Sandboxing is a programming term and it means that an application is limited in what it can access on the computer (or device). It can't delete files, it can't install and run other apps, it can't control other apps, it can't mess up your system. An app can only access its own files and private workspace. Sandboxing was created as a security feature that prevents malware and malicious apps from doing things they shouldn't. If an app can't access the rest of the system then it can't do any damage.
In some situations sandboxing is useful and if a web browser is run in a sandbox then any malware you come across on the web cannot damage or infect the computer because it can't access it.
Sandboxing is not useful in all cases though because it limits what an application can do. For example, suppose you want a utility that scans the disk searching for files. I recently looked at several of these and they are very useful. If these were limited to running in a sandbox then they would not have access to the system and they would not work. You want to find files fast on your Mac? Tough. (Spotlight does not find all files everywhere - it is a limited search facility.)
Another example is an FTP program. I use one to upload pages from my Mac to my websites. It would not work in a sandbox because it could not access any files apart from its own. iOS on the iPad and iPhone uses sandboxing and apps cannot access anything outside of their own workspace, except where iOS lets it - usually just the photos and videos. Install an FTP app on the iPad or iPhone and it is practically useless. If you have a note-taking app or an accounts program or some other app that saves files, just try loading those files into another app. You can't.
It is acceptable to have sandboxing on an iPhone because the apps you use are simple anyway, but a desktop computer is a completely different thing. Sandboxing may be secure, but the lack of freedom is very limiting and we might end up with only dumbed down apps that have limited functionality in the Mac App Store. Apps that do clever things by accessing the system, or adding extensions, plug-ins and add-ons, won't be possible.
Apple is forcing all apps in the Mac App Store to run in a sandbox. The deadline to implement this was originally November, but it has been extended to next March.
What is worrying is that this is yet another step towards the iOS way of thinking. The Mac/OS X has an app store like iOS. There are iOS-like features in OS X Lion. There is sandboxing of apps just like iOS. What is next?
I suspect that in the not too distant future Apple will decree that all apps for the Mac must be purchased and installed from the Mac App Store, just as with iOS. No apps will be installable from elsewhere. There are two reasons for doing this is and one is that Apple likes to keep control of everything, just as with iOS apps. Apple believes that if it controls what apps are available and what they can do, it will reduce user problems and user support because only approved apps will work.
another reason is the money and Apple takes a cut of every app sold in the Mac App Store. At the moment developers only put their software in it out of choice, but if every app for the Mac had to be purchased from there, just think of the revenue Apple would generate. It would get loads of money for doing very little, just as with iOS apps. I think this would be very tempting for Apple.
This scenario may work on the iPad and iPhone, but it is not one I would like on the Mac. I don't want to be limited to running only apps that Apple lets me run, I don't want apps to be limited to only functions that Apple says I can use, and I don't want Apple block useful apps I use just because it doesn't approve.
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