14 DAY TRIAL // OS X may be built on a robust Unix platform but the operating system is most known for its elegance and ease of use. Many OS X users don't ever interact with the Unix underpinnings directly, while others are not even aware of them. The only people that really care are developers and those technically inclined, and they now have more reasons to care.
The next version of OS X, Leopard has received the official blessings of the Open Group. Due to the efforts of Apple's OS boss Kevin Van Vechten and his team, Leopard has attained UNIX 03 certification. This certification is no mean feat, placing Leopard in elite company. Previously, only Sun, IBM and HP were certified and with the addition of OS X, the Big Three have turned into the Big Four.
The importance of this certification might not be readily apparent for everyone, unless they are familiar with the technical details. In plain English, the underpinnings of Leopard will be compatible with those of the other UNIX 03 certified operating systems. This means that a script written for a BASH, TCSH or Korn Shell will do pretty much the same things on all four operating systems. Likewise, Unix applications will natively run the same across all these operating systems. These applications may be developed on any of the operating systems and then be run on all four in exactly the same way. This is a big deal, especially in terms of development and the enterprise. Users of these operating systems will not have to worry whether their applications will work and there is practically no porting required.
Interestingly enough, the certification only covers Leopard on Intel-based Macs. This is an indication that the 'under-the-hood' work that was needed to obtain the certification was not also done for the older PPC Macs. If so, this would be the first instance of the PPC version of OS X starting to lag behind.