Apple Xsan 1.0, Safari 1.3 near release

Two integral pieces of Apple software are fast approaching their release, according to information gathered from multiple sources.

Xsan 1.0

According to tipsters, the Apple's Xsan high-performance Storage Area Network (SAN) file system is almost ready for prime-time. Sources expect an official announcement sometime in the next few weeks.

Xsan combines breakthrough performance with Appleâ€™s legendary ease-of-use for customers who require scalable, high-speed access to centralized shared data for video workflow and storage consolidation. The 64-bit cluster file system for Mac OS X will enable organizations to consolidate storage resources and provide multiple computers with concurrent file-level read/write access to shared volumes over Fibre Channel.

Last Tuesday, Apple provided developers with the latest pre-release version of the software, labeled Xsan Developer Preview build 7N155. The 53MB software distribution also included an Xsan Software Developers Kit. In the release notes accompanying the software, Apple recommends that developers test the software with builds of Mac OS X 10.3.7.

Safari 1.3 for Panther

Also on tap for a December release is Safari 1.3 for Mac OS X 10.3 "Panther" users, which is reportedly based on the same foundation as Safari 2.0 for Mac OS X 10.4 "Tiger," sans the added features.

The browser update includes Web Kit Framework enhancements and new "JavaScriptGlue" framework code, and is currently only available to developers in the English language. Early pre-release versions of the browser update also offered a "Web Archive" feature, allowing users to view Web pages long after they disappear from the Web, complete with images and links. However, this feature has been absent from recent builds.

The most recently known build of Safari 1.3 (170) is expected to be one of the last distributions of the browser before it is declared Gold Master, sources told AppleInsider last week. In the build notes for Safari 1.3 v170, Apple noted over 30 bug fixes, in addition to newly added support for XSLT Transforms. The company is distributing the software to employees and testers as a 5.0MB Mac OS X image.