Macintosh and

Windows

Submitted by: John Michael M. San Luis

Submitted to: Jerome Tan Alvez

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HISTORY OF MACINTOSH

The Macintosh is a series of personal computers designed, developed, and marketed

by Apple Inc. Steve Jobs introduced the original Macintosh computer on January 24,

1984. This was the company's first mass-market personal computer featuring an

integral graphical user interface and mouse.This first model was later renamed to

"Macintosh 128k" for uniqueness amongst a populous family of subsequently updated

models which are also based on Apple's same proprietary architecture. Since 1998,

Apple has largely phased out the Macintosh name in favor of "Mac", and the product

family has been nicknamed "Mac" or "the Mac" since the development of the first model.

The Macintosh, however, was expensive, which hindered its ability to be competitive in

a market already dominated by the Commodore 64 for consumers, as well as the IBM

Personal Computer and its accompanying clone market for businesses. Macintosh

systems still found success in education and desktop publishing and kept Apple as the

second-largest PC manufacturer for the next decade. In the 1990s, improvements in the

rival Wintel platform, notably with the introduction of Windows 3.0, then Windows 95,

gradually took market share from the more expensive Macintosh systems. The

performance advantage of 68000-based Macintosh systems was eroded by Intel's

Pentium, and in 1994 Apple was relegated to third place as Compaq became the top

PC manufacturer. Even after a transition to the superior PowerPC-based Power

Macintosh (later renamed the PowerMac, in line with the PowerBook series) line in

1994, the falling prices of commodity PC components and the release of Windows 95

saw the Macintosh user base decline.

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In 1998, after the return of Steve Jobs, Apple consolidated its multiple consumer-level

desktop models into the all-in-one iMac G3, which became a commercial success and

revitalized the brand. Since their transition to Intel processors in 2006, the complete

lineup is entirely based on said processors and associated systems. Its current lineup

comprises three desktops (the all-in-one iMac, entry-level Mac mini, and the Mac Pro

graphics workstation), and three laptops (the MacBook, MacBook Air, and the MacBook

Pro). Its Xserve server was discontinued in 2011 in favor of the Mac Mini and Mac Pro.

Apple also develops the operating system for the Mac, currently macOS (formerly

known as OS X) version 10.12 "Sierra". Macs are currently capable of running non-

Apple operating systems such as Linux, OpenBSD, and Microsoft Windows with the aid

of Boot Camp or third-party software. Apple does not license macOS for use on non-

Apple computers, though it did license previous versions of the classic Mac OS through

their Macintosh clone program from 1995 to 1997.

Naming

The Macintosh project was begun in 1979 by Jef Raskin, an Apple employee who

envisioned an easy-to-use, low-cost computer for the average consumer. He wanted to

name the computer after his favorite type of apple, the McIntosh, but the spelling was

changed to "Macintosh" for legal reasons as the original was the same spelling as that

used by McIntosh Laboratory, Inc., the audio equipment manufacturer.Steve Jobs

requested that McIntosh Laboratory give Apple a release for the name with its changed

spelling so that Apple could use it, but the request was denied, forcing Apple to

eventually buy the rights to use the name. (A 1984 Byte Magazine article suggested

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Apple changed the spelling only after "early users" misspelled "McIntosh". However, Jef

Raskin had adopted the "Macintosh" spelling by 1981, when the Macintosh computer

was still a single prototype machine in the lab. This explanation further clashes with the

first explanation given above that the change was made for "legal reasons.")

1979–84: Development and introduction

In 1978 Apple began to organize the Apple Lisa project, aiming to build a next-

generation machine similar to an advanced Apple III or the yet-to-be-introduced IBM

PC. In 1979, Steve Jobs learned of the advanced work on graphical user interfaces

(GUI) taking place at Xerox PARC. He arranged a deal in which Xerox received Apple

stock options in return for which Apple would license their designs,[citation needed] and

their engineers would be allowed to visit PARC to see the systems in action. The Lisa

project was immediately redirected to utilize a GUI, which at that time was well beyond

the state of the art for microprocessor capabilities; the Xerox Alto required a custom

processor that spanned several circuit boards in a case which was the size of a small

refrigerator. Things had changed dramatically with the introduction of the 32-bit

Motorola 68000 in 1979, which offered at least an order of magnitude better

performance than existing designs, and made a software GUI machine a practical

possibility. The basic layout of the Lisa was largely complete by 1982, at which point

Jobs' continual suggestions for improvements led to him being kicked off the project.

At the same time that the Lisa was becoming a GUI machine in 1979, Jef Raskin started

the Macintosh project. The design at that time was for a low-cost, easy-to-use machine

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for the average consumer. Instead of a GUI, it intended to use a text-based user

interface that allowed several programs to be running and easily switched between, and

special command keys on the keyboard that accessed standardized commands in the

programs. Raskin was authorized to start hiring for the project in September 1979, and

he immediately asked his long-time colleague, Brian Howard, to join him. His initial team

would eventually consist of himself, Howard, Joanna Hoffman, Burrell Smith, and Bud

Tribble.The rest of the original Mac team would include Bill Atkinson, Bob Belleville,

Steve Capps, George Crow, Donn Denman, Chris Espinosa, Andy Hertzfeld, Bruce

Horn, Susan Kare, Larry Kenyon, and Caroline Rose with Steve Jobs leading the

project.

Smith's first Macintosh board was built to Raskin's design specifications: it had

64 kilobytes (kB) of RAM, used the 8-bit Motorola 6809E microprocessor, and was

capable of supporting a 256×256-pixel black-and-white bitmap display. Bud Tribble, a

member of the Mac team, was interested in running the Apple Lisa's graphical programs

on the Macintosh, and asked Smith whether he could incorporate the Lisa's Motorola

68000 microprocessor into the Mac while still keeping the production cost down. By

December 1980, Smith had succeeded in designing a board that not only used the

68000, but increased its speed from the Lisa's 5 MHz to 8 MHz; this board also had the

capacity to support a 384×256-pixel display. Smith's design used fewer RAM chips than

the Lisa, which made production of the board significantly more cost-efficient. The final

Mac design was self-contained and had the complete QuickDraw picture language and

interpreter in 64 KB of ROM – far more than most other computers which typically had

around 4 to 8 KB of ROM; it had 128 kB of RAM, in the form of sixteen 64-kilobit (kb)

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RAM chips soldered to the logicboard. Though there were no memory slots, its RAM

was expandable to 512 kB by means of soldering sixteen IC sockets to accept 256 kb

RAM chips in place of the factory-installed chips. The final product's screen was a 9-

inch (230 mm), 512x342 pixel monochrome display, exceeding the size of the planned

screen.

Burrel's innovative design, combining the low production cost of an Apple II with the

computing power of Lisa's Motorola 68000 CPU, began to receive Jobs' attentions.

Realizing that the Macintosh was more marketable than the Lisa, he began to focus his

attention on the project. Raskin left the team in 1981 over a personality conflict with

Jobs. After development had completed, team member Andy Hertzfeld said that the

final Macintosh design is closer to Jobs' ideas than Raskin's. When Jobs was forced out

of the Lisa team in 1982, he devoted his entire attentions to the Macintosh.

Jobs' leadership at the Macintosh project did not last. Following an internal power

struggle with then-new Apple CEO John Sculley, Jobs resigned from Apple in 1985. He

went on to found NeXT, another computer company which targeted the education

market, and did not return until 1997, when Apple acquired NeXT.

