We all know about the Desktop Publishing revolution that the first Macs and their PostScript LaserWriter printers brought in the late 1980s, but many have now forgotten the Desktop Video revolution that followed in the next decade. At its heart was support for multimedia in Apple’s QuickTime.
QuickTime isn’t a single piece of software, or even an API in Classic Mac OS, but a whole architecture to support almost any media format you could conceive of. It defines container and file formats for multiple media types, forming the basis for the MPEG-4 standard, extensible encoding and decoding of a wide variety of media using Codecs, and more.
QuickTime development was initially led by Apple’s Bruce Leak, who first demonstrated it at the Worldwide Developers Conference in May 1991 before its release as a separate set of components for System 6 and 7 in December that year. Initially it came with just three Codecs, supporting animated cartoons, regular video and 8-bit still images. Cinepak video and text tracks were added in QuickTime 1.5 the following year, when high-end Macs were capable of playing 320 x 240 video at 30 frames/s, which was groundbreaking at the time.
By the mid-1990s QuickTime was starting to flourish. Hardware support included Apple’s new PowerPC Macs in 1994, and MIDI devices, PCs running Windows, MIPS and SGI workstations. QuickTime VR (for Virtual Reality) allowed the user to navigate the virtual space within panoramic images. QuickTime media were being licensed and distributed on CD-ROMs, innovative games such as Myst depended on it, and the QuickTime project brought in revenue to Apple at a time that it was most needed.
That period also brought conflict. Apple had contracted San Francisco Canyon Company to port QuickTime to Windows, but Intel also hired them to develop a competing product, Video for Windows. Source code developed for Apple ended up in Intel’s product, resulting in a lawsuit in 1994, finally settled three years later.
QuickTime was enhanced through the late 1990s, with version 5 the first to support Mac OS X, and just over a year later, in 2002, that was replaced by version 6. The following year, QuickTime 6.2 only supported Mac OS X, with a slightly older version for Windows.
QuickTime was one of the more used parts of what was then named System Prefs, here seen setting the MIME types to be handled by the QuickTime Plug-in, in 2002.
For most Mac users, bundled QuickTime Player was the standard way to play most types of video, as seen here in 2002.
Apple built apps like iMovie on the strengths of QuickTime. First released in 1999, iMovie is seen here in 2002.
QuickTime version 7 was both the first and last to use the QuickTime Kit (QTKit) Framework in Cocoa.
Apple’s flagship movie editing suite Final Cut Pro started as KeyGrip by Macromedia, but was first released by Apple in 1999; this ‘HD’ was actually version 4.5 in 2004.
Streaming movies in those days (here 2005) had to cope with a range of relatively low transfer rates, down to 56 Kb/s over a fast dial-up connection with a modem.
Users had to pay a small fee to upgrade QuickTime Player to the Pro version, unlocking more features including extensive transcoding options, here in 2007.
Mac OS X Server included a QuickTime Streaming Server, and a separate app, QuickTime Broadcaster (seen here in 2007), could be used to deliver real-time audio and video over a network.
QuickTime X for Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard in 2009 marked the start of its slow decline, with the removal of support for some media formats, most noticeably MIDI. Internally, it had been converted to a Cocoa framework, AVFoundation, with modern 64-bit audio and video Codecs. This anticipated discontinuation of all support for 32-bit code in macOS Catalina. The impact on Codecs that were never ported to 64-bit is still felt today. While QuickTime is still alive in the AVFoundation framework, it’s very different now from its heyday in the opening years of this century.
By 2011, QuickTime Player was a shadow of its former self, and a far cry from its earlier Pro version.
Its pane in System Preferences, here in Panther of 2015, didn’t reflect the inner changes.
This is iMovie in 2011.
Further reading
Wikipedia, good on version details AppleInsider, long and detailed account by Prince McLean in 2007 Computer History Museum, good background from Hansen Hsu, with a link to YouTube video from three of the creators of QuickTime.
I hope that you enjoyed Saturday’s Mac Riddles, episode 272. Here are my solutions to them.
1: Used by courting birds with a haven for video and audio to replace the others.
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DisplayPort
Used by courting birds (a courtship display) with a haven (a port) for video and audio (it can carry both) to replace the others (intended to replace the answers to 2 and 3, as well as VGA and others).
2: 506 Romans can handle analogue and digital to display.
