Apple in denial over security
Tiger isn't dangerous.
By Manek Dubash | Techworld | Published: 10:47, 26 April 2005
Apple has shrugged off security concerns about its latest MacOS version, named Tiger, proving that it's not only leopards that don't change their spots.
Asked whether users could be assured that the OS was secure, product marketing manager Brian Croll said: "There are no absolutes in security but we have done our utmost to ensure that there are no security issues outstanding."
He said that there were no delays between Apple hearing about vulnerabilities and their being patched. "We deal with these things incredibly quickly, and we find that being part of the open source community means that there lots of eyes on the problem so issues get raised and solved quickly. It's been incredibly useful for us," he said.
Croll's remarks, at the end of a demo that revelled in the coolness of the OS, were in direct contradiction to the facts, a sample of which shows Apple shipping products with known bugs left unfixed, and the Cupertino company taking three months to fix a major security hole.
As for the product, Tiger, actually version 10.4, features over 200 added features, reckoned Apple. The software will be available from shops and other outlets from Friday at 6pm.
Most interesting element of the OS demo was Spotlight, a desktop search facility, that performs similar functions to Google's desktop search but is more tightly integrated into the OS. It allows you to save searches, find applications and use it dynamically. For example, you can set it to show you the documents you worked on yesterday, and it will refresh that view automatically.
Also new is Dashboard, a system of accessory widgets that can provide online information in a fancy format. Apple reckoned that they are easy to create. There was applause from some journalists at the end of the demo, although from Techworld's seat the Tiger's roar sounded more like a simper.
