Apple releases Grand Central Dispatch as open-source code
updated 03:05 pm EDT, Fri September 11, 2009
Tech may encourage support
Apple has taken the decision to make Grand Central Dispatch, a key feature of Mac OS X Snow Leopard, available as an open-source project. Developers can now find the component's services API on the web. Grand Central is intended to simplify multi-core support in Mac OS X, which without an intermediate layer can be difficult to program for.
Despite Grand Central being a marketing point for Snow Leopard, it is argued that going open-source could be essential to expanding its popularity. The move should encourage UNIX tool developers to offer support, as they might otherwise be forced write separate Mac versions of cross-platform applications. There is also thought to be little business risk from Grand Central use in other operating systems, whether Microsoft Windows or a UNIX- or Linux-based distribution. Microsoft is said to be unlikely to adopt the technology.
