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August 27, 2005
Mac OS Through the YearsNOTICE: This page is temporary and will be replaced soon. Please refrain from sending me bug reports relating to this page. Thank you.
Apple and Mac OS have changed quite a bit throughout the years - Mac OS is now 21 years old! Here’s a quick look at how much it has changed.
System 0.0-1.1 introduced in 1984
This was the very first version of Mac OS ever. While it was very limited by today’s standards, it stunned the commandline-using world of the 1980’s. Using concepts bought from Xerox along with Apple’s own concepts, it laid out the fundamental GUI layout/rules for many OSes to come. Since the original Macintosh was the only hardware that would run Mac OS, it was only preinstalled on Macs and was never distributed.
System versions 2.0 through 5.x introduced between 1985 and 1987
I won’t take the time to go through these iterations of Mac OS, since their GUI and capabilities remained almost the same. The only notable new feature was the MultiFinder, which allowed more than one application to be open at once, allowing what is known as “cooperative” multitasking as opposed to the conventional method of only opening one program at a time. The regular single-task Finder was still offered for those who preferred it.
System 6 introduced in 1988
System 6 looks nearly the same as its ancestors, but introduced a few minor things. The majority of the changes in this revision were “under the hood” and weren’t apparent to the average user.
System 7 introduced in 1991
System 7 was the first in several large revisions and large feature additions. It was the first Mac OS with color titlebars/scrollbars. It completely discarded the old single-process Finder in favor of the MultiFinder and made the MutliFinder the default Finder. It also included nicer 256-color icons, as well as support for more multimedia with Quicktime support and improved internet connectivity.
System 7.5 introduced in 1994
System 7.5 was largely the same as 7, but had a number of improvements, namely in stability and internet connectivity. AppleTalk was also introduced with 7.5. System 7.5.3, an update for 7.5, was the first to be referenced to as “Mac OS” instead of “System” in a few places, primarily on the startup screen.
System 7.6 introduced in 1997
System 7.6 was the first system to be referred to as Mac OS in the startup screen. It had a few minor features, but was the same as 7.5 for the most part. System 7.6.1 partially included the new “Platinum” interface, which was grafted on from Apple’s project Copland.
Mac OS 8 introduced in 1997
Mac OS 8 was the first system to be globally referred to as Mac OS. It had improvements in many areas, mainly in internet connectivity and multimedia. It also sported the new Platinum interface icons, taken from Apple’s failed next-generation OS project Copland. An update, Mac OS 8.1, introduced the improved HFS+ filesystem and had a more user-friendly installer. This was the first release of Mac OS to bundle Microsoft’s Internet Explorer, which would continue to be bundled until Mac OS X 10.3.
Mac OS 8.5 introduced in 1998
Mac OS 8 was improved in nearly all areas. It included improved 32-bit platinum icons and a new theming system that allowed the user to select his preferred look for the operating system’s interface, and also included Sherlock, a program to search the internet and local files. It was the first release of Mac OS to not support 68k Macs.
Mac OS 9 introduced in 1999
Mac OS 9 was Mac OS 8.6 with some bugfixes and Sherlock 2. While theming capabilities were still present, all themes other than Platinum were removed from the default install. It was the first publicly released version of Mac OS to support multiple users.
Mac OS X Public Beta introduced in 2000
The Mac OS X Public Beta was testing grounds for Apple’s completely new, radical OS called Mac OS X, which was based on NeXTSTEP, an operating system produced by the NeXT company that Apple had recently bought out. It featured a brand new GUI dubbed “Aqua” and did away with many features present in previous Mac OS releases. Mac OS X ran on top of a BSD UNIX variant called Darwin rather than the classic Mac OS core. Because of this UNIX base, it allowed Mac OS to have true multitasking for the first time. Since it was a beta primarily aimed at developers, it was buggy and rather unstable.
Mac OS X 10.0 “Cheetah” introduced in 2001
Mac OS X 10.0 was the first official release of Mac OS X. It changed many things from the OS X Public Beta and added/changed many features as requested by the users of the Public Beta. While still rather bug-ridden, it was considerably more stable than the beta. Most Mac users continued to use Mac OS 9 instead of upgrading until a couple more versions of Mac OS X were released.
Mac OS X 10.1 “Puma” introduced in 2001
Mac OS X 10.1 was primarily a bugfix release, but Apple still managed to add a few minor features such a dock positioning. It was a free upgrade for anyone who bought Mac OS X 10.0.
Mac OS X 10.2 “Jaguar” introduced in 2002
Mac OS X 10.2 was a massive update, fixing hundreds of minor bugs, greatly increasing stability, and generally speeding up the entire system. Aqua received a minor makeover in it, and quite a few (according to Apple, 100) features were added. Most consider Mac OS X 10.2 as the first truly usable release of OS X, and it was also the first release that Apple publicly used the operating system’s internal project codename in the final product. Mac OS X 10.2 would be the last Mac OS to use Microsoft Internet Explorer as its default browser.
