Lab Notes

According to ThinkSecret, the latest release of Mac OS X for Intel breaks compatibility with applications built on earlier builds. The speculation is that Apple is doing this to prevent piracy. I have a less sinister theory: the Application Binary Interface (ABI) changed between builds, causing the break. Normally, the ABI (which defines at the machine code level how executables are laid out and how they communicate with the OS) is fixed between builds going back for years since it is unacceptable to users to have a new version of the operating system break their existing applications. However, since the Developer Transition Kit is available only to developers, breaking the build is less important than evolving the ABI to make sure that it is solid and well architected on the day that Mactel machines ship to end users. After all, once it ships, Apple can't change it.