Mac OSx – an overview

Mac OS X (pronounced /ˈmæk ˌoʊ ˌɛs ˈtɛn/) is a series of Unix-based operating systems and graphical user interfaces developed, marketed, and sold by Apple Inc. Since 2002, Mac OS X has been included with all new Macintosh computer systems. It is the successor to Mac OS 9, released in 1999, the final release of the “classic” Mac OS, which had been Apple’s primary operating system since 1984.

Mac OS X, whose X is the Roman numeral for 10 and is a prominent part of its brand identity, is a Unix-based graphical operating system, built on technologies developed at NeXT between the second half of the 1980s and Apple’s purchase of the company in late 1996. From its sixth release, Mac OS X v10.5 “Leopard” and onward, every release of Mac OS X gained UNIX 03 certification while running on Intel processors.

The first version released was Mac OS X Server 1.0 in 1999, and a desktop-oriented version, Mac OS X v10.0 “Cheetah” followed on March 24, 2001. Releases of Mac OS X are named after big cats: for example, Mac OS X v10.7 is usually referred to by Apple and users as “Lion”. The server edition, Mac OS X Server, is architecturally identical to its desktop counterpart, and includes tools to facilitate management of workgroups of Mac OS X machines, and to provide access to network services. These tools include a mail transfer agent, an LDAP server, a domain name server, and others. It is pre-loaded on Apple’s Xserve server hardware, but can be run on almost all of Apple’s current selling computer models.

Courtesy: Wikipedia

A History of Apple’s Operating Systems

Introduction

Mac OS X is a unique operating system in that it represents a rather successful coming together of paradigms, ideologies, and technologies that have usually resisted each other in the past. It is a result of the trials and tribulations of Apple and NeXT, as well as their user and developer communities. Mac OS X is perhaps one of the best examples of how a capable system can result through the direct or indirect efforts of corporations, academic and research communities, the Open Source and Free Software movements, and even individuals.

Apple has been around since 1976, and many accounts of its history have been told. If the story of Apple as a company is fascinating, so is the “technical” story of Apple’s operating systems.

This document discusses operating systems that Apple has created in the past, and many that it tried to create. Through this discussion, we will come across several technologies the confluence of which eventually led to Mac OS X. An important goal of the discussion is to better understand the reasons, and if possible, the rationale behind Mac OS X and its important components. This, in turn, will be helpful in understanding and appreciating the system as it is today.

My approach in this discussion is to have somewhat high magnitudes of the depth and breadth of historical coverage, as long as I believe the discussion is interesting and relevant from a system design perspective, within reason. For example, while I will briefly describe “the influence of Xerox PARC” and the background of Mach, I will not go to farcical limits and talk about the invention of the transistor, or the discovery of Silicon.

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