OpenOSX is shipping version 5.0.2 of their Grass GIS CD and has published the official Grass 5.0.2 Mac OS X binaries. Version 5.0.2 offers updated software and a Cocoa-based graphical user interface, along with additional enhancements and improved stability.
What’s more, the new version fixes several potential issues discovered with previous versions of the product and includes Tcl/Tk 8.4.2 to support the native Mac OS X Aqua interface along with improvements developed by OpenOSX, according to Jeshua Lacock of OpenOSX. Grass and all of the required and optional libraries have been compiled utilizing gcc 3.1 for optimized performance under Mac OS X 10.2 (“Jaguar”) and higher, he added.
The product is compatible with Apple’s X11 application and includes an optional XFree 4.3.0 installation in the event you prefer XFree over X11. X11 for Mac OS X lets X11-based applications run side-by-side with native Mac OS X applications on the same desktop. Apple’s implementation of X11, the windowing environment for UNIX operating systems, is optimized to take advantage of Mac OS X’s Quartz graphics system to deliver hardware-accelerated 2D and 3D graphics for fast text scrolling, dynamic dragging and resizing of windows, and 3D animation through OpenGL Direct Rendering.
The OpenOSX Grass CD costs US$50; six-month CD subscriptions are available for $120. Previous OpenOSX Grass customers may upgrade to version 5.0.2 for $20.
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