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DVI
506 Romans (DVI in Roman numerals = 506) can handle analogue and digital (has both DVI-I for analogue support, and DVI-D digital-only) to display (it’s for video output to displays and TVs).
3: With CTA-861, 19 pins and five connectors, it’ll carry all your media, even HDCP.
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HDMI
With CTA-861 (the standards it uses for video and more), 19 pins (in its connectors) and five connectors (it supports five different connectors now), it’ll carry all your media (it will), even HDCP (a form of DRM for use over HDMI).
The common factor
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They are all video interfaces that have been supported by Macs.
There aren’t many mythical animals in operating systems, and the most famous of those is probably Tux the penguin who appeared in Linux around 1996. The Mac’s first mythical animal predates that by more than a decade, and is the distinctive dogcow named Clarus, who appeared in every version of Mac OS until Mac OS X.
When Annette Wagner was designing the Page Setup dialog for Classic Mac OS, she needed a figure to place on the page to show the user its orientation and other options. She was working with an early symbolic font Cairo, created by Susan Kare who was also the designer of Chicago, the first Mac system font, and modified its z character of a dog to make it work better in the dialog. The result was a creature that looked like a hybrid between a dog and a cow.
In 1987, Scott ‘Zz’ Zimmerman coined the term dogcow for this curious beast, which by now was featured in every Page Setup dialog on every Mac, and was becoming quite a celebrity. A little later, Mark ‘The Red’ Harlan gave the dogcow the name of Clarus, a variation on the name of Claris, Apple’s software subsidiary that had been formed in 1987.
As Apple’s campus at 1 Infinite Loop, Cupertino, developed, Clarus was one of several large plastic figures forming the Icon Garden in front of the offices.
The dogcow lived on in Page Setup dialogs until Mac OS X was released, and early in the 2000s she was put out to grass in favour of a stylised icon of a human figure. Those who pined for the reappearance of the dogcow in OS X remained disappointed until macOS Ventura, when she finally returned, although now in full vector graphics glory.
By this time, there was another reference to Clarus tucked away as an Easter Egg in the Emoji & Symbols viewer: type the letters of her name into its search box, and you’ll see the two emoji characters of a dog and a cow, although neither of them resembles Clarus in appearance.
Although not heard in Mac OS, Clarus has been attributed the sound of moof, a portmanteau of moo and woof, of course.
The next time you open the Page Setup dialog, spare a thought for Clarus the dogcow, still doing the same job nearly forty years later.
I hope that you enjoyed Saturday’s Mac Riddles, episode 270. Here are my solutions to them.
1: The periodical is secure when charged through this attractive force.
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MagSafe
The periodical (mag or magazine) is secure (safe) when charged through this attractive force (it’s a charging lead attached by magnetism).
2: Quick flash followed by thunder for power adaptor and more.
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Lightning
Quick (lightning) flash followed by thunder (lightning) for power adaptor and more (what it’s for).
3: Might of military planes would have been magic for 8 and X until cancelled because of heat.
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AirPower
Might of military planes (air power) would have been magic for 8 and X (it was a wireless charging system announced with iPhones 8 and X in 2017) until cancelled because of heat (Apple cancelled it in 2019 apparently because it got too hot).
The common factor
Click for a solution
They have been used to charge Macs and Apple devices, although the last never made it to market.
It wasn’t until System 7 in 1991 that the Mac gained any feature that let the user create links to files or folders. Without a command shell, Unix traditions of symbolic and hard links weren’t available. Apple belatedly added what it termed an alias, created using the Make Alias command in the Finder’s File menu. This made a document-like object bearing the name of its original with alias appended, displayed in italics to distinguish it from the original. To help users locate the original file for an alias, the Finder’s Get Info dialog gained a button to Find Original, later moved to the File and contextual menus.
Later versions of classic Mac OS added refinements to this transformative feature, including the selection of a new target for a broken alias, creation by drag-and-drop of a file or folder with the Command and Option keys held, and a distinctive arrow badge to both the item’s icon and the pointer during drag-creation.
Internally, the alias was a small file of less than 5 KB size containing opaque data with more information than just the path to the original. Aliases were designed to support free movement within the same file system, at the time an HFS volume (or partition, as they’re the same in HFS and HFS+).