Jobs commissioned industrial designer Hartmut Esslinger to work on the Macintosh line,

resulting in the "Snow White" design language; although it came too late for the earliest

Macs, it was implemented in most other mid- to late-1980s Apple computers.

1984: Debut

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In 1982, Regis McKenna was brought in to shape the marketing and launch of the

Macintosh. Later the Regis McKenna team grew to include Jane Anderson, Katie

Cadigan and Andy Cunningham, who eventually led the Apple account for the agency.

Cunningham and Anderson were the primary authors of the Macintosh launch plan. The

launch of the Macintosh pioneered many different tactics that are used today in

launching technology products, including the "multiple exclusive," event marketing

(credited to John Sculley, who brought the concept over from Pepsi), creating a

mystique around a product and giving an inside look into a product's creation.

After the Lisa's announcement, John Dvorak discussed rumors of a mysterious

"MacIntosh" project at Apple in February 1983. The company announced the

Macintosh 128K—manufactured at an Apple factory in Fremont, California—in October

1983, followed by an 18-page brochure included with various magazines in December.

The Macintosh was introduced by a US$1.5 million Ridley Scott television commercial,

"1984". It most notably aired during the third quarter of Super Bowl XVIII on January

22, 1984, and is now considered a "watershed event" and a "masterpiece." McKenna

called the ad "more successful than the Mac itself." "1984" used an unnamed heroine

to represent the coming of the Macintosh (indicated by a Picasso-style picture of the

computer on her white tank top) as a means of saving humanity from the "conformity" of

IBM's attempts to dominate the computer industry. The ad alludes to George Orwell's

novel, Nineteen Eighty-Four, which described a dystopian future ruled by a televised

"Big Brother."

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Two days after "1984" aired, the Macintosh went on sale, and came bundled with two

applications designed to show off its interface: MacWrite and MacPaint. It was first

demonstrated by Steve Jobs in the first of his famous Mac keynote speeches, and

though the Mac garnered an immediate, enthusiastic following, some labeled it a mere

"toy." Because the operating system was designed largely around the GUI, existing

text-mode and command-driven applications had to be redesigned and the

programming code rewritten. This was a time-consuming task that many software

developers chose not to undertake, and could be regarded as a reason for an initial lack

of software for the new system. In April 1984, Microsoft's MultiPlan migrated over from

MS-DOS, with Microsoft Word following in January 1985. In 1985, Lotus Software

introduced Lotus Jazz for the Macintosh platform after the success of Lotus 1-2-3 for the

IBM PC, although it was largely a flop. Apple introduced the Macintosh Office suite the

same year with the "Lemmings" ad. Infamous for insulting its own potential customers,

the ad was not successful.

Apple spent $2.5 million purchasing all 39 advertising pages in a special, post-election

issue of Newsweek, and ran a "Test Drive a Macintosh" promotion, in which potential

buyers with a credit card could take home a Macintosh for 24 hours and return it to a

dealer afterwards. While 200,000 people participated, dealers disliked the promotion,

the supply of computers was insufficient for demand, and many were returned in such a

bad condition that they could no longer be sold. This marketing campaign caused CEO

John Sculley to raise the price from US$1,995 to US$2,495 (about $5,200 when

adjusted for inflation in 2010). The computer sold well, nonetheless, reportedly

outselling the IBM PCjr which also began shipping early that year. By April 1984 the

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company sold 50,000 Macintoshes, and hoped for 70,000 by early May and almost

250,000 by the end of the year.

1984–90: Desktop publishing

Most Apple II sales had once been to companies, but the IBM PC caused small

businesses, schools, and some homes to become Apple's main customers. Jobs stated

during the Macintosh's introduction "we expect Macintosh to become the third industry

standard", after the Apple II and IBM PC. Although outselling every other computer, it

did not meet expectations during the first year, especially among business customers.

Only about ten applications including MacWrite and MacPaint were widely available,

although many non-Apple software developers participated in the introduction and

Apple promised that 79 companies including Lotus, Digital Research, and Ashton-Tate

were creating products for the new computer. After one year, it had less than one

quarter of the software selection available compared to the IBM PC—including only one

word processor, two databases, and one spreadsheet—although Apple had sold

280,000 Macintoshes compared to IBM's first year sales of fewer than 100,000 PCs.

Developers were required to learn how to write software that used the Macintosh's

graphic user interface, and early in the computer's history needed a Lisa 2 or Unix

system to write Macintosh software. Despite standardizing on Pascal for software

development Apple did not release a native-code Pascal compiler. Until third-party

Pascal compilers appeared, developers had to write software in other languages while

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still learning enough Pascal to understand Inside Macintosh. MacWrite's inclusion with

the Macintosh discouraged developers from creating other word processing software.

In 1985, the combination of the Mac, Apple's LaserWriter printer, and Mac-specific

software like Boston Software's MacPublisher and Aldus PageMaker enabled users to

design, preview, and print page layouts complete with text and graphics—an activity to

become known as desktop publishing. Initially, desktop publishing was unique to the

Macintosh, but eventually became available for other platforms. Later, applications

such as Macromedia FreeHand, QuarkXPress, and Adobe's Photoshop and Illustrator

strengthened the Mac's position as a graphics computer and helped to expand the

emerging desktop publishing market.

1990–98: Decline and transition to PowerPC

Microsoft Windows 3.0 was released in May 1990, and according to a common saying

at the time "Windows was not as good as Macintosh, but it was good enough for the

average user". Though still a graphical wrapper that relied upon MS-DOS, 3.0 was the

first iteration of Windows which had a feature set and performance comparable to the

much more expensive Macintosh platform. It also did not help matters that during the

previous year Jean-Louis Gassée had steadfastly refused to lower the profit margins on

Mac computers. Finally, there was a component shortage that rocked the exponentially-

expanding PC industry in 1989, forcing Apple USA head Allan Loren to cut prices which

dropped Apple's margins.

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In response, Apple introduced a range of relatively inexpensive Macs in October 1990.

The Macintosh Classic, essentially a less expensive version of the Macintosh SE, was

the least expensive Mac offered until early 2001. The 68020-powered Macintosh LC, in

its distinctive "pizza box" case, offered color graphics and was accompanied by a new,

low-cost 512×384 pixel monitor. The Macintosh IIsi was essentially a 20 MHz IIci with

only one expansion slot. All three machines sold well, although Apple's profit margin

on them was considerably lower than that on earlier models.

Apple improved Macintosh computers by introducing models equipped with newly

available processors from the 68k lineup. The Macintosh Classic II and Macintosh LC

II, which used a 16 MHz 68030 CPU, were joined in 1991 by the Macintosh Quadra

700 and 900, the first Macs to employ the faster Motorola 68040 processor.

It was not long until Apple released their first portable computer, the Macintosh Portable

in 1989. Although due to considerable design issues, it was soon replaced in 1991 with

the first of the PowerBook line: the PowerBook 100, a miniaturized portable; the 16 MHz

68030 PowerBook 140; and the 25 MHz 68030 PowerBook 170. They were the first

portable computers with the keyboard behind a palm rest and a built-in pointing device

(a trackball) in front of the keyboard. The 1993 PowerBook 165c was Apple's first

portable computer to feature a color screen, displaying 256 colors with 640 x 400-pixel

resolution. The second generation of PowerBooks, the 68040-equipped 500 series,

introduced trackpads, integrated stereo speakers, and built-in Ethernet to the laptop

form factor in 1994.

