Mac OS

Mac OS, which stands for Macintosh Operating System, is Apple Computer name for the first operating system for Apple Macintosh computers. The original Mac OS was the first commercially successful operating system which used a graphical user interface. The Macintosh team included Bill Atkinson, Jef Raskin and Andy Hertzfeld. There are a variety of views on how the Macintosh was developed and where the underlying ideas originated. While the connection between the Macintosh and the Alto project at Xerox PARC has been established in the historical record, the earlier contributions of Ivan Sutherland's Sketchpad and Doug Engelbart's On-Line System are no less significant. See History of the GUI, and Apple v. Microsoft. Apple deliberately played down the existence of the operating system in the early years of the Macintosh to help make the machine appear more user-friendly and to distance it from other systems such as MS-DOS, which were portrayed as arcane and technically challenging. Apple wanted Macintosh to be portrayed as a system that would "just work" when it is turned on. ==Versions== The Macintosh operating system was initially called ''System,'' as in "System 6.0.7" or "System 7 (Macintosh)". Among software engineers it was also sometimes referred to as the Macintosh Toolbox, which consisted of a collection of standardized routines which programs could call rather than accessing the computer hardware directly. This abstraction (computer science) is what allowed Mac applications written for one generation of system to run on later generations: from the Mac Plus to the Mac II, to the PowerBook, to the Power Macintosh, for example. Terms such as "system" and "the toolbox" were handy ways to refer to operating system services and the Macintosh APIs respectively that avoided technical jargon. Until the advent of the G3 era systems (the so-called "new world" machines), large parts of the system were held in physical Read-only memory on the motherboard, as well as other system components on disk that supplemented, overrode or patched the ROM routines. The purpose of this was to avoid using up too much of the limited storage of floppy disks on system support, given that the early Macs had no hard disk. However, only one model of Mac was ever actually bootable using the ROM alone, the 1991 Mac Classic model. System 7.5.1 was the first to include the Mac OS logo (a blue smiley face). Mac OS 7.5 was the first to be named ''Mac OS'' because of the appearance of Mac "clones", workalikes from other companies such as Power Computing and Motorola, and Apple wanted to make it clear that the operating system was its own intellectual property. The Mac OS can be divided into two families of operating systems: * "Classic" Mac OS, the system which shipped with the first Macintosh in 1984 and its descendants, culminating with Mac OS 9. * The newer Mac OS X (the "X" is pronounced ''ten'', as in the Roman numeral). Mac OS X incorporates elements of BSD Unix, OpenStep, and Mac OS 9. Its low-level Unix-based foundation, Apple Darwin, is open source. ===Classic Mac OS=== The "classic" Mac OS is characterized by its total lack of a command line; it is a completely graphical operating system. Heralded for its ease of use, it is also criticized for its cooperative multitasking, almost total lack of Mac OS memory management, and susceptibility to extension conflicts. "Extensions" are program modules that extend the operating system, providing additional functionality (such as networking) or support for a particular device. Some extensions are prone not to work properly together or only when loaded in a particular order. Troubleshooting Mac OS extensions can be a time-consuming process of trial and error. Mac OS also introduced the Hierarchical File System, an innovative new type of filesystem. Whereas a file on DOS or Unix would simply be a sequence of bytes, requiring an application to know which bytes represented code and which were graphic or other data, Mac files had two different "forks". In addition to the data fork, which contained a sequence of bytes, there was a resource fork which contained structured data such as menu definitions, graphics, sounds, or code segments. An application file might consist only of resources with no data fork. A text file might contain its text in the data fork and styling information in its resources, so that an application which didn't recognize the styling information could still read the raw text. Despite the many assets of this arrangement, it became quite a challenge to interoperate with other operating systems which did not recognize such a system; for example, copying a file from a Mac to DOS or Unix would strip it of its resource fork. By the late 1990s, it was clear the useful life of this 1980s-era technology was coming to an end, with other more stable multitasking operating systems being developed. ===Mac OS X=== ''Main article: Mac OS X'' Mac OS X brought Unix-style memory management and pre-emptive multitasking to the Mac platform. Vastly improved memory management allowed