which can keep up-to-date with news and blog items from all over without the hassle of visiting the pages on the web (although you could also tell Automator to do the latter).

Those are the headline-grabbers. We'll come to the dog whistles presently. Installing Tiger is simple enough. It comes on a DVD (a two-CD version costs extra). I chose to upgrade my existing OS X version, though you can optionally wipe your disk clean (back everything up first!) or archive your old system if you're the nervous type. Check at Macfixit.com if you want to see whether people with systems like yours have had problems.

(One word of warning: disable any third-party utilities - things that change appearances and so on - before you do the upgrade. I didn't, and thought that my DVD-burner had suddenly become useless. The cause was actually a program for ejecting discs which didn't play nicely with Tiger. And ensure that any utilities have been checked against Tiger before re-installing them.)

Upgrading took about 45 minutes, and then I restarted. The difference in appearance wasn't as dramatic as the previous one, in October 2003, when OS X moved to 10.3 (Panther). But one difference I did notice - everything is faster. Programs open quicker, downloads are faster, graphics are smoother. Some developers have said that they're seeing 50 per cent faster processing, and 25 per cent quicker graphics work.

Over at the top right, there's a magnifying glass. One click reveals a small box. Start typing, and it begins listing files in your computer that contain, or are named with, the text you're typing. This works for virtually every document, image, mail message, PDF or music file on your computer, though not for your web caches - the sites you've visited with any browser (Apple says this is too tricky at present).

It's marvellous: you can be completely disorganised about where you save files, because you can find them again in moments. (How many times have you said: "I know I saved it, but where?") There's also an expanded view of your results (which can easily run into dozens), where you can order by date, or type of file, or location. It's a huge time-saver. And using the keyboard shortcut (the space-bar and Command key) saves hours of mousing per day.

Spotlight builds an index of the data in your files - rather like a Google for your desktop. Similar things are available for Windows, notably Google Toolbar and MSN Toolbar, but none is so deep or simple.

Next, Dashboard. Another keyboard shortcut darkens the main windows and whips a set of little windows into the foreground. It's like a little scratch-pad, but filled with useful items for those "intermediate" moments - weather forecasts from all over, notepads, dictionary, unit converter, calculator. They're actually self-contained web-pages. Expect dozens more to appear within the next few weeks as developers (who have been preparing for this) release their shots at stardom. A helpful link in Dashboard takes you to an Apple web-page to find them.

Smart Folders let you save searches, as specific or as general as you like. They're simple, yet powerful. Again, you can find things like this in Windows, but those aren't incorporated into the operating system, so they don't offer the same confidence that they're correct. I counted more than 100 characteristics you can search on, besides just "image" or "document": things like the tempo of a song, the creator of a document, and the f-number a picture was taken at.

You, personally, won't ever need all those. But someone will: a professional photographer, say, looking for his wide-angle shots; a musician looking for a sound-loop for a song. They're dog whistles: a few will hear them and sit up and embrace Tiger.

Automator is similarly splendid, with lots of routine tasks split into building blocks. Pile them together, and you can complete those routine tasks. Now, isn't that what computers are meant to be about?

I did, however, find myself looking for something to trigger the tasks against time - as in: "Do this at 4.30pm each day," which doesn't presently exist as an option. I also wanted an "if", as in: "If something is true, do that, otherwise this."

Presently, Automator is a relentless task-doer. But developers are excited about it, because they can see how to create all sorts of new actions to simplify everyone's work. "I think it's the sleeper hit of Tiger," one told me.

The browser Safari is much the same as before, but now can spot sites which have "RSS" - text and image (and sometimes audio) feeds of news. When it comes to a site which has it, a blue "RSS" banner comes up in the right. Add the site as a bookmark, and its RSS feed will come along too. You can get the same functionality, although rather less elegantly, in the Firefox browser.

And now, briefly, the dog whistles. They're everywhere. First is security. There are still no known viruses or worms for OS X, but Apple is taking no chances. It calls Tiger "the most innovative and secure desktop operating system ever built".

And security is a concern. You already have to give your password to add various programs. Now, it will warn you the first time you run any particular program, asking if you're sure that's what you want. Safari also spots downloads that contain applications - which could, of course, be malevolent - and warns you.

"Most malware tries to trick people, to keep users from understanding what they're letting on their system," explains Brian Croll, Apple's senior director of software product marketing. "We're helping people to get a better understanding of what is coming down the line to them."

Similarly, you can stop Spotlight from indexing particular files. And different users on the same machines can't see other users' files. Security is a big issue for many businesses and governments but, given the epidemic of spyware, it should be for the average user too. This is more of a loudhailer issue, actually, but Apple is using a dog whistle.

Another issue important to some is parental control. Most systems monitor your children closely. Instead, Tiger lets you designate certain e-mails, messagers and websites your child can contact, and, if they try to contact or visit others, blocks them and sends you an e-mail.

There are dozens of other changes in Tiger that will either enthral or bore you. For Windows users, it's a sort of shop-window of what Longhorn might be like in 18 months' time, providing your computer is fast enough by then for the next-generation product.

For Apple users, it's faster, smarter, simpler - and, what's more, it's here right now. At the price, it's a must-have.

OS X Tiger: £89 ( www.apple.com/uk)