Mac OS 9.0 (10-User)

If you can judge a book by its cover, then just looking at the box ofApple's new Mac OS 9 should give you a good clue as to what's inside. Thelargeorange "9" flanked by a magnifying glass, the symbol for Apple's newSherlock 2,are clues that this is the highlight of the newest operating system for theMacintosh.

Sherlock is indeed the most prominent feature of OS 9, and for good reason.Dubbed "Your Internet copilot," Sherlock aims to be your guide for the Net.Theinterface is new, sporting a silver-metallic GUI with large, simple buttonsthatmake it look like QuickTime's long-lost sister.

With Sherlock, you can search not only your Mac's hard drive, but also most ofthe major search engines, several major online e-commerce sites, peoplefinders,news sites, and Apple and other online resources. You can also customize thesefields to make Sherlock search any engine you desire. Search results appearwithan icon for whichever site turns up the result, making it easy to navigate andfind your target. Sherlock 2 also boasts some pretty cool price-comparisoncapabilities--simply type in the name of the product you're looking for, andSherlock 2 will scan the sites and turn up the price, availability, andvendor.

Although Sherlock may be the shining star of OS 9, there are a few othergoodiesin this program. Also included is ColorSync 3 for the ultimate in colormanagement, built-in speech recognition with Apple's speech technology, andencryption capabilities. In short, we think Apple made this upgrade aworthwhileinvestment for most Mac users.

It seems that Apple's new goal is to make it increasingly easy for anyone,regardless of computer literacy, to get online. OS 9, with its multifunctionalSherlock 2, does just that--with the eloquence and style we've come to expectfrom Apple.--Ara Jane Olufson