more programs to run at once and virtually eliminated the possibility of one program crashing another. It is also the second Mac OS to include a command line (the first is the now-discontinued AUX, which supported classic Mac OS applications on top of a UNIX kernel), although it is never seen unless the user launches a "terminal" program. However, since these new features put higher demands on system resources, Mac OS X is only officially supported on PowerPC G3 and newer processors. Even then, it runs slowly on older G3 systems for many purposes. Interestingly, as of 2004, every update to Mac OS X since the original public beta has had the peculiar quality of being noticeably faster and more responsive than the version it replaced, the opposite trend of most operating systems. As noted by John Siracusa of Ars Technica: ''For over three years now, Mac OS X has gotten faster with every release � and not just "faster in the experience of most end users", but faster on the same hardware. This trend is unheard of among contemporary desktop operating systems.'' [http://arstechnica.com/reviews/os/macosx-10.3.ars/5] Mac OS X has a compatibility layer for running older Mac applications, the Classic (Mac OS X) (known to programmers as "the blue box"). This runs a full copy of the older Mac OS 9.x as a Mac OS X process. Most well-written "classic" applications function properly under this environment, but compatibility is only assured if the software was written to be unaware of the actual hardware, and to interact solely with the operating system. The vast majority of the fans of the original Mac OS accepted Mac OS X, but a few criticized it as being more difficult and less user-friendly than the original Mac OS. ==Mac OS technologies== * Chooser: tool for accessing network resources (e.g., enabling AppleTalk) * ColorSync: technology for ensuring appropriate color matching * Desk Accessory: small "helper" apps that could be run concurrently with any other app, prior to the advent of MultiFinder and System 7. * QuickDraw: the imaging model which first provided mass-market WYSIWYG * Macintosh Finder: the interface for browsing the filesystem and launching applications * Mac OS memory management: how the Mac managed Random Access Memory and virtual memory before the switch to Unix * Mac-Roman : Character set * MultiFinder: the first version to support simultaneously running multiple apps * PlainTalk: speech synthesis and speech recognition technology * PowerPC emulation of Motorola 68000: how the Mac handled the architectural transition from CISC to RISC (see Mac 68K emulator) ==Project Star Trek== One interesting historical aspect of the classic Mac OS was a relatively unknown secret prototype Apple started work on in 1992, code-named Star Trek project. The goal of this project was to create a version of Mac OS that would run on Intel-compatible x86 personal computers. It was short lived, being cancelled only one year later in 1993 due to political infighting, though its team was able to get the Macintosh Finder and some basic applications, like QuickTime, running smoothly on a PC. Although the Star Trek software was never released, third-party Macintosh emulators, such as vMac, Basilisk II, and Executor, eventually made it possible to run the classic Mac OS on x86 PCs. These emulators were restricted to emulating the Motorola 68000 line of processors, and as such couldn't run versions of the Mac OS newer than 8.1, which required PowerPC processors. Recently, the PearPC emulator has appeared, which is capable of emulating the PowerPC processors required by newer versions of the Mac OS (like Mac OS X). Unfortunately, it is still in the early stages and, like many emulators, tends to run much slower than a native OS would. It is worth noting that the kernel of Mac OS X, Apple Darwin, while not a reincarnation of Star Trek, runs on both x86 and PowerPC architectures, as have internal builds of Mac OS X Apple has been developing (in secret until June 2005 and openly since). Apple has announced that their future Macintosh products will run on Intel's x86 processors, utilizing the x86 version of Mac OS X Apple has since been developing. == A/UX == In 1988 Apple released its first UNIX based OS, named A/UX. This was an operating system that seamlessly integrated the Mac OS look and feel with the power and flexibility of Unix. Since it was before the advent of PPC and had to run on the Motorola 68K processor it was not very competitive for its time. A/UX had most of its success in sales to the Federal government of the United States where Unix was a requirement that the Mac OS could not meet. ==See also== * Mac OS history * Mac OS X history * Mac OS X Server * List of Macintosh software * Operating system advocacy * Comparison of operating systems ==External links== * [http://folklore.org folklore.org] a site with anecdotes by the creators of the first Macintosh *[http://www.apple.com/macosx/ Mac OS X info from Apple] ms:Mac OS simple:Mac OS th:แมคโอเอส zh-cn:Mac OS Apple software Mac OS Operating systems Windowing systems