Aliases transferred across to Mac OS X, where the more adventurous could open Terminal and create both symbolic and hard links instead. It has remained a sign of the lasting schism between the GUI and Unix internals of Mac OS X that there are no standard command tools supporting Finder aliases, and there’s no way to create or maintain symbolic or hard links in the Finder.
Something happened to aliases when they transitioned into Mac OS X, and their size started to rise steadily until they reached 1-5 MB in El Capitan.
Back in Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger they were still fairly small, this one at 48 KB. Note the Select New Original… button in the Get Info dialog.
Aliases were all very good for the user, but OS X needed something similar that could be stored in property lists and other files, so the alias format was rejigged into more generalised form as the bookmark, introduced in OS X 10.6 in 2009. In early 2012 with 10.7.3, bookmarks could be security-scoped with permission on a per-app or per-document basis, to enable their use with the app sandbox. By OS X 10.9 Mavericks in 2013, bookmarks were in widespread use throughout the system.
In El Capitan (2015), bookmark size often reached 1 MB, while the Select New Original… button remained the same in the Get Info dialog.
macOS Sierra brought a major revision to both aliases and bookmarks, reducing their size substantially, but bringing other problems. As late as 10.12.1 they were still having problems resolving some links. The end result was worth the struggle, though, as they have since become more robust than ever, with a typical size of only 1 KB, making them almost as efficient as symbolic links.
Although aliases and bookmarks are still intended to be treated as opaque, their contents have become more accessible. Among the useful values each contains are:
_NSURLPathKey gives the full path to the file,
_NSURLFileIDKey gives the inode number of the file,
_NSURLBookmarkURLStringKey gives the file’s full URL,
NSURLCreationDateKey gives the file’s creation timestamp,
NSURLIsRegularFileKey indicates whether it’s a normal file,
NSURLIsPackageKey indicates whether it’s a package rather than a file,
_NSURLBookmarkSecurityScopeCryptoKeyKey is used if this is a Security-Scoped Bookmark, most used with sandboxed apps.
I even have a couple of utilities that work with them. Among the many features of Precize is the ability to generate bookmarks, and to analyse and resolve them. For those who want to bridge the divide between the GUI and command line, alisma is a tool that can both create aliases and resolve them to paths. Finally, Alifix helps you refresh and identify broken aliases.
I hope that you enjoyed Saturday’s Mac Riddles, episode 269. Here are my solutions to them.
1: Palmtop with gravity was first with arm for five years.
Click for a solution
Newton
Palmtop (what it was, although Apple coined the term PDA) with gravity (first elaborated as the law of universal gravitation by Sir Isaac Newton) was first with arm (it was Apple’s first device to use an ARM processor) for five years (released in 1993, discontinued 1998).
2: Component framework took aim at OLE for a couple of years.
Click for a solution
OpenDoc
Component framework (what it was) took aim (it was part of the foundation of the AIM Alliance between Apple, IBM and Motorola) at OLE (it was a competitor for Microsoft’s OLE) for a couple of years (released in 1995, discontinued 1997).
3: Blue-sky lab from Larry’s education brought quick things for over a decade.
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Advanced Technology Group (ATG)
Blue-sky lab (what it was) from Larry’s education (it sprung from the late Larry Tesler’s Education Research Group) brought quick things (responsible for Color QuickDraw, QuickTime and its VR and 3D versions, and more) for over a decade (formed in 1986, closed in 1997).
The common factor
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They were all cancelled by Steve Jobs on his return to Apple in 1997.
I hope that you enjoyed Saturday’s Mac Riddles, episode 267. Here are my solutions to them.
1: Where the store requires apps and kids to play in safety and grip the rails.
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sandbox
Where the store requires apps (it’s a requirement of the App Store) and kids to play in safety (a sandbox) and grip the rails (also used by railway locos to apply to slippery rails to improve grip).
2: Benefit of a rightful claim to go beyond the confines of 1.
Click for a solution
entitlement
Benefit of a rightful claim (an entitlement) to go beyond the confines of 1 (what an app entitlement does for a sandboxed app).
3: ISO 688 could be intermodal folder for 1, but only in ~/Library.
Click for a solution
container
ISO 688 could be intermodal (a shipping container) folder for 1 (what it is in macOS), but only in ~/Library (the only place you should find them).
The common factor
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They are parts of the app sandbox system in macOS.
