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Official Mac and Linux ID Card Software Released
As of today, people using Macintosh and Linux operating systems can use Estonian ID cards with official software from a government agency rather than stopgap volunteer-developed programs.
The official Macintosh ID software is available for OS 10.5 and 10.6 while the Linux versions were developed for the three most common Linux systems in Estonia: Ubuntu 10.04, Open Suse 11.3, and Fedora 13.
The State Informatic Centre (RIA) said that the software can be used to authenticate users and digitally sign documents.
But RIA warned that it would take some time before service providers adapt web interfaces to allow documents to be signed using the new software. Larger sites and several banks have already enabled the digital signature function.
RIA spokesman Katrin Pärgmäe told uudised.err.ee that Mac and Linux users will get the latest version of the software, which will reach Windows users only in early January.
As to what's ahead for the ID card, Kalev Pihl, the head of SK, the agency that issues certificates, said that several custom features will be introduced in March, allowing several chip cards to be used simultaneously. There will also be PIN keypad support for card readers.
ID cards were first issued in Estonia in 2002. As of May, nearly 1.1 million cards had been issued.