Since I have unfairly teased the world in the previous entry, I’ll give a tiny spill on some of the items I mentioned. Tiny.

• Core Data: a unified storage system available to any programmer. When viewing the Xcode 2 page in the Tiger preview this is what the diagramming portion is based on. Think application-wide (or document-wide) OODB. With queries. Smart Folders get easy.
  

  From the public WWDC schedule for “418 Core Data” comes this:
  

  This session provides an overview of the new Core Data framework in Cocoa. It will focus on the new functionality provided for managing and persisting model objects, which includes automatic undo/redo, input validation, and saving to various types of “persistent stores” (SQL and XML).

  
  Yes, save your data to SQL and XML via an OS object. That’s what they said.
• Sync Services: Anyone can sync anything between computers now. Someone go write a bookmark sync for all browsers on all my computers. While you’re at it, sync my history in them as well. I’m serious; that’s a killer feature. Killer.
  

  From the schedule for “432 Fundamentals of Data Synchronization” comes:
  

  Learn about the new data synchronization services in Mac OS X. Sync Services make it easy to synchronize your application’s data between computers, and with other applications. This session will introduce the fundamental concepts of synchronization and introduce the Sync Services architecture and API set so you can begin to incorporate synchronization into your applications.

• Metadata: It’s much more than Spotlight.
• Fast Logout/Autosave: In short, you can do the “Do you want to save your document?” dialogs when you next log in rather than as you log out. Cute, eh?
• XML Parsing: Just that. It’s nowhere else so I won’t detail it. cough Cocoa-ized XQuery/XPath cough
  

  Closest I could find was session 417 for “Easy and Powerful XML Processing with Cocoa” which states:
  

  From the operating system to file formats to the exchanging of data on the web, XML plays an increasingly important role wherever an open, cross-platform, scalable solution is needed. This session is for developers who are familiar with XML and want to learn about how new Cocoa APIs in the Foundation framework can enable processing, creating, or transforming any of the many XML-based file formats, web protocols, or representations in use today.

• ACLs: I’m just still happy. So very happy.

There you have it. As close to a leak as I’ll ever make. (If it’s really all stated in the public WWDC schedule list, is it really a leak? )

But, really, Tiger is absolutely amazing, technology-wise. I’ve just been going over all the stuff coming down the line and I can’t stop saying Oh, wow. Oh, wow. Oh, nifty. Cool! as I read it. Tiger is for developers what Panther was for users. As such, we, the developers, will be the revolution with Tiger. This is third-party heaven. Every technology you need to build a world-class program (this includes Enterprise-class) is built into the system and as short as no objects away to just one or two away.

Apple is really pushing “No Code Duplication” in this release. Anything that you would duplicate between two of your programs has a system-level answer for. You can, in some small cases, get away with a no-code program. Really. The Core Services idea is getting rather complete:

• Core Data
• Core Audio
• Core Video
• Core Image

The greatest part about this is that when the OS gets an update, all programs get an update (and new features) because they’re using the system objects for everything. When something like Core Data (which abstracts file types and even file vs. database) is updated to, I don’t know, use SOAP or LDAP or something then all programs get that functionality as well. It’s just so very cool.

When you look at it from afar, though, you see the real strategy. The whole computer is one giant application for your one piece of data, your all-encompassing work of creation.

What you make in one program is available in any. iLife was just the beginning (iTunes’ music in iMovie and iPhoto, iPhoto’s photos in iMovie, iPhoto and iMovie in iDVD). Now you can sync anything to anything. Programs on the same machine can sync. Programs on the other side of the world can sync.

What you create can be toyed with and manipulated with Automator as well. Take this data, put it here, do this, put it there, convert it as so, send it there, log it.

Then with the Core Services concept you can make plug-ins for the system and not just for programs. Make an image filter for Core Image and everyone can use it. Make a video transition for Core Video and iMovie to Final Cut Pro can use it (someday, when they use CV). Make an audio plugin for Core Audio, and any CA program can use this (we have this in Panther, actually).

Slowly, the system is becoming something more than the Operating System used to be. It used to be the bootstrap for your program. Then it became the arbiter of your programs. Then it was the keeper of your data. Now it’s the arbiter of your data. The OS stores your data and then programs — very tightly integrated with the OS, almost to a plug-in level — operate on said data.

These are exciting times for Mac developers and, as such, for Mac users. The easier Cocoa gets, and the more powerful it is on the surface, the better those little one-off crapplications on MacUpdate and “the other site” will get. When it becomes just damned easy, and when Mac OS X Server and Xserve take a stronger Enterprise hold, and Mac OS X snags more business desktops … our favorite little fruit company will be unstoppable.

Unless they, oh, stop making iMacs.