Mac OS X 10.3 “Panther” introduced in 2004
Mac OS X 10.3 was an incredible update; Many consider it to be the most significant OS X upgrade to date. It sported many new useful features such as Exposé, FileVault, Fast User Switching, iChat AV, and a revamped Finder. It also sported a major update to Aqua, giving it a much more refined, toned-down, professional look. Mac OS X 10.3 would be the last Mac OS to bundle Microsoft Internet Explorer.
Mac OS X 10.4 “Tiger” introduced in 2005
Mac OS X 10.4 sported new features such as Dashboard, Core Image, Safari 2.0, and revamped Mail. The majority of changes were “under the hood”, cleaning up, speeding up, and improving nearly half of the underlying frameworks. One of the more major visible upgrades was Spotlight, a revolutionary new search tool that searches through the inside of files and their metadata extremely quickly, as opposed to orthodox filename searching. Aqua also received minor updates in this release. It would be the first Mac OS X revision to have a publicly released x86 (Intel) variant.
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[...] ¿ Te acuerdas de como empezó el sistema Mac OS ? Aquí puedes verlo, así como el progreso que ha tenido a lo largo de los años. Si no conoces como ha evolucionado el Sistema Mac OS de Apple y ha ido cambiando a lo largo de los años, una imagen vale más que mil palabras. Ver Mac OS a través del tiempo. [...]
You did forget one very important Mac OS & one important other Apple OS - but however you only talk about Mac OS so i can’t expect you to mention A/UX, though it shared the System 6-7 gui & Finder & was Apple’s first attempt for having Unix as underlying OS.
However forgetting Rhapsody - Mac OS X Server 1.x - the missing link between Mac OS & OpenStep AND Mac OS X.
Mac OS X Server 1.x could have been it but it had the developing World atleast those from the Mac side against it , i think OpenStep developers appriciated it though. And yett everything 10.0 had could have been added to the 1.x version.
So what was wrong - missing :
Classic : was called Macos.app & worked like Virtual PC, so windowed mode instead as part of OS X’s Finder. Anyways this feature will last only 4-6 years depending you adapted to intel or Leopard 10.6 early
Carbon : to make Mac Users & developers happy a way was needed to both run old applications & build new applications the old way. Anyways this feature will last only 4-6 years depending you adapted to intel or Leopard 10.6 early
Dock & Aqua : The Mac OS gui was still used & it lacked a Dock
Some of Mac OS X 1.x’s applications, mostly utilities weren’t really Mac gui’d & still feld like OpenStep
However i strongly feel all these features could have been implented without Aqua - try ShapeShifter with the Rhapsodised theme to see how it could have been.
Apple should have implented themes in MaC OS X 10 & made at starters atleast these theme’s available Aqua(default),
Platinum & OpenStep (not that i would have used this last one but i suppose some NeXT users might for the same reason i might have used Platinum)
Apple wasn’t satisfied either & introduced metal
I wasn’t impressed & had to use hacks to demetalize & shapeshifter to deaqualize & Apple wasn’t impressed neither.
So Apple introduced Plati… ergh Unified & i like it - i think it’s a good replacement for Platinum & hopes this stops here.
[...] MacOS a través de los años [...]
[...] MacOS a través de los años [...]
[...] thanks to this awesome blog post for the OS screens. Go visit it for more information on the Mac OS UI’s [...]
[...] iindigo3d » Mac OS Through the Years “Mac OS is now 21 years old! Here’s a quick look at how much it has changed.” (tags: Apple Mac osx history gui software) [...]
Ok all the posts on http://iindigo3d.com/blog/?page_id=6 from
Make it for windows :)! Says:
August 18th, 2007 at 7:48 pm
and down are all mine.
Except the one right after the ‘Make it for windows :)!’ post, other than that all those posts are mine (besides your replys of course)
And also I am sad that your taking down the comment bored on the page we used to talk on.
So you don’t get confused between which pages are mine, I’m going to use the username ‘
Mr. Muffin’, I hope no one copies my name.
If somebody already used a name can somebody else still use it? Also I’ll be using a different E-mail, it will still be fake (if you noticed, I never gave out my real E-mail), so you can ensure that that the posts are from me and not from some Mr. Muffin impersinator lol.
Also I’m the one who thought Windows was better and everything, and how I reccomended Opera to you which you didn’t like lol.
[...] Nejdříve se zastavím u označování verzí. Apple v tomto drží poměrně koherentní systém, který lidi odkojené marketingovým chaosem Microsoftu může mást svojí pochopitelností Mac OS je obecné označení pro operační systémy počítačů Apple. Za toto označení příjde číslo generace operačního systému. Současná generace je 10, pro lepší marketingové uchopení se používá římské číslice X, takže mluvíme o Mac OS X. Předchozí generace měla číslo (chvíle překvapení!) - ano, byla to devítka. Marketingově někomu v Apple přišlo zajímavé pojmenovat ji místo IX jako Classic. Generace u Mac OS označují zásadní změny a přirovnal bych je k přechodu od Windows 3.x na Windows XP. O vývoji Mac OS v rámci doby včetně obrázků se dozvíte více zde. [...]
