Apple has introduced X11 for Mac OS X. The software enables applications based on the X11 windowing environment to run side-by-side with native Mac OS X applications on the same desktop. X11 is commonly used on UNIX platforms. It has been released as a public beta.
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X11 for Mac OS X uses Mac OS X’s own Quartz graphics system, which provides hardware-accelerated 2D and 3D graphics. That means you’ll get faster text scrolling, dynamic dragging and resizing of windows, and 3D animation thanks to OpenGL. X11 for Mac OS X also includes the standard X11 display server software, client libraries and developer toolkits, which makes X11 for Mac OS X a step in the right direction for developers to port Linux and UNIX applications to the Mac.
The software is a single download and install for both the display server and client libraries. The optional X11 Software Developer Kit for Mac OS X purportedly allows developers to build practically any X11R6.6 application with a simple recompile. X11 for Mac OS X integrates with the Aqua user interface for cutting and pasting between X11 and Mac OS X applications. It also has full access to Aqua controls for zoom, close and minimization to the Dock.
The final version is due later this year. X11 for Mac OS X requires Mac OS X 10.2 (“Jaguar”) and a minimum of 256MB of memory . It’s designed for eMacs, iMacs, iBooks, Power Macs G3s and G4s, and any PowerBook introduced after May 1998.