Evolution of Mac OS

Mac OS has come a long way since System 1.0, and there’s no better way to see just how far we’ve come than to look at screenshots. From the earliest years to the latest versions, it’s a journey that is rather remarkable over three decades of development and refinement. Since 2001, Apple has been naming every new release of Mac operating system after animals and famous California’s landmarks. Apart from being creative with names, it also brought lots of major functionality changes.

The first trial version was called as ‘Kodiak’ which was launched during September 2000. It was the first Apple OS which was given to general public for usage. t marked the first public availability of the Aqua interface, and Apple made many changes to the UI based on customer feedback.

Mac OS X Public Beta

The Mac OS X Public Beta (internally code named “Kodiak”) was the first publicly available version of Apple Computer’s Mac OS X (now named macOS ) operating system to feature the Aqua user interface. It was released to the public on September 13, 2000 for US$29.95. Its release was significant as the first publicly available evidence of Apple’s ability to ship the long-awaited “next-generation Mac operating system” after the Copland failure. It allowed software developers and early adopters to test a preview of the upcoming operating system and develop software for the forthcoming operating system before its final release. It is the only public version of Mac OS X to have a code name not based off a big cat until the release of 10.9 Mavericks in 2013.

Version 10.0: “Cheetah”

Mac OS X version 10.0 (code named Cheetah) is the first major release of Mac OS X (renamed OS X in 2012 and macOS in 2016), Apple’s desktop and server operating system. Mac OS X 10.0 was released on March 24, 2001 for a price of US$129. It was the successor of the Mac OS X Public Beta and the predecessor of Mac OS X 10.1 (code named Puma).

Mac OS X 10.0 was a radical departure from the classic Mac OS and was Apple’s long-awaited answer for a next generation Macintosh operating system. It introduced a brand new code base completely separate from Mac OS 9’s, as well as all previous Apple operating systems. Mac OS X introduced the new Darwin Unix-like core and a completely new system of memory management. Cheetah proved to be a rocky start to the Mac OS X line, plagued with missing features and performance issues, although it was praised for still being a good start to an operating system still in its infancy, in terms of completeness and overall operating system stability. Unlike releases of Mac OS X 10.2 to 10.8, the cat-themed code name was not used in marketing the new operating system.

Version 10.1: “Puma”

Mac OS X 10.1 (code named Puma) is the second major release of Mac OS X (now named macOS), 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.

Version 10.2: “Jaguar”

Mac OS X Jaguar (version 10.2) is the third major release of Mac OS X (now named macOS), Apple’s desktop and server operating system. It superseded Mac OS X 10.1 and preceded Mac OS X Panther. The operating system was released on August 23, 2002 either for single-computer installations, and in a “family pack,” which allowed five installations on separate computers in one household. The operating system was generally well received by most Mac users[which?] as a large step forward in the areas of stability, general speed enhancements, compatibility with other flavors of Unix and the lineup of both graphical and terminal applications available; however, many critics, such as Amazon.com users,still claimed that significant user interface speed issues existed and that the operating system was still a big step down from Mac OS 9.

Version 10.3: “Panther”

Mac OS X Panther (version 10.3) is the fourth major release of Mac OS X (now named macOS), Apple’s desktop and server operating system. It followed Mac OS X 10.2 and preceded Mac OS X Tiger. Apple released Panther on October 24, 2003.

Version 10.4: “Tiger”

Mac OS X version 10.4 Tiger, is the fifth major update to Mac OS X for Apple’s Macintosh computers, and was released on April 29, 2005.

The new Changed Features are, Mac OS X 10.4 contains over 200 new features. Spotlight, a powerful full-text and Metadata search engine ,iChat AV that supports up to 4 participants in a video conference and 10 participants in an audio conference ,A new mini-applications layer based on HTML, CSS, and JavaScript called Dashboard ,A scripting tool called Automator to link applications together to form complex automated workflows ,VoiceOver, a spoken interface allowing the OS to read from the screen, and to permit operation of the OS by voice command ,A new graphics processing API, Core Image, leveraging the power of the available accelerated graphics cards ,A new data processing API, Core Data, that makes it easier for developers to handle structured data in their applications ,An included Dictionary and thesaurus ,Grapher, a powerful mathetical program.