I hope that you enjoyed Saturday’s Mac Riddles, episode 266. Here are my solutions to them.
1: Skipper or proprietor who might also live there as one of the users.
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owner
Skipper (sometimes referred to as the ‘owner’ of a ship or aircraft) or proprietor (owner) who might also live there (owner-occupier) as one of the users (what the owner is).
2: Cluster or band such as staff or wheel.
Click for a solution
group
Cluster (a group) or band (a musical group) such as staff or wheel (two common groups in permissions).
3: The rest may be half or significant to everyone else.
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others
The rest (others) may be half (the other half) or significant (significant other) to everyone else (as in permissions).
The common factor
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They are the three classes used to set permissions.
I hope that you enjoyed Saturday’s Mac Riddles, episode 265. Here are my solutions to them.
1: Iron ore, manpower, reserve, fork.
Click for a solution
resource
Iron ore (a natural resource), manpower (a human resource), reserve (a resource generally), fork (a resource fork of a file).
2: Use sedit again for classic customisation thanks to Sumit and Samiran.
Click for a solution
ResEdit
Use sedit again (re-sedit, where sedit is a Unix programmer’s editor) for classic customisation (used to customise apps and more in Classic Mac OS) thanks to Sumit and Samiran (Sumit Bando and Samiran Basak were authors of later versions).
3: Lengthened characteristic object swallowed 1 in X.
Click for a solution
extended attribute
Lengthened (extended) characteristic object (an attribute, e.g. of a deity) swallowed 1 in X (resource forks in riddle 1 were incorporated into Mac OS X as extended attributes).
The common factor
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These are all connected with resources and resource forks in Classic Mac OS.
I hope that you enjoyed Saturday’s Mac Riddles, episode 264. Here are my solutions to them.
1: Lines that never meet in 2006 originated in Russia.
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Parallels
Lines that never meet (parallel lines) in 2006 (when it was first released for Mac OS X) originated in Russia (where its products were first developed).
2: Roman 995 perhaps with ceramics from 2007, now part of an HP descendant.
Click for a solution
VMware
Roman 995 perhaps (could be VM in Roman numerals) with ceramics (ware) from 2007 (when it was first released for Mac OS X), now part of an HP descendant (it’s now part of Broadcom, which originated from Hewlett Packard in 1961, as HP Associates).
3: Emulate and host thanks to Fabrice’s flightless bird from 2003.
Click for a solution
UTM
Emulate and host (it’s both an emulator and virtualiser, and based on QEMU) thanks to Fabrice’s (QEMU was originally developed by Fabrice Bellard) flightless bird (the Emu, the origin of QEMU) from 2003 (when the first code for QEMU was published).
I hope that you enjoyed Saturday’s Mac Riddles, episode 263. Here are my solutions to them.
1: A small mouthful of liquid for rootless system security.
Click for a solution
SIP
A small mouthful of liquid (a sip) for rootless (an alternative name, from the com.apple.rootless extended attribute that can set SIP on a file) system security (it’s system integrity protection).
2: Helper at the turnstile checks apps at launch.
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Gatekeeper
Helper at the turnstile (what it does in the real world) checks apps at launch (what it does in macOS).
3: Moving a section of chromosome run from a random location.
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Translocation
Moving a section of chromosome (translocation in genetics) run from a random location (what it does in macOS, a quarantined app is launched from a random location).
The common factor
Click for a solution
These are all key parts of macOS security protection.
I hope that you enjoyed Saturday’s Mac Riddles, episode 262. Here are my solutions to them.
1: Roll on the interior of what used to be your working surface.
Click for a solution
Wallpaper
Roll (of wallpaper) on the interior (on an inside wall) of what used to be your working surface (it used to be called the Desktop picture until macOS Ventura, but was called Wallpaper in iOS).
2: Tress partition for screen saver options.
Click for a solution
Lock Screen
Tress (a lock of hair) partition (a screen) for screen saver options (what it controls in System Settings. This was new in macOS Ventura, but longstanding in iOS).
3: Movie duration controls display addiction.
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Screen Time
Movie duration (its screen time) controls display addiction (what it’s intended to do. This was introduced in iOS 12 in 2018, and didn’t come to macOS until Catalina).
The common factor
Click for a solution
These are all relatively new items in System Settings that originated in iOS Settings.
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