Mac OS (for Mac intosh O perating S ystem) is the name of the Operating system of Apple for its Ordinateur S Macintosh. It is especially known to be the first system general public having a Graphical interface based on the window S, icon S, finely S and mouse (model WIMP).

Evolution

The Graphical interface based on the window S, icon S, finely S and mouse (model WIMP) was developed with the Xerox PARK. After a visit, Steve Jobs, founder of Apple, decides to create a Personal computer based on this interface. Apple leaves initially the LISA, which is a failure, then the Macintosh.

The first Macintosh, equipped with a Microprocessor Motorola 68000, used successive versions of the system, named “System” and numbered from 1 to 6 (of January 1984 to November 1987). Come then the versions 7 to 9, which equip the Macintosh last using a microprocessor with the family 680x0 (the last version for the 680x0 being 8.1), then the Power Macintosh (with microprocessor PowerPC developed by IBM and Motorola). It is starting from version 7.6 of the system that this one takes the name of “Mac OS” and adopts its specific logo which combine a face of face and another of profile.

In 1993, under the name of Project Star Trek , a rather advanced bearing of the Système 7 under architecture X86 of Intel is carried out, but the lack of leadership of the firm at the time falls through this project. The persons in charge of division hardware feared the competition of clones and Apple in same time was engaged in a deep renewal of its material and software architecture with the migration towards PowerPC.

The adoption of the PowerPC, incompatible with the 680x0, implied to carry Mac OS and to add to him capacities of emulation to make it possible old the Logiciel S to function without encountering compatibility issues. This migration proceeded without true concern and Power Mac as of their exit posted of the significant profits in performances. The editors gradually updated their software to allow them to benefit from the technical projections of PowerPC.

These successes did not last since Apple rested on its bay-trees and ends up being made exceed by Microsoft, which succeeds in with Windows 95 making forget that it is Apple which had the first popularized of the concepts like the Slip-to deposit, the basket or the plug-and-play.

Apple launches out then at the time in the development of new a Operating system based on a new ambitious architecture, code name Copland , but again the internal problems at the company interfered with the difficulties design prevent this project from succeeding.

The exit of Mac OS 8 was accompanied by a radical change of the interface (new interface Platinium ). Version 8.1 saw appearing the support of the filing system HFS+ or wide HFS; version 8.5, the creation of the research tools Sherlock and the version 9, a Multi-user pretense of .

In 1997, Apple chooses to buy the company NeXT (founded by Steve Jobs, founder and mythical owner of the firm to Apple) which developed NeXTSTEP, rather than Be (BeOS), and to engage its developers. The adaptation in Mac OS X is presented the March 24th 2001. The delays taken in the development of this new grinding induced in the course of road of the rather important changes, of which in particular adoption of part of the code resulting from the systems BSD. The low layers of Mac OS X are derived from FreeBSD, a system UNIX Open Source and Micro-noyau Mach; they are called Darwin.

Mac OS X is thus a UNIX with a Graphical interface advanced, largely inspired by the previous models and interface NeXT, while bringing many innovations. It functions as well on macs equipped with a processor of the family PowerPC as on the more recent macs adopting architecture X86. On Mac equipped with a processor PowerPC, the old system (Mac OS 9) can be launched in Mac OS X to keep a compatibility with the old applications: it is the mode Classic. Contrary to its predecessors, Mac OS X offers the préemptif Multitâche, management Multiprocesseur and Multiutilisateur, the protected memory…

Chronology of the first systems

Between 1984 and 1988, the System evolved/moved little, but appeared multiple versions with the numbers anarchistic and lending to confusion: indeed, with each " Système" corresponded a version of System itself and a version of the Finder, all two the obviously different ones from the version of the System!
  • January 1984: System 0.0: System 0.97, Finder 1.0
  • May 1984: System 0.1: System 1.1, Finder 1.1
  • April 1985: System 0.3: System 2.0, Finder 1.1
  • April 1985: System 0.5: System 2.0, Finder 4.1
  • January 1986: System 0.7: System 3.0, Finder 5.1
  • February 1986: System 1.0: System 3.1, Finder 5.2 (the First Marketing)
  • June 1986: System 1.1: System 3.2, Finder 5.3
  • January 1987: System 2.0: System 3.3, Finder 5.4
  • March 1987: System 2.0.1: System 4.0/4.1, Finder 5.4/5.5
  • October 1987: System 5 .0: System 4.2, Finder 6.0, MultiFinder 1.0
  • November 1987: System 5 .1: System 4.3, Finder 6.0, MultiFinder 1.0
  • September 1988: System 6 .0: System 4.4, Finder 6.0, MultiFinder 1.1

Major and minor updates

Mac OS

Mac OS X

See too

  • Category Apple Computer
  • Category Software Apple
  • Software Category for Mac OS

Simple: Mac OS Zh-min-nan: Mac OS Zh-yue: Mac OS

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