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As for Mac OS, System 7 was a 32-bit rewrite from Pascal to C++ that introduced virtual

memory and improved the handling of color graphics, as well as memory addressing,

networking, and co-operative multitasking. Also during this time, the Macintosh began to

shed the "Snow White" design language, along with the expensive consulting fees they

were paying to Frogdesign. Apple instead brought the design work in-house by

establishing the Apple Industrial Design Group, becoming responsible for crafting a new

look for all Apple products.

Intel had tried unsuccessfully to push Apple to migrate the Macintosh platform to Intel

chips. Apple concluded that Intel's CISC (Complex Instruction Set Computer)

architecture ultimately would not be able to compete against RISC (Reduced Instruction

Set Computer) processors. While the Motorola 68040 offered the same features as the

Intel 80486 and could on a clock-for-clock basis significantly outperform the Intel chip,

the 486 had the ability to be clocked significantly faster without suffering from

overheating problems, especially the clock-doubled i486DX2 which ran the CPU logic at

twice the external bus speed, giving such equipped IBM compatible systems a

significant performance lead over their Macintosh equivalents. Apple's product design

and engineering did not help matters as they restricted the use of the '040 to their

expensive Quadras for a time while the 486 was readily available to OEMs as well as

enthusiasts who put together their own machines. In late 1991, as the higher-end

Macintosh desktop lineup transitioned to the '040, Apple was unable to offer the '040 in

their top-of-the-line PowerBooks until early 1994 with the PowerBook 500 series,

several years after the first 486-powered IBM compatible laptops hit the market which

cost Apple considerable sales. In 1993 Intel rolled out the Pentium processors as the

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successor to the 486, while the Motorola 68050 was never released, leaving the

Macintosh platform a generation behind IBM compatibles in the latest CPU technology.

In 1994, Apple abandoned Motorola CPUs for the RISC PowerPC architecture

developed by the AIM alliance of Apple Computer, IBM, and Motorola. The Power

Macintosh line, the first to use the new chips, proved to be highly successful, with over a

million PowerPC units sold in nine months. However, in the long run, spurning Intel for

the PowerPC was a mistake as the commoditization of Intel-architecture chips meant

Apple couldn't compete on price against "the Dells of the world".

Notwithstanding these technical and commercial successes on the Macintosh, the

falling costs of components made IBM PC compatibles cheaper and accelerated their

adoption, over Macintosh systems that remained fairly expensive. A successful price

war initiated by Compaq vaulted them from third place to first among PC manufacturers

in 1994, overtaking a struggling IBM and relegating Apple to third place.

Furthermore, Apple had created too many similar models that confused potential

buyers. At one point, its product lineup was subdivided into Classic, LC, II, Quadra,

Performa, and Centris models, with essentially the same computer being sold under a

number of different names. These models competed against Macintosh clones,

hardware manufactured by third parties to whom Apple had licensed System 7. This

succeeded in increasing the Macintosh's market share somewhat, and provided

cheaper hardware for consumers, but hurt Apple financially as existing Apple customers

began to buy cheaper clones which cannibalized the sales of Apple's higher-margin

Macintosh systems, while Apple continued to bear the burden of developing Mac OS.

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Apple's market share further struggled due to the release of the Windows 95 operating

system, which unified Microsoft's formerly separate MS-DOS and Windows products.

Windows 95 significantly enhanced the multimedia capability and performance of IBM

PC compatible computers, and brought the capabilities of Windows substantially nearer

to parity with Mac OS.

When Steve Jobs returned to Apple in 1997 following the company's purchase of NeXT,

he ordered that the OS that had been previewed as System 7.7 be branded Mac OS 8,

a name Apple had previously wished to preserve for the never-to-appear next

generation Copland OS. This maneuver effectively ended the clone lines, as Apple had

only licensed System 7 to clone manufacturers, not Mac OS 8. The decision caused

significant financial losses for companies like Motorola, who produced the StarMax;

Umax, who produced the SuperMac; and Power Computing, who offered several lines

of Mac clones, including the PowerWave, PowerTower, and PowerTower Pro. These

companies had invested substantial resources in creating their own Mac-compatible

hardware. Apple bought out Power Computing's license, but allowed Umax to continue

selling Mac clones until their license expired, as they had a sizeable presence in the

lower-end segment that Apple did not. In September 1997 Apple extended Umax'

license allowing them to sell clones with Mac OS 8, the only clone maker to do so, but

with the restriction that they only sell low-end systems. Without the higher profit margins

of high-end systems, however, Umax judged this would not be profitable and exited the

Mac clone market in May 1998, having lost USD$36 million on the program.

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1998–2005: Revival

In 1998, Apple introduced its new iMac which, like the original 128K Mac, was an all-in-

one computer. Its translucent plastic case, originally Bondi blue and later various

additional colors, is considered an industrial design landmark of the late 1990s. The

iMac did away with most of Apple's standard (and usually proprietary) connections, such

as SCSI and ADB, in favor of two USB ports. It replaced a floppy disk drive with a CD-

ROM drive for installing software, but was incapable of writing to CDs or other media

without external third-party hardware. The iMac proved to be phenomenally successful,

with 800,000 units sold in 139 days. It made the company an annual profit of

US$309 million, Apple's first profitable year since Michael Spindler took over as CEO in

1995. This aesthetic was applied to the Power Macintosh and later the iBook, Apple's

first consumer-level laptop computer, filling the missing quadrant of Apple's "four-square

product matrix" (desktop and portable products for both consumers and professionals).

More than 140,000 pre-orders were placed before it started shipping in September, and

by October proved to be a large success.

The iMac also marked Apple's transition from the "Macintosh" name to the more

simplistic "Mac". Apple completed elimination of the Macintosh product name in 1999,

when "Power Macintosh" was retired with the introduction of the Power Mac G4.

In early 2001, Apple began shipping computers with CD-RW drives and emphasized the

Mac's ability to play DVDs by including DVD-ROM and DVD-RAM drives as standard.

Steve Jobs admitted that Apple had been "late to the party" on writable CD technology,

but felt that Macs could become a "digital hub" that linked and enabled an "emerging

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digital lifestyle". Apple would later introduce an update to its iTunes music player

software that enabled it to burn CDs, along with a controversial "Rip, Mix, Burn"

advertising campaign that some felt encouraged media piracy. This accompanied the

release of the iPod, Apple's first successful handheld device. Apple continued to launch

products, such as the unsuccessful Power Mac G4 Cube, the education-oriented eMac,

and the titanium (and later aluminium) PowerBook G4 laptop for professionals.

The original iMac used a PowerPC G3 processor, but G4 and G5 chips were soon

added, both accompanied by complete case redesigns that dropped the array of colors

in favor of white plastic. As of 2007, all iMacs use aluminium cases. On January 11,

2005, Apple announced the Mac Mini, priced at US$499, making it the cheapest Mac.

