Mac OS

Mac OS is a series of graphical user interface–based operating systems developed by Apple Inc. for their Macintosh line of computer systems.

The original operating system was first introduced in 1984 as being integral to the original Macintosh, and referred to as the "System". Referred to by its major revision starting with "System 6" and "System 7", Apple rebranded version 7.6 as "Mac OS" as part of their Macintosh clone program in 1996. The Macintosh, specifically its system software, is credited with having popularized the early graphical user interface concept.

There are two architectural legacies of Mac OS. Up to major revision 9, from 1984 to 2000, it is historically known as Classic Mac OS. Major revision 10, from 2001 to present, is branded OS X (originally referred to as Mac OS X). Both legacies share a general interface design, and there has been some overlap of application frameworks for compatibility; but the two systems have different origins and use deeply different architectures.

System 7

System 7 (codenamed "Big Bang" and sometimes retroactively called Mac OS 7) is a single-user graphical user interface-based operating system for Macintosh computers. It was introduced on May 13, 1991, by Apple Computer. It succeeded System 6, and was the main Macintosh operating system until it was succeeded by Mac OS 8 in 1997. Features added with the System 7 release included virtual memory, personal file sharing, QuickTime, QuickDraw 3D, and an improved user interface.

"System 7" is often used generically to refer to all 7.x versions. With the release of version 7.6 in 1997, Apple officially renamed the operating system "Mac OS", a name which had first appeared on System 7.5.1's boot screen. System 7 was developed for Macs that used the Motorola 680x0 line of processors, but was ported to the PowerPC after Apple adopted the new processor.

Development

The development of the Macintosh "Systems" up to System 6 followed a fairly smooth progression with the addition of new features and relatively small changes and upgrades over time. Major additions were fairly limited, notably adding Color QuickDraw and MultiFinder in System 6. Some perspective on the scope of the changes can be seen by examining the official system documentation, Inside Macintosh. This initially shipped in three volumes, adding another to describe the changes introduced with the Mac Plus, and another for the Mac II and Mac SE.

Mac OS X 10.1

Mac OS X version 10.1, code named Puma, is the second major release of Mac OS X, Apple's desktop and server operating system. It superseded Mac OS X 10.0 and preceded Mac OS X 10.2. Version 10.1 was released on September 25, 2001 as a free update for Mac OS X 10.0 users. The operating system was handed out for no charge by Apple employees after Steve Jobs' keynote speech at the Seybold publishing conference in San Francisco. It was subsequently distributed to Mac users on October 25, 2001 at Apple Stores and other retail stores that carried Apple products. The operating system was better received than Mac OS X 10.0, although critics claimed that the operating system was still lacking some features and was plagued with bugs.

System requirements

Supported computers:

RAM:

Hard Drive Space:

Features

Apple introduced many features that were missing from the previous version, as well as improving overall system performance.

Mac OS 8

Mac OS 8 is an operating system that was released by Apple Computer on July 26, 1997. It represented the largest overhaul of the Mac OS since the release of System 7, some six years previously. It puts more emphasis on color than previous operating systems. Released over a series of updates, Mac OS 8 was an effort to integrate many of the technologies developed for Apple's overly-ambitious operating system known as Copland. Mac OS 8 helped modernize the Mac OS while Apple developed its next generation operating system, OS X. Mac OS 8 is one of Apple's most successful software releases, selling over 1.2 million copies in the first two weeks. Coming as it did at a difficult time in Apple's history, many pirate groups refused to traffic in the new operating system, encouraging people to buy it instead.

Mac OS 8.0 brought about the most visible changes in the line-up, including the introduction of the Platinum interface and a native PowerPC multi-threaded Finder. Mac OS 8.1 introduced a new, more efficient file system known as HFS Plus. Mac OS 8.5 was the first version of the Mac OS to require a PowerPC processor. It featured PowerPC native versions of QuickDraw and AppleScript, along with the Sherlock search utility. Its successor, Mac OS 9, was released on October 23, 1999.