Mac OS

It would be nice to have a list of the 10 versions of the MacOS: * Version number * Date of publication * Prominent new features * Minimum hardware requirement -- mpt I've started on a list in Mac OS history --User:Damian Yerrick ---- maybe somebody could add in some eeggs? (if you don't know what those are, look at eeggs.com) Do you mean Easter Eggs? I once opened one of the system files (I can't remember which -- maybe "System" or "Finder") with Norton Disk Editor and I found text near the start of the file, along the lines of "hehlp help I'm trapped in a software development factory". This was system 7.something -- user:Tarquin ---- Removed: ":Microsoft Windows, a response to Macintosh, eventually overtook the Macintosh in popularity and now has a monopoly in the OS market." -Was it "a response"?
-Is is more popular, or just more common?
-When is "now"?
-MS does not have a monopoly. Perhaps it currently has a near-monopoly.
I'm not sure about the need for "Alternative operating systems include...", since Windows can't run on Mac. Can Linux? -- User:Tarquin : Don't see the need either. Even if Linux could run on a Mac, only mentioning Windows and Linux isn't really useful. The OS article contains a much longer list, so a reference there would do IMO. User:Jheijmans ::Running Linux under Mac OS X is significant because OS X itself is also UNIX based and open source, FreeBSD 3.2. It is not uncommon to unplug the BSD kernel and put a real Linux in its place. :::Do you mean running Linux in an emulator or virtual machine ''under Mac OS X''? Or running Linux on a Mac ''instead of Mac OS X''? --User:Brion VIBBER :::FYI, there is a version of Linux that runs on Mac hardware. I believe it's called MkLinux. AFAIK, it is a standalone OS, not runnin gunder OS X or Mac OS 9. User:GRAHAMUK 04:57, 25 Sep 2003 (UTC) :::Yes, Linux does run on Mac hardware. Numerous distributions, such as Debian, Yellow Dog, and Gentoo support PPC Macs. I've got a PowerMac 7500 running Debian 3.0 in my office at work. I don't know if there are any distributions anymore for m68020/30/40 Macs still being maintained, but the kernel does still support all that Mac hardware so it's possible. It's just a bit of work. There's also a project called Mac-On-Linux that runs "Classic" Mac OS on top of Linux, kind of like how OS/2 used to run DOS on top of itself. But running the OS X GUI on top of Linux, no... OS X might run under Mac-on-Linux but that's not the same as replacing the BSD kernel with Linux. It's also possible to run NetBSD and OpenBSD on most Macs, and there was a version of BeOS for pre-G3 PPC Macs. Someone swore to me once that he got the PPC version of Windows NT 3.51 running on Mac hardware but I've never heard of another person making that claim. If indeed it was possible, which I doubt, it certainly wasn't common. :::Now, as far as Windows vs. Mac OS, there's plenty of evidence that work on Windows 1.0 began before Microsoft got its first Mac prototype. But it's undeniable that some of the Mac's ideas found their way into Windows and Gates was infamously unapologetic about that. But name one Microsoft product that didn't borrow heavily from an earlier, competing