Version 10.5: “Leopard”

Mac OS X Leopard (version 10.5) is the sixth major release of Mac OS X (now named macOS), Apple’s desktop and server operating system for Macintosh computers. Leopard was released on October 26, 2007 as the successor of Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger, and is available in two editions: a desktop version suitable for personal computers, and a server version, Mac OS X Server. It retailed for $129 for the desktop version and $499 for Server. Leopard was superseded by Snow Leopard (version 10.6). Leopard is the final version of macOS to support the PowerPC architecture as Snow Leopard functions solely on Intel based Macs.

Version 10.6: “Snow Leopard”

Mac OS X Snow Leopard was released on August 28, 2009, the last version to be available on disc. Rather than delivering big changes to the appearance and end user functionality like the previous releases of Mac OS X, the development of Snow Leopard was deliberately focused on “under the hood” changes, increasing the performance, efficiency, and stability of the operating system. For most users, the most noticeable changes are these: the disk space that the operating system frees up after a clean installation compared to Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard, a more responsive Finder rewritten in Cocoa, faster Time Machine backups, more reliable and user friendly disk ejects, a more powerful version of the Preview application, as well as a faster Safari web browser. An update introduced support for the Mac App Store, Apple’s digital distribution platform for macOS applications and subsequent macOS upgrades. Snow Leopard only supports machines with Intel CPUs, requires at least 1 GB of RAM, and drops default support for applications built for the PowerPC architecture (Rosetta can be installed as an additional component to retain support for PowerPC-only applications).

Version 10.7: “Lion”

Mac OS X Lion(version 10.7)[6] is the eighth major release of Mac OS X (now named macOS), Apple’s desktop and server operating system for Macintosh computers.

A preview of Mac OS X 10.7 Lion was publicly shown at the “Back to the Mac” Apple Special Event on October 20, 2010. It brought many developments made in Apple’s iOS, such as an easily navigable display of installed applications, to the Mac, and includes support for the Mac App Store, as introduced in Mac OS X Snow Leopard version 10.6.6. On February 24, 2011, the first developer’s preview of Lion (11A390) was released to subscribers to the Apple Developer program.[9] Other developer previews were subsequently released, with Lion Preview 4 (11A480b) being released at WWDC 2011.

Lion was released to manufacturing on July 1, 2011, followed by its final release via the Mac App Store on July 20, 2011. Apple reported over one million Lion sales on the first day of its release.As of October 2011, Mac OS X Lion had sold over six million copies worldwide.

Version 10.8: “Mountain Lion”

OS X Mountain Lion (version 10.8) is the ninth major release of OS X (previously Mac OS X, now called macOS), Apple Inc.’s desktop and server operating system for Macintosh computers. OS X Mountain Lion was released on July 25, 2012 for purchase and download through Apple’s Mac App Store, as part of a switch to releasing OS X versions online and every year, rather than every two years or so. Named to signify its status as a refinement of the previous Mac OS X version, Lion, Apple’s stated aims in developing Mountain Lion were to allow users to more easily manage and synchronise content between multiple Apple devices and to make the operating system more familiar.

The operating system gained the new malware-blocking system Gatekeeper and integration with Apple’s online Game Center and iCloud services, while the Safari web browser was updated to version 6. As on iOS, Notes and Reminders became full applications, separate from Mail and Calendar, while the iChat application was replaced with a version of iOS’s Messages. Mountain Lion also added a version of iOS’s Notification Center, which groups updates from different applications in one place. Integrated links allowing the user to rapidly transfer content to Twitter were present in the operating system from launch. Facebook integration was also planned but unfinished at launch date. It was released as a downloadable update later.

OS X Mountain Lion received positive reviews, with critics praising Notification Center, Messages, and speed improvements over Mac OS X Lion, while criticizing iCloud for unreliability and Game Center for lack of games. Mountain Lion sold three million units in the first four days, and has sold 28 million units as of June 10, 2013, making it Apple’s most popular OS X release. Mountain Lion was the last paid upgrade for an OS X major release, with OS X Mavericks and later being free.

