Apple Computer unveiled its next-generation operating system OS X this year to considerably less fanfare than that generated by many of its eye catching hardware efforts.

But while consumers were dazzled by the iMac desktop computer with its translucent chassis or the chic iBook laptop available in a range of garish colours, OS X will have a far greater impact for users of the iconoclastic machines.

Cupertino, California-based Apple bills the new software platform as its most radical departure since the 1984 launch of the Macintosh computer. "We have designed OS X as an operating system for more than the next decade," says Phil Schiller, Apple's vice president, worldwide marketing.

Seven years in the making, OS X is also the first mass-market desktop software platform based on Unix, the industrial-strength operating system normally used for servers and workstation computers. The use of BSD Unix, a popular variant of Unix, will make the new operating system more stable and less prone to crashes than its predecessors, says Apple.

Despite its landmark status, the low-key launch of OS X owes much to the soft peddling the company itself has applied to the new release, however.

Version 10.0 of the operating system, unveiled in March, was a work in progress with users complaining of sluggish performance and awkward features. It was only last month, with the release of the souped-up version 10.1, that the product became "ready for primetime", says Apple watcher Timothy Deal of Technology Business Research.

The most glaring gap in the original release filled by 10.1 is the ability to play DVDs and burn CDs and (for those with top-of the range PowerMacs) DVDs. Meanwhile, the new version triples the speed at which applications launch versus the first release, with switching between and re-sizing windows performed five times faster.

Compared to OS 9, the final version of the previous-generation Mac operating system, the new version of OS X is equal or better in all but a few benchmarks, Apple users report. Multitasking is handled better than its predecessor and memory is managed more efficiently. Unlike the previous Mac OS, if one program falls over its does not bring down all other open applications with it.

Meanwhile, OS X offers industry-standard networking architecture for the first time on the Mac platform - an innovation that could be critical in spurring future Apple adoption says analysts. OS X users will be able to swap files with Windows machines over the internet as easily as they've always done with each other, and Macs may be networked with Windows or Unix servers.

Chief among Apple's ambitions for the new operating system is increasing its traction in core graphic design, publishing and education markets.

Considered the purple-haired punk of the beige world of computing, Apple has carved out a fiercely loyal following among creative professionals in particular. Few companies inspire such devotion and Apple returns the favour.

Powerful graphic capabilities

"We have to make our friends happy at home first," says Mr Schiller. Accordingly, OS X features powerful graphic capabilities and a characteristically visually appealing user interface dubbed Aqua for its crystalline appearance.

However, mass adoption by Apple's core users awaits the release of the "killer applications" that make owning it ultimately worthwhile. The company touts more than 1,500 applications optimised for OS X. But closer inspection reveals many to be test or "beta" versions. Microsoft Office for X is slated for release in November, but shipment dates for Adobe and Quark's popular PhotoShop and QuarkXPress programs remain unclear, for instance.

Meanwhile, opinions differ as to whether OS X can help Apple extend its customer base and make a dent in the near-monopoly held by Microsoft's in the desktop OS market.

Apple is certainly bullish about OS X's mass appeal, describing it as the missing part of the technology arsenal needed to challenge the software leader. "Windows [users] that used Macs previously get excited about coming back to the platform when they see the hardware," says Mr Schiller.

"But then the question comes up about software and whether they want to make the switch. OS X makes a more compelling argument - previously the Mac was seen as proprietary and niche," says Mr Schiller.

With the consumer market in mind Apple is using OS X to position the Mac as a digital hub for home entertainment systems spanning DVD, CD and digital photography (using in-built support for a range of digital cameras) capabilities.

The idea is not new - the digital convergence concept was pioneered by Sony and Panasonic. Meanwhile Apple's hub strategy is missing a few spokes compared to its rivals, notes Mr Deal. Sony, for instance, offers an extensive range of consumer electronic products, MP3 players and personal digital assistants to complement its PC line.

However, Apple's long-standing association with content creation will help sales says the analyst. "When people think digital hub and media they tend to think of Apple first," says Mr Deal.

The new operating system also has what it takes to woo business users, according to Mr Deal. "The reasonably simple configuration and [ability to] share files in universal formats will make people feel safer about incorporating Macs in networks."

But despite OS X's selling points, Frank Gillette of Forrester Research does not give much for Apple's chances of upsetting the Microsoft juggernaut.

"There is nothing different enough about the Mac platform to get people to drop Windows," says the analyst, citing inertia and the effort required to buy new software that goes with changing operating systems.

"If [Apple] keeps its existing population happy, they will have succeeded," he adds.

Mr Gillette also raises security concerns about an operating system written in a programming language - BSD Unix - that many hackers understand. "If Apple has left any vulnerabilities in OS X [it] will be easier to hack than the old version of the Mac OS, which was the purview of the specialist," he says.

However Adam Masri, a San Francisco-based Mac consultant, discounts the threat of denial of service attacks being mounted on OS X. "Apple has done a very good job of turning off Unix programs that make a Unix system insecure," he says.

Provided security concerns remain strictly theoretical, Apple still has much to play for with OS X despite scepticism over its ability to reel in Microsoft's market share. Many small victories with OS X will at least help the computer maverick entrench its position as the supplier of the second-most popular personal computing platform.