product. Other than Bob. User:Dave Farquhar 03:32, 26 Sep 2003 (UTC) ::::I'd be interested to know what the evidence is. If MS announced Windows in 1983, but had been working on Excel and Word for the Mac since 1981, it looks as if MS saw a Mac before they thought of Windows. However, of course it's possible that Windows 1.0 developments started long before it was announced, or it may be that the Excel/Word work doesn't go back that far and the quoted dates are wrong. It's probably not really all that important, but for historical accuracy it would be great to establish the facts, whatever they are. Surely somebody can give a definitive perspective on this? User:GRAHAMUK 04:17, 26 Sep 2003 (UTC) ::::It's quite possible that MS had something Windows-like in the works; Smalltalk publicity ca 1980-81 had got most of the computing world's attention, and everybody (including me :-) ) was scheming about how to get that cool interface onto regular hardware. However, MS was a smallish place back then, and "working on Windows 1.0" might have meant one person fooling around with bitblts in his spare time. I don't have any helpful reference works tho. User:Stan Shebs 13:06, 26 Sep 2003 (UTC) ---- This article is pretty weak the way it is (which includes the stuff I wrote) and Mac OS history is weak the way it is. Is there a reason why we don't merge these two together? It's hard to talk about MacOS without talking history. User:Fuzheado 00:22, 25 Sep 2003 (UTC) ---- I do not feel comfortable enough to change it but it is the applications that are classic not the operating system User:Freeware 16:04, 17 Nov 2003 (UTC) Classic, strictly speaking, is the name of the environment used to run Mac OS 9 and its applications on Mac OS X. The term has been generalized to refer to both "Classic applications" and "Mac OS Classic", which may not be strictly correct but is nonetheless generally understood.User:Drernie 19:43, 18 Nov 2003 (UTC) . User:Drernie 19:43, 18 Nov 2003 (UTC) ---- I think the software list could be split into OS X and classic. Perhaps also moved to a seperate page. As it approaches becomming comprehensive it would be huge list... :User:Flimsyq 21:26, 7 Feb 2004 (UTC) : I agree, Actually I think it would be a sensible move to create a separate page, List of Macintosh software, which can be linked from several Mac related entries. I think the inclusion of these lists (of which there are several scattered on different pages), actually doesn't enhance these articles, and is problematic due to the sheer potential length of the list. The list should be broken down into sections - Currently released by Apple, formerly released by Apple, and third parties. User:GRAHAMUK 22:51, 7 Feb 2004 (UTC) ---- I've been at Apple 18 years working on nearly every version of the OS we've had. I'm happy to help edit some of this stuff but I'm not a writer so while I can help with content, history etc someone else can feel free to edit/clean up my entries. I've been there since 1980 and worked on OS 6/7/8, A/UX, MAE, AIX, OS X, Darwin. The one OS that I didn't work on was the infamous and eventually cancelled Copland project... "So many OS's, so little time" JK