Mac OS continued to evolve up to version 9.2.2, including retrofits such as the addition

of a nanokernel and support for Multiprocessing Services 2.0 in Mac OS 8.6, though its

dated architecture made replacement necessary. Initially developed in the Pascal

programming language, it was substantially rewritten in C++ for System 7. From its

beginnings on an 8 MHz machine with 128 KB of RAM, it had grown to support Apple's

latest 1 GHz G4-equipped Macs. Since its architecture was laid down, features that

were already common on Apple's competition, like preemptive multitasking and

protected memory, had become feasible on the kind of hardware Apple manufactured.

As such, Apple introduced Mac OS X, a fully overhauled Unix-based successor to Mac

OS 9. OS X uses Darwin, XNU, and Mach as foundations, and is based on NeXTSTEP.

It was released to the public in September 2000, as the Mac OS X Public Beta,

featuring a revamped user interface called "Aqua". At US$29.99, it allowed adventurous

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Mac users to sample Apple's new operating system and provide feedback for the actual

release. The initial version of Mac OS X, 10.0 "Cheetah", was released on March 24,

2001. Older Mac OS applications could still run under early Mac OS X versions, using

an environment called "Classic". Subsequent releases of Mac OS X included 10.1

"Puma" (2001), 10.2 "Jaguar" (2002), 10.3 "Panther" (2003) and 10.4 "Tiger" (2005).

2005–present: Switch to Intel x86.

Apple discontinued the use of PowerPC microprocessors in 2006. At WWDC 2005,

Steve Jobs announced this transition, revealing that Mac OS X was always developed

to run on both the Intel and PowerPC architectures. This was done in order to

modernize the company's computers, which were impaired in performance capabilities

compared to x86-based Windows PCs by the PowerPC processors. In 2005, a low-end

consumer Dell Dimension desktop computer shipped with an Intel Pentium 4 processor

clocked at 2.4 GHz, while only a higher-end model of the Power Mac G5's PowerPC

970 (which would have sold for over $2000 USD) processor had a clock speed in that

range (the fastest dual-core Power Mac clocked at 2.7 GHz), and the last version of the

PowerPC-based iMac had a maximum clock speed of 2.1 GHz. The PowerPC G5 chip's

heavy power consumption and heat output (the Power Mac G5 had to be liquid-cooled)

also prevented its use in Mac notebook computers (as well as the original Mac mini),

which were forced to use the older and slower PowerPC G4 chip. This meant that the

fastest PowerPC-based notebook ever released, the PowerBook G4, had a maximum

clock speed of only 1.67 GHz. These shortcomings of the PowerPC chips were the

main reasons behind Apple's transition to Intel processors, and the brand was

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revitalised by the subsequent boost in processing power available due to greater

efficiency and the ability to implement multiple cores in Mac CPUs.

All new Macs now use x86 processors made by Intel, and some were renamed as a

result. Intel-based Macs running OS X 10.6 and below (support has been discontinued

since 10.7) can run pre-existing software developed for PowerPC using an emulator

called Rosetta, although at noticeably slower speeds than native programs. However,

the Classic environment is unavailable on the Intel architecture. Intel chips introduced

the potential to run the Microsoft Windows operating system natively on Apple

hardware, without emulation software such as Virtual PC. In March 2006, a group of

hackers announced that they were able to run Windows XP on an Intel-based Mac. The

group released their software as open source and has posted it for download on their

website. On April 5, 2006, Apple announced the availability of the public beta of Boot

Camp, software that allows owners of Intel-based Macs to install Windows XP on their

machines; later versions added support for Windows Vista and Windows 7. Classic was

discontinued in Mac OS X 10.5, and Boot Camp became a standard feature on Intel-

based Macs.

Starting in 2006, Apple's industrial design shifted to favor aluminum, which was used in

the construction of the first MacBook Pro. Glass was added in 2008 with the introduction

of the unibody MacBook Pro. These materials are billed as environmentally friendly.

The iMac, MacBook Pro, MacBook Air, and Mac Mini lines currently all use aluminum

enclosures, and are now made of a single unibody. Chief designer Jonathan Ive

continues to guide products towards a minimalist and simple feel, including eliminating

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of replaceable batteries in notebooks. Multi-touch gestures from the iPhone's interface

have been applied to the Mac line in the form of touch pads on notebooks and the

Magic Mouse and Magic Trackpad for desktops.

On February 24, 2011, Apple became the first company to bring to market a computer

that utilized Intel's new Thunderbolt (codename Light Peak) I/O interface. Using the

same physical interface as a Mini DisplayPort, and backwards compatible with that

standard, Thunderbolt boasts two-way transfer speeds of 10 Gbit/s.

Hardware

Apple contracts hardware production to Asian original equipment manufacturers such

as Foxconn and Pegatron, maintaining a high degree of control over the end product.

By contrast, most other companies (including Microsoft) create software that can be run

on hardware produced by a variety of third parties such as Dell, HP/Compaq, and

Lenovo. Consequently, the Macintosh buyer has comparably fewer options, but has

superior integration compared to a Microsoft buyer.

The current Mac product family uses Intel x86-64 processors. Apple introduced an

emulator during the transition from PowerPC chips (called Rosetta), much as it did

during the transition from Motorola 68000 architecture a decade earlier. The Macintosh

is the only mainstream computer platform to have successfully transitioned to a new

CPU architecture, and has done so twice. All current Mac models ship with at least

8 GB of RAM as standard other than the 1.4 GHz Mac Mini, MacBook Pro (without

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Retina Display), and MacBook Air. Current Mac computers use ATI Radeon or nVidia

GeForce graphics cards as well as Intel graphics built into the main CPU. All current

Macs (except for the MacBook Pro without Retina Display) do not ship with an optical

media drive that includes a dual-function DVD/CD burner. Apple refers to this as a

SuperDrive. Current Macs include two standard data transfer ports: USB and

Thunderbolt (except for the MacBook (2015 version), which only has a USB-C port and

headphone port). MacBook Pro, iMac, MacBook Air, and Mac Mini computers now also

feature the "Thunderbolt" port, which Apple says can transfer data at speeds up to 10

gigabits per second. USB was introduced in the 1998 iMac G3 and is ubiquitous today,

while FireWire was mainly reserved for high-performance devices such as hard drives

or video cameras. Starting with the then-new iMac G5, released in October 2005, Apple

started to include built-in iSight cameras on appropriate models, and a media center

interface called Front Row that can be operated by an Apple Remote or keyboard for

accessing media stored on the computer. Front Row has been discontinued as of 2011,

however, and the Apple Remote is no longer bundled with new Macs.

Apple was initially reluctant to embrace mice with multiple buttons and scroll wheels.

Macs did not natively support pointing devices that featured multiple buttons, even from

third parties, until Mac OS X arrived in 2001. Apple continued to offer only single button

mice, in both wired and Bluetooth wireless versions, until August 2005, when it

introduced the Mighty Mouse. While it looked like a traditional one-button mouse, it

actually had four buttons and a scroll ball, capable of independent x- and y-axis

movement. A Bluetooth version followed in July 2006. In October 2009, Apple

introduced the Magic Mouse, which uses multi-touch gesture recognition (similar to that

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of the iPhone) instead of a physical scroll wheel or ball. It is available only in a wireless

configuration, but the wired Mighty Mouse (re-branded as "Apple Mouse") is still

available as an alternative. Since 2010, Apple has also offered the Magic Trackpad as a

means to control Macintosh desktop computers in a way similar to laptops.