Version 10.9: “Mavericks”

OS X Mavericks (version 10.9) is the tenth major release of OS X (since June 2016 rebranded as macOS), Apple Inc.’s desktop and server operating system for Macintosh computers. OS X Mavericks was announced on June 10, 2013, at WWDC 2013, and was released on October 22, 2013 worldwide.

The update emphasized battery life, Finder improvements, other improvements for power users, and continued iCloud integration, as well as bringing more of Apple’s iOS apps to OS X. Mavericks, which was named after the surfing location in Northern California, was the first in the series of OS X releases named for places in Apple’s home state; earlier releases used the names of big cats.

Version 10.10: “Yosemite”

OS X Yosemite (version 10.10) is the eleventh major release of OS X (now named macOS), Apple Inc.’s desktop and server operating system for Macintosh computers.

OS X Yosemite was announced and released to developers on June 2, 2014, at WWDC 2014 and released to public beta testers on July 24, 2014. Yosemite was released to consumers on October 16, 2014. Following the Northern California landmark-based naming scheme introduced with OS X Mavericks, Yosemite is named after the national park.

Version 10.11: “El Capitan”

OS X El Capitan (version 10.11) is the twelfth major release of OS X (renamed to macOS in 2016), Apple Inc.’s desktop and server operating system for Macintosh. It focuses mainly on performance, stability and security. Following the Northern California landmark-based naming scheme introduced with OS X Mavericks, El Capitan was named after a rock formation in Yosemite National Park, signifying its goal to be a refined version of Yosemite.[citation needed] El Capitan is the final version to be released under the name OS X. El Capitan received far superior reviews when compared to Yosemite.

The first beta of OS X El Capitan was released to developers shortly following the WWDC keynote on June 8, 2015. The first public beta was made available on July 9, 2015.There were multiple betas released after the keynote. OS X El Capitan was released to end users on September 30, 2015, as a free upgrade through the Mac App Store.

Version 10.12: “Sierra”

macOS High Sierra (version 10.13) is the fourteenth major release of macOS, Apple Inc.’s desktop operating system for Macintosh computers. macOS High Sierra was announced at the WWDC 2017 on June 5, 2017 and was released on September 25, 2017. The name “High Sierra” refers to the High Sierra region in California. Like with Snow Leopard, Lion, Mountain Lion, Mavericks, Yosemite, El Capitan and Sierra, the name also alludes to its status as a refinement of its predecessor, focused on performance improvements and technical updates rather than user features. Among the apps with notable changes are Photos and Safari.

Version 10.13: “High Sierra”

macOS High Sierra (version 10.13) is the fourteenth major release of macOS, Apple Inc.’s desktop operating system for Macintosh computers. macOS High Sierra was announced at the WWDC 2017 on June 5, 2017and was released on September 25, 2017. The name “High Sierra” refers to the High Sierra region in California. Like with Snow Leopard, Lion, Mountain Lion, Mavericks, Yosemite, El Capitan and Sierra, the name also alludes to its status as a refinement of its predecessor, focused on performance improvements and technical updates rather than user features. Among the apps with notable changes are Photos and Safari.

Version 10.14: “Mojave”

macOS Mojave (version 10.14) is the fifteenth major release of macOS, Apple Inc.’s desktop operating system for Macintosh computers. Mojave was announced at Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference on June 4, 2018, and was released to the public on September 24, 2018. The operating system’s name refers to the Mojave Desert and is part of a series of California-themed names that began with OS X Mavericks. It succeeded macOS High Sierra and was followed by macOS Catalina.

macOS Mojave brings several iOS apps to the desktop operating system, including Apple News, Voice Memos, and Home. It also includes a much more comprehensive “dark mode”, and is the final version of macOS to support 32-bit application software.

Version 10.15: “Catalina”

macOS Catalina (version 10.15) is the sixteenth and current major release of macOS, Apple’s desktop operating system for Macintosh computers. It is the successor to macOS Mojave, and was announced at WWDC 2019 on June 3, 2019 and released to the public on October 7, 2019. Catalina is the first version of macOS to support only 64-bit applications and the first to include Activation Lock