[...] Nejdříve se zastavím u označování verzí. Apple v tomto drží poměrně koherentní systém, který lidi odkojené marketingovým chaosem Microsoftu může mást svojí pochopitelností Mac OS je obecné označení pro operační systémy počítačů Apple. Za toto označení příjde číslo generace operačního systému. Současná generace je 10, pro lepší marketingové uchopení se používá římské číslice X, takže mluvíme o Mac OS X. Předchozí generace měla číslo (chvíle překvapení!) - ano, byla to devítka. Marketingově někomu v Apple přišlo zajímavé pojmenovat ji místo IX jako Classic. Generace u Mac OS označují zásadní změny a přirovnal bych je k přechodu od Windows 3.x na Windows XP. O vývoji Mac OS v rámci doby včetně obrázků se dozvíte více zde. [...]
[...] read more | digg story [...]
oh yea, need to update that Mac OS X 10.5 exists! And that that as the biggest update, not 10.2. If you think not, you got probs! (unless im wrong).
u got to add 10.5.1 Leopard 07
Were’s Leopard?
[...] a lot. Here is a link to see what transformations Mac OS has seen in it’s 21 year life. click here. Related Posts Earning 70K by 17 years of age, whateverlife.comFoundRead: Patents, why bother? [...]
hey! u 4got mac os 10.5 leopard
tsk tsk. http://www.apple.com/macosx
dude. ahem! mac 10.5.2 dude! u 4got bout dat n soon u gonna have 2 add mac leopard 2 this blog. u better now b4 i ©¥¨√†√©∆∆¨¥¨∫ u
OLD MAC IS COOL! Id Rather Use Old Mac Than New Mac, The Only New Mac I Would Want Is Leopard! The Other Versions Of Mac OsX Are
This is pretty awesome, seeing how Mac transformed year by year. But, as previously stated, you should update this article to include Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard and some of the info on Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard.
[...] Como ya sabes las cosas no surgen de la nada y Windows no es una excepción. Este S.O. ha sufrido numerosas modificaciones y actualizaciones. El 20 de noviembre de 1985 aparece Windows 1.0, inmediatamente sustituido por la versión 1.01 debido a los errores que contiene. Aquí te dejo una historia visual de Windows con música. Al Linux le ha pasado algo parecido. Y también al MAC OS. [...]
Good read! … I enjoy learning more about operating systems and the like. A shame though that no mention was made of Raskin’s original plans for the Mac Os, but I suppose that would be an entirely different topic. Anyway, I saw my first Mac in 1984 whilst at University. Both the academic and lab staff had found an expensive new toy to write their papers on. I was blown away since I had an Exidy Sorcerer Mark II at home running CPM and Micropolis Dos. WOW! Anyway, I eventually moved onto DOS from Unix mainframes in 1991 and found it interesting that I knew it all because DOS felt very much like CPM with limited unix extensions. Which is kind of interesting again because I have gone full circle with Mac Os X (command line anyone?). As a Mac user though, I didn’t really bite the bullet until 1997, when I bought a mac clone on ebay just to see what all the fuss was about. Since then I have always had a Mac on my desktop, amongst a menagerie of other computers and operating systems, each with its advantages and disadvantages… And, whilst my all time favourite is/was BeOs 5/Zeta Neo Deluxe and I can’t begin to imagine what OsX would be like now with BeOs foundations, I find that OsX is so much smoother than its current rivals. Having said that, I’m writing this on an iMac running an Aqua themed Os 9.2 only because the 10.4 hiding on this drive is complaining about the lack of hard drive real estate. Oh well….
[...] Mac käyttöjärjestelmiä vuosien varrelta, kuvakaappauksilla. [...]
[...] da maçã desde os primórdios da computação, as screenshots da homepage apple.com e logicamente, as interfaces do Mac [...]
[...] paid-for updates. This specific pattern is new for 10.4. Some Google searching found this page: http://iindigo3d.com/blog/?page_id=40 It is a retrospective of Mac OS, and includes screen shots. The OS X public beta through 10.2 had [...]
could you put in OS X 10.5?
Boo Microsoft. Mac was better from the start.
[...] can see how the Mac OS has changed through the years: from System 0.0 to [...]
This eve I have recently done an update that includes all the current releases of OS X over the past years.
Check it out here:
http://tinyurl.com/Mac-OSX-Over-The-Years
brilliant write up! … It was exciting to learn more about operating systems.loved to know about Mac.thank you
[...] can see how the Mac OS has changed through the years: from System 0.0 to [...]
I’m not really sure what kind of operating system is better, a lot of people tell me Windows, but some tell me Mac. What would you recommend?