Software

The original Macintosh was the first successful personal computer to use a graphical

user interface devoid of a command line. It uses a desktop metaphor, depicting real-

world objects like documents and a trash can as icons on-screen. Now known as the

classic Mac OS, the System software was introduced in 1984 with the first Macintosh,

renamed Mac OS in 1997, and continued to evolve until version 9.2.2.

Originally, the hardware architecture was so closely tied to the classic Mac OS system

that it was impossible to boot an alternative operating system. The most common

workaround, is to boot into Mac OS and then to hand over control to a Mac OS-based

bootloader application. Used even by Apple for A/UX and MkLinux, this technique is no

longer necessary since the introduction of Open Firmware-based PCI Macs, though it

was formerly used for convenience on many Old World ROM systems due to bugs in

the firmware implementation. Since then, Mac hardware boots directly from Open

Firmware in most PowerPC-based Macs or EFI in all Intel-based Macs.[citation needed]

In 2001, Apple introduced Mac OS X (renamed OS X in 2012 and macOS in 2016),

based on Darwin and NeXTSTEP; its new features included the Dock and the Aqua

user interface. During the transition, Apple included a virtual machine subsystem known

21
as Classic, allowing users to run Mac OS 9 applications under Mac OS X 10.4 and

earlier on PowerPC machines. Because macOS is a Unix operating system that

borrows heavily from FreeBSD, many applications written for Linux or BSD run on it,

often using X11. There are many popular Macintosh software applications; many of

those from large developers, such as Microsoft Office and Adobe Photoshop are

actively developed for both macOS and Windows. A large amount of open-source

software applications, such as the Firefox web browser and the LibreOffice office suite,

are cross-platform, and thereby also run natively on macOS.

Following the release of Intel-based Macs, third-party platform virtualization software

such as Parallels Desktop, VMware Fusion, and VirtualBox began to emerge. These

programs allow users to run Microsoft Windows or previously Windows-only software on

Macs at near native speed. Apple also released Boot Camp and Mac-specific Windows

drivers that help users to install Windows XP or Vista and natively dual boot between

Mac OS X and Windows. Though not condoned by Apple, it is possible to run the Linux

operating system using Boot camp or other virtualization workarounds. Unlike most

PCs, however, Macs are unable to run many legacy PC operating systems. In

particular, Intel-based Macs lack the A20 gate.[citation needed]

1984–97: Success and decline

Since the introduction of the Macintosh, Apple has struggled to gain a significant share

of the personal computer market. At first, the Macintosh 128K suffered from a dearth of

available software compared to IBM's PC, resulting in disappointing sales in 1984 and

22
1985. It took 74 days for 50,000 units to sell. Although Apple was not able to overcome

the tidal wave of IBM PCs and its clones, Macintosh systems found success in

education and desktop publishing.

Notwithstanding these technical and commercial successes on the Macintosh platform,

their systems remained fairly expensive, making them less competitive in light of the

falling costs of components that made IBM PC compatibles cheaper and accelerated

their adoption. In 1989, Jean-Louis Gassée had steadfastly refused to lower the profit

margins on Mac computers, then there was a component shortage that rocked the

exponentially-expanding PC industry that year, forcing Apple USA head Allan Loren to

cut prices which dropped Apple's margins. Microsoft Windows 3.0 was released in May

1990, the first iteration of Windows which had a feature set and performance

comparable to the significantly costlier Macintosh. Furthermore, Apple had created too

many similar models that confused potential buyers; at one point the product lineup was

subdivided into Classic, LC, II, Quadra, Performa, and Centris models, with essentially

the same computer being sold under a number of different names.

Compaq, who had previously held the third place spot among PC manufacturers during

the 1980s and early-mid 1990s, initiated a successful price war in 1994 that vaulted

them to the biggest by the year end, overtaking a struggling IBM and relegating Apple to

third place. Apple's market share further struggled due to the release of the Windows

95 operating system, which unified Microsoft's formerly separate MS-DOS and Windows

products. Windows 95 significantly enhanced the multimedia capability and

23
performance of IBM PC compatible computers, and brought the capabilities of Windows

to parity with the Mac OS GUI.

In 1997, upon return to Apple as interim CEO, Steve Jobs terminated the Macintosh

clone program while simplifying the computer product lines. If measuring market share

by installed base, there were more than 20 million Mac users by 1997, compared to an

installed base of around 340 million Windows PCs.

In 1998, the release of the iMac G3 all-in-one was a great success, selling 800,000

units in 139 days, providing a much needed boost to the ailing Macintosh platform. The

introduction of the Power Macintosh and iBook laptop completed "four-square product

matrix" (desktop and portable products for both consumers and professionals), with the

iBook ranking as the most popular laptop in the U.S. market for 1999.

In 2000, Apple released the Power Mac G4 Cube, their first desktop since the

discontinued Power Macintosh G3, to slot between the iMac G3 and the Power Mac G4.

Even with its innovative design, it was initially priced US$200 higher than the

comparably-equipped and more-expandable base Power Mac G4, while also not

including a monitor, making it too expensive and resulting in slow sales. Apple sold just

29,000 Cubes in Q4 of 2000 which was one third of expectations, compared to 308,000

Macs during that same quarter, and Cube sales dropped to 12,000 units in Q1 of 2001.

A price drop and hardware upgrades could not offset the earlier perception of the

24
Cube's reduced value compared to the iMac and Power Mac G4 lineup, and it was

discontinued in July 2001.

Starting in 2002, Apple moved to eliminate CRT displays from its product line as part of

aesthetic design and space-saving measures with the iMac G4. However, the new iMac

with its flexible LCD flat-panel monitor was considerably more expensive on its debut

than the preceding iMac G3, largely due to the higher cost of the LCD technology at the

time. In order to keep the Macintosh affordable for the education market and due to

obsolescence of the iMac G3, Apple created the eMac in April 2002 as the intended

successor; however the eMac's CRT made it relatively bulky and somewhat outdated,

while its all-in-one construction meant it could not be expanded to meet consumer

demand for larger monitors. The iMac G4's relatively high prices were approaching that

of laptops which were portable and had higher resolution LCD screens. Meanwhile,

Windows PC manufacturers could offer desktop configurations with LCD flat panel

monitors at prices comparable to the eMac and at much lower cost than the iMac G4.

The flop of the Power Mac G4 Cube, along with the more expensive iMac G4 and heavy

eMac, meant that Macintosh desktop sales never reached the market share attained by

the previous iMac G3. For the next half-decade while Macintosh sales held steady, it

would instead be the iPod portable music player and iTunes music download service

that would drive Apple's sales growth.

Statistics from late 2003 indicate that Apple had 2.06 percent of the desktop share in

the United States that had increased to 2.88 percent by Q4 2004. As of October 2006,

research firms IDC and Gartner reported that Apple's market share in the U.S. had

25
increased to about 6 percent. Figures from December 2006, showing a market share

around 6 percent (IDC) and 6.1 percent (Gartner) are based on a more than 30 percent

increase in unit sale from 2005 to 2006. The installed base of Mac computers is hard to

determine, with numbers ranging from 5% (estimated in 2009) to 16% (estimated in

2005).

2007–present: "Post-PC" era

In recent years, market share of the personal computer market is measured by browser

hits, sales and installed base. If using the browser metric, Mac market share has

increased substantially in 2007. Mac OS X's share of the OS market increased from

7.31% in December 2007 to 9.63% in December 2008, which is a 32% increase in

market share during 2008, compared with a 22% increase during 2007.