Mac OS

Mac OS, which stands for Macintosh Operating System, is Apple Computer's operating system for Apple Macintosh computers. Mac OS was the first commercially successful operating system which used a graphical user interface. Operating systemsApple softwareMacintosh platform

Mac os

#REDIRECT Mac OS

See other meanings of words starting from letter:

M

MA | MB | MC | MD | ME | MF | MG | MH | MI | MJ | MK | ML | MN | MO | MP | MR | MS | MT | MU | MW | MX | MY | MZ |

Words begining with Mac_OS:

Machos
Macros
Macroscelidea
Macroscelididae
Macroscincus
Macroscope
Macroscopic
Macrosociology
Macrosoft
Macrosomia
Macrosomia
Macrosomic
Macrosomic_fetus
Macrosomic_neonate
Macrosomic_newborn
Macrosomic_pregnancy
Macross
Macross
Macross
Macross_'84:_Do_You_Remember_Love?
Macross_2
Macross_7
Macross_7
Macross_and_Robotech
Macross_and_Robotech_characters
Macross_and_Robotech_spacecraft
Macross_Dynamite_7
Macross_Flashback_2012
Macross_II
Macross_Missile_Massacre
Macross_Plus
Macross_series
Macross_Seven
Macross_Zero
Macrostate
Macrosutra
Mac_OS
Mac_OS
Mac_OS
Mac_os
Mac_OS-only_games
Mac_OS-only_instant_messengers
Mac_OS-only_software
Mac_OS-only_software_made_by_Apple_Computer
Mac_OS-only_web_browsers
Mac_OS-X
Mac_OS/Darwin
Mac_OS/History
Mac_OS/OS_X
Mac_OS/OS_X_Server
Mac_OS/Quartz
Mac_OSX
Mac_osx
Mac_OS_10
Mac_OS_10.2
Mac_OS_10.3
Mac_OS_7
Mac_OS_8
Mac_OS_8.0
Mac_OS_8.1
Mac_OS_8.5
Mac_OS_8.6
Mac_OS_9
Mac_OS_9
Mac_OS_9.0
Mac_OS_development
Mac_OS_email_clients
Mac_OS_Extended
Mac_OS_games
Mac_OS_History
Mac_OS_History
Mac_OS_history
Mac_OS_history
Mac_OS_instant_messengers
Mac_OS_media_players
Mac_OS_memory_management
Mac_OS_memory_management
Mac_OS_Panther
Mac_OS_Roman
Mac_OS_Server
Mac_OS_Software
Mac_OS_software
Mac_OS_software
Mac_os_software
Mac_OS_software-
Mac_OS_text_editors
Mac_os_tiger
Mac_OS_web_browsers
Mac_OS_word_processors
MAC_OS_X
Mac_OS_X
Mac_OS_X
Mac_OS_X
Mac_os_x
Mac_OS_X.4
Mac_OS_X/Archive
Mac_OS_X/Carbon
Mac_OS_X/Classic
Mac_OS_X/Cocoa
Mac_OS_X/Cocoa
Mac_OS_XI
Mac_OS_X_10
Mac_OS_X_10.0
Mac_OS_X_10.0
Mac_OS_X_10.1
Mac_OS_X_10.2
Mac_OS_X_10.2
Mac_OS_X_10.2_Jaguar
Mac_OS_X_10.3
Mac_OS_X_10.3_Panther
Mac_OS_X_10.4
Mac_OS_X_10.4
Mac_os_x_10.4
Mac_OS_X_10.4_"Tiger"
Mac_OS_X_10.4_Tiger
Mac_os_x_10.4_tiger
Mac_OS_X_10.5
Mac_OS_X_Box.jpeg
Mac_OS_X_history
Mac_OS_X_history
Mac_OS_X_Leopard
Mac_os_x_leopard
Mac_OS_X_Panther
Mac_OS_X_Public_Beta
Mac_OS_X_Server
Mac_OS_X_Server_1.0
Mac_os_x_software
Mac_OS_X_stubs
Mac_OS_X_Tiger
Mac_os_x_tiger
Mac_OS_X_v10.0
Mac_OS_X_v10.0
Mac_OS_X_v10.1
Mac_OS_X_v10.2
Mac_OS_X_v10.2
Mac_OS_X_v10.2_"Jaguar"
Mac_OS_X_v10.2_"Jaguar"
Mac_OS_X_v10.3
Mac_OS_X_v10.3
Mac_OS_X_v10.3_"Panther"
Mac_OS_X_v10.3_"Panther"
Mac_OS_X_v10.4
Mac_OS_X_v10.4
Mac_OS_X_v10.4_"Tiger"
Mac_OS_X_v10.4_"Tiger"
Mac_OS_X_v10.4_Tiger
Mac_OS_X_v10.5
Mac_OS_X_version_10.2_Jaguar
Mac_OS_X_version_10.3_Panther
Mac_OS_X_version_10.4_Tiger