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Concepts

To prepare for changes in current and future releases of Mac OS, Apple is introducing several new or modified concepts in the second generation of Power Macintosh computers. The concepts include

• separation of application and system services
• common packaging of loadable software
• the Name Registry
• families of devices
• ROM-based and disk-based drivers
• noninterrupt and interrupt-level execution
• generic and family drivers
• driver descriptions

These concepts are discussed in the next sections.

Separation of Application and Driver Services

Common Packaging of Loadable Software

The Name Registry

Families of Devices

ROM-Based and Disk-Based Drivers

Noninterrupt and Interrupt-Level Execution

Symmetric Multiprocessing

Generic and Family Drivers

Driver Descriptions