From 2001 to 2008, Mac sales increased continuously on an annual basis. Apple

reported worldwide sales of 3.36 million Macs during the 2009 holiday season. As of

Mid-2011, the Macintosh continues to enjoy rapid market share increase in the US,

growing from 7.3% of all computer shipments in 2010 to 9.3% in 2011. According to

IDC's quarterly PC tracker, globally, in 3rd quarter of 2014, Apple's PC market share

increased 5.7 percent year over year, with record sales of 5.5 million units. Apple now

sits in the number five spot, with a global market share of about 6% during 2014, behind

Lenovo, HP, Dell and Acer.

26
By March 2011, the market share of OS X in North America had increased to slightly

over 14%. Whether the size of the Mac's market share and installed base is relevant,

and to whom, is a hotly debated issue. Industry pundits have often called attention to

the Mac's relatively small market share to predict Apple's impending doom, particularly

in the early and mid-1990s when the company's future seemed bleakest. Others argue

that market share is the wrong way to judge the Mac's success. Apple has positioned

the Mac as a higher-end personal computer, and so it may be misleading to compare it

to a budget PC. Because the overall market for personal computers has grown rapidly,

the Mac's increasing sales numbers are effectively swamped by the industry's

expanding sales volume as a whole. Apple's small market share, then, gives the

impression that fewer people are using Macs than did ten years ago, when exactly the

opposite is true. Soaring sales of the iPhone and iPad mean that the portion of Apple's

profits represented by the Macintosh has declined in 2010, dropping to 24% from 46%

two years earlier. Others try to de-emphasize market share, citing that it is rarely

brought up in other industries. Regardless of the Mac's market share, Apple has

remained profitable since Steve Jobs' return and the company's subsequent

reorganization. Notably, a report published in the first quarter of 2008 found that Apple

had a 14% market share in the personal computer market in the US, with 66% of all

computers over $1,000. Market research indicates that Apple draws its customer base

from a higher-income demographic than the mainstream personal computer market.

The sales breakdown of the Macintosh have seen sales of desktop Macs stayed mostly

constant while being surpassed by that of Mac notebooks whose sales rate has grown

considerably; seven out of ten Macs sold were laptops in 2009, a ratio projected to rise

27
to three out of four by 2010. The change in sales of form factors is due to the desktop

iMac moving from affordable (iMac G3) to upscale (iMac G4) and subsequent releases

are considered premium all-in-ones. By contrast the MSRP of the MacBook laptop lines

have dropped through successive generations such that the MacBook Air and MacBook

Pro constitute the lowest price of entry to a Mac, with the exception of the even more

inexpensive Mac Mini (the only sub-$1000 offering from Apple, albeit without a monitor

and keyboard), not surprisingly the MacBooks are the top-selling form factors of the

Macintosh platform today. The use of Intel microprocessors has helped Macs more

directly compete with their Windows counterparts on price and performance, and by the

2010s Apple was receiving Intel's latest CPUs first before other PC manufacturers.

In recent years, Apple has seen a significant boost in sales of Macs. This has been

attributed, in part, to the success of the iPod and the iPhone, a halo effect whereby

satisfied iPod or iPhone owners purchase more Apple products, and Apple has since

capitalized on that with the iCloud cloud service that allows users to seamlessly sync

data between these devices and Macs. Nonetheless, like other personal computer

manufacturers, the Macintosh lines have been hurt by consumer trend towards

smartphones and tablet computers (particularly Apple's own iPhone and iPad,

respectively) as the computing devices of choice among consumers.

Although the PC market declined, Apple still managed to ship 2.8 million MacBooks in

Q2 2012 (the majority of which are the MacBook Air) compared to 500,000 total

Ultrabooks, although there were dozens of Ultrabooks from various manufacturers on

the market while Apple only offered 11-inch and 13-inch models of the MacBook Air.

28
The Air has been the best-selling ultra-portable in certain countries over Windows

Ultrabooks, particularly the United States. While several Ultrabooks were able to claim

individual distinctions such as being the lightest or thinnest, the Air was regarded by

reviewers as the best all-around subnotebook/ultraportable in regard to "OS X

experience, full keyboard, superior trackpad, Thunderbolt connector and the higher-

quality, all-aluminum unibody construction". The Air was among the first to receive

Intel's latest CPUs before other PC manufacturers, and OS X has gained market share

on Windows in recent years. Through July 1, 2013, the MacBook Air took in 56 percent

of all Ultrabook sales in the United States, although being one of the higher-priced

competitors, though several Ultrabooks with better features were often more expensive

than the MacBook Air. The competitive pricing of MacBooks was particularly effective

when rivals charged more for seemingly equivalent Ultrabooks, as this contradicted the

established "elitist aura" perception that Apple products cost more but were higher

quality, which made these most expensive Ultrabooks seem exorbitant no matter how

valid their higher prices were.

Apple has generally dominated the premium PC market, having a 91 percent market

share for PCs priced at more than $1,000 in 2009, according to NPD. The Macintosh

took 45 percent of operating profits in the PC industry during Q4 2012, compared to 13

percent for Dell, seven percent for Hewlett Packard, six percent for Lenovo and Asus,

and one percent for Acer. While sales of the Macintosh have largely held steady, in

comparison to Apple's sales of the iPhone and iPad which increased significantly during

the 2010s, Macintosh computers still enjoy high margins on a per unit basis, with the

majority being their MacBooks that are focused on the ultraportable niche that is the

29
most profitable and only growing segment of PCs. It also helped that the Macintosh

lineup is simple, updated on a yearly schedule, and consistent across both Apple retail

stores, and authorized resellers where they have a special "store within a store" section

to distinguish them from Windows PCs. In contrast, Windows PC manufacturers

generally have a wide range of offerings, selling only a portion through retail with a full

selection on the web, and often with limited-time or region-specific models. The

Macintosh ranked third on the "list of intended brands for desktop purchases" for the

2011 holiday season, then moved up to second in 2012 by displacing Hewlett Packard,

and in 2013 took the top spot ahead of Dell.

MacOS versions

The history of macOS, Apple's current Mac operating system originally named Mac OS

X until 2012 and then OS X until 2016, began with the company's project to replace its

"classic" Mac OS. That system, up to and including its final release Mac OS 9, was a

direct descendant of the operating system Apple had used in its Macintosh computers

since their introduction in 1984. However, the current macOS is a Unix operating

system built on technology that had been developed at NeXT from the 1980s until Apple

purchased the company in early 1997.

Although it was originally marketed as simply "version 10" of the Mac OS (indicated by

the Roman numeral "X"), it has a completely different codebase from Mac OS 9, as well

30
as substantial changes to its user interface. The transition was a technologically and

strategically significant one. To ease the transition, versions through 10.4 were able to

run Mac OS 9 and its applications in a compatibility layer.

It was first released in 1999 as Mac OS X Server 1.0, with a widely released desktop

version—Mac OS X 10.0—following in March 2001. Since then, several more distinct

desktop and server editions of macOS have been released. Starting with Mac OS X

10.7 Lion, macOS Server is no longer offered as a separate operating system; instead,

server management tools are available for purchase as an add-on. Starting with the

Intel build of Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard, most releases have been certified as Unix

systems conforming to the Single Unix Specification.

macOS has retained the major version number 10 throughout its development history to

date; releases of macOS have also been named after big cats (versions 10.0–10.8) or

locations in California (10.9–present).

Development outside of Apple

After Apple removed Steve Jobs from management in 1985, he left the company and

attempted — with funding from Ross Perot and from his own pockets — to create the

"next big thing". The result was NeXT. NeXT hardware was advanced for its time, being

the first workstation to include a DSP and a high-capacity optical disc drive, but it had

several quirks and design problems and was expensive compared to the rapidly

commoditizing workstation market. The hardware was phased out in 1993; however, the

company's object-oriented operating system NeXTSTEP had a more lasting legacy.

31
NeXTSTEP was based on the Mach kernel developed at CMU (Carnegie Mellon

University) and BSD, an implementation of Unix dating back to the 1970s. It featured

an object-oriented programming framework based on the Objective-C language. This

environment is known today in the Mac world as Cocoa. It also supported the innovative

Enterprise Objects Framework database access layer and WebObjects application

server development environment, among other notable features.

All but abandoning the idea of an operating system, NeXT managed to maintain a

business selling WebObjects and consulting services, but was never a commercial

success. NeXTSTEP underwent an evolution into OPENSTEP which separated the

object layers from the operating system below, allowing it to run with less modification

on other platforms. OPENSTEP was, for a short time, adopted by Sun Microsystems.

However, by this point, a number of other companies — notably Apple, IBM, Microsoft,

and even Sun itself — were claiming they would soon be releasing similar object-

oriented operating systems and development tools of their own. (Some of these efforts,

such as Taligent, did not fully come to fruition; others, like Java, gained widespread

adoption.)

On February 4, 1997, Apple Computer acquired NeXT for $427 million, and used

OPENSTEP as the basis for macOS. Traces of the NeXT software heritage can still be

seen in macOS. For example, in the Cocoa development environment, the Objective-C

library classes have "NS" prefixes, and the HISTORY section of the manual page for the

defaults command in macOS straightforwardly states that the command "First appeared

in NeXTStep."

32
Internal development

Meanwhile, Apple was facing commercial difficulties of its own. The decade-old classic

Mac OS had reached the limits of its single-user, co-operative multitasking architecture,

and its once-innovative user interface was looking increasingly outdated. A massive

development effort to replace it, known as Copland, was started in 1994, but was

generally perceived outside of Apple to be a hopeless case due to political infighting

and conflicting goals. By 1996, Copland was nowhere near ready for release, and the

project was eventually cancelled. Some elements of Copland were incorporated into

Mac OS 8, released on July 26, 1997.

After considering the purchase of BeOS — a multimedia-enabled, multi-tasking OS

designed for hardware similar to Apple's — the company decided instead to acquire

NeXT and use OPENSTEP as the basis for their new OS. Avie Tevanian took over OS

development, and Steve Jobs was brought on as a consultant. At first, the plan was to

develop a new operating system based almost entirely on an updated version of

OPENSTEP, with the addition of a virtual machine subsystem — known as the Blue Box

— for running "classic" Macintosh applications. The result was known by the code name

Rhapsody, slated for release in late 1998.

Apple expected that developers would port their software to the considerably more

powerful OPENSTEP libraries once they learned of its power and flexibility. Instead,

several major developers such as Adobe told Apple that this would never occur, and

that they would rather leave the platform entirely. This "rejection" of Apple's plan was

largely the result of a string of previous broken promises from Apple; after watching one

33
"next OS" after another disappear and Apple's market share dwindle, developers were

not interested in doing much work on the platform at all, let alone a re-write.

Changed direction under Jobs

Apple's financial losses continued and the board of directors lost confidence in CEO Gil

Amelio, asking him to resign. The board asked Steve Jobs to lead the company on an

interim basis, essentially giving him carte blanche to make changes to return the

company to profitability. When Jobs announced at the World Wide Developer's

Conference that what developers really wanted was a modern version of the Mac OS,

and Apple was going to deliver it[citation needed], he was met with thunderous

applause. Over the next two years, major effort was applied to porting the original

Macintosh APIs to Unix libraries known as Carbon. Mac OS applications could be

ported to Carbon without the need for a complete re-write, making them operate as

native applications on the new operating system. Meanwhile, applications written using

the older toolkits would be supported using the "Classic" Mac OS 9 environment.

Support for C, C++, Objective-C, Java, and Python were added, furthering developer

comfort with the new platform.

During this time, the lower layers of the operating system (the Mach kernel and the BSD

layers on top of it ) were re-packaged and released under the Apple Public Source

License. They became known as Darwin. The Darwin kernel provides a stable and

flexible operating system, which takes advantage of the contributions of programmers

and independent open-source projects outside of Apple; however, it sees little use

34
outside the Macintosh community[citation needed]. During this period, the Java

programming language had increased in popularity, and an effort was started to

improve Mac Java support. This consisted of porting a high-speed Java virtual machine

to the platform, and exposing macOS-specific "Cocoa" APIs to the Java language.

The first release of the new OS — Mac OS X Server 1.0 — used a modified version of

the Mac OS GUI, but all client versions starting with Mac OS X Developer Preview 3

used a new theme known as Aqua. Aqua was a substantial departure from the Mac OS

9 interface, which had evolved with little change from that of the original Macintosh

operating system: it incorporated full color scalable graphics, anti-aliasing of text and

graphics, simulated shading and highlights, transparency and shadows, and animation.

A key new feature was the Dock, an application launcher which took advantage of these

capabilities. Despite this, OS X maintained a substantial degree of consistency with the

traditional Mac OS interface and Apple's own Apple Human Interface Guidelines, with

its pull-down menu at the top of the screen, familiar keyboard shortcuts, and support for

a single-button mouse. The development of Aqua was delayed somewhat by the switch

from OpenStep's Display PostScript engine to one developed in-house that was free of

any license restrictions, known as Quartz.

Releases

With the exception of Mac OS X Server 1.0 and the original public beta, the first several

macOS versions were named after big cats. Prior to its release, version 10.0 was code

named "Cheetah" internally at Apple, and version 10.1 was code named internally as

"Puma". After the code name "Jaguar" for version 10.2 received publicity in the media,

35
Apple began openly using the names to promote the operating system: 10.3 was

marketed as "Panther", 10.4 as "Tiger", 10.5 as "Leopard", 10.6 as "Snow Leopard",

10.7 as "Lion", and 10.8 as "Mountain Lion". "Panther", "Tiger", and "Leopard" were

registered as trademarks, and Apple registered "Lynx" and "Cougar", but these were

allowed to lapse, with Apple instead using the name of iconic locations in California for

subsequent releases: 10.9 was called "Mavericks", 10.10 was called "Yosemite", 10.11

was called "El Capitan", and 10.12 was called "Sierra".

Public Beta: "Kodiak"

On September 13, 2000 Apple released a $29.95 "preview" version of Mac OS X

(internally codenamed Kodiak) in order to gain feedback from users. It 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 expired and ceased to function in spring

2001.

Version 10.0: "Cheetah"

On March 24, 2001, Apple released Mac OS X 10.0 (internally codenamed Cheetah).

The initial version was slow, incomplete, and had very few applications available at the

time of its launch, mostly from independent developers. While many critics suggested

that the operating system was not ready for mainstream adoption, they recognized the

importance of its initial launch as a base on which to improve. Simply releasing Mac OS

36
X was received by the Macintosh community as a great accomplishment, for attempts to

completely overhaul the Mac OS had been underway since 1996, and delayed by

countless setbacks. Following some bug fixes, kernel panics became much less

frequent.

Version 10.1: "Puma"

Later that year on September 25, 2001, Mac OS X 10.1 (internally codenamed Puma)

was released. It had better performance and provided missing features, such as DVD

playback. Apple released 10.1 as a free upgrade CD for 10.0 users, in addition to the

US$129 boxed version for people running Mac OS 9. It was discovered that the

upgrade CDs were full install CDs that could be used with Mac OS 9 systems by

removing a specific file; Apple later re-released the CDs in an actual stripped-down

format that did not facilitate installation on such systems. On January 7, 2002, Apple

announced that Mac OS X was to be the default operating system for all Macintosh

products by the end of that month.

Version 10.2: "Jaguar"

On August 23, 2002, Apple followed up with Mac OS X 10.2 Jaguar, the first release to

use its code name as part of the branding. It brought great raw performance

improvements, a sleeker look, and many powerful user-interface enhancements (over

150, according to Apple ), including Quartz Extreme for compositing graphics directly

on an ATI Radeon or Nvidia GeForce2 MX AGP-based video card with at least 16 MB

37
of VRAM, a system-wide repository for contact information in the new Address Book,

and an instant messaging client named iChat. The Happy Mac which had appeared

during the Mac OS startup sequence for almost 18 years was replaced with a large grey

Apple logo with the introduction of Mac OS X 10.2.

Version 10.3: "Panther"

Mac OS X 10.3 Panther was released on October 24, 2003. In addition to providing

much improved performance, it also incorporated the most extensive update yet to the

user interface. Panther included as many or more new features as Jaguar had the year

before, including an updated Finder, incorporating a brushed-metal interface, Fast user

switching, Exposé (Window manager), FileVault, Safari, iChat AV (which added

videoconferencing features to iChat), improved Portable Document Format (PDF)

rendering and much greater Microsoft Windows interoperability. Support for some early

G3 computers such as "beige" Power Macs and "WallStreet" PowerBooks was

discontinued.

Version 10.4: "Tiger"

Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger was released on April 29, 2005. Apple stated that Tiger contained

more than 200 new features. As with Panther, certain older machines were no longer

supported; Tiger requires a Mac with a built-in FireWire port. Among the new features,

Tiger introduced Spotlight, Dashboard, Smart Folders, updated Mail program with Smart

Mailboxes, QuickTime 7, Safari 2, Automator, VoiceOver, Core Image and Core Video.

38
The initial release of the Apple TV used a modified version of Tiger with a different

graphical interface and fewer applications and services. On January 10, 2006, Apple

released the first Intel-based Macs along with the 10.4.4 update to Tiger. This operating

system functioned identically on the PowerPC-based Macs and the new Intel-based

machines, with the exception of the Intel release dropping support for the Classic

environment. Only PowerPC Macs can be booted from retail copies of the Tiger client

DVD, but there is a Universal DVD of Tiger Server 10.4.7 (8K1079) that can boot both

PowerPC and Intel Macs.

Version 10.5: "Leopard"

Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard was released on October 26, 2007. It was called by Apple "the

largest update of Mac OS X". Leopard supports both PowerPC- and Intel x86-based

Macintosh computers; support for the G3 processor was dropped and the G4 processor

required a minimum clock rate of 867 MHz, and at least 512 MB of RAM to be installed.

The single DVD works for all supported Macs (including 64-bit machines). New features

include a new look, an updated Finder, Time Machine, Spaces, Boot Camp pre-

installed, full support for 64-bit applications (including graphical applications), new

features in Mail and iChat, and a number of new security features. Leopard is an Open

Brand UNIX 03 registered product on the Intel platform. It was also the first BSD-based

OS to receive UNIX 03 certification. Leopard dropped support for the Classic

Environment and all Classic applications, and was the final version of Mac OS X to

support the PowerPC architecture.

39
Version 10.6: "Snow Leopard"

Mac OS X 10.6 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 10.7 Lion was released on July 20, 2011. It brought developments made in

Apple's iOS, such as an easily navigable display of installed applications (Launchpad)

and (a greater use of) multi-touch gestures, to the Mac. This release removed Rosetta,

making it incapable of running PowerPC applications. It dropped support for 32-bit Intel

40
processors and requires 2GB of memory. Changes made to the GUI (Graphical User

Interface) include the Launchpad (similar to the home screen of iOS devices), auto-

hiding scrollbars that only appear when they are being used, and Mission Control, which

unifies Exposé, Spaces, Dashboard, and full-screen applications within a single

interface. Apple also made changes to applications: they resume in the same state as

they were before they were closed (similar to iOS). Documents auto-save by default.

Version 10.8: "Mountain Lion"

OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion was released on July 25, 2012. It incorporates some features

seen in iOS 5, which include Game Center, support for iMessage in the new Messages

messaging application, and Reminders as a to-do list app separate from iCal (which is

renamed as Calendar, like the iOS app). It also includes support for storing iWork

documents in iCloud. 2GB of memory is required. Notification Center, which makes its

debut in Mountain Lion, is a desktop version similar to the one in iOS 5.0 and higher.

Application pop-ups are now concentrated on the corner of the screen, and the Center

itself is pulled from the right side of the screen. Mountain Lion also includes more

Chinese features, including support for Baidu as an option for Safari search engine.

Notification Center is added, providing an overview of alerts from applications. Notes is

added, as an application separate from Mail, synching with its iOS counterpart through

the iCloud service. Messages, an instant messaging software application, replaces

iChat.

41
Version 10.9: "Mavericks"

OS X 10.9 Mavericks was released on October 22, 2013, as a free update through the

Mac App Store worldwide. It places emphasis on battery life, Finder enhancements,

other enhancements for power users, and continued iCloud integration, as well as

bringing more of Apple's iOS apps to the OS X platform. iBooks and Apple Maps

applications were added. Mavericks requires 2GB of memory to operate. It is the first

version named under Apple's then-new theme of places in California, dubbed Mavericks

after the surfing location. Unlike previous versions of OS X, which had progressively

decreasing prices since 10.6, 10.9 was available at no charge to all users of compatible

systems running Snow Leopard (10.6) or later, beginning Apple's policy of free

upgrades for life on its operating system and business software.

Version 10.10: "Yosemite"

OS X Yosemite was released to the general public on October 16, 2014, as a free

update through the Mac App Store worldwide. It featured a major overhaul of user

interface, replaced skeuomorphism with flat graphic design and blurred translucency

effects, following the aesthetic introduced with iOS 7. It introduced features called

Continuity and Handoff, which allow for tighter integration between paired OS X and iOS

devices: the user can handle phone calls or text messages on either their Mac or their

iPhone, and the same Pages document on either their Mac or their iPad. A later update

of the OS included Photos as a replacement for iPhoto and Aperture.

42
Version 10.11: "El Capitan"

OS X El Capitan was revealed on June 8, 2015, during the WWDC keynote speech. It

was made available as a public beta in July and was made available publicly on

September 30, 2015. Apple described this release as containing "Refinements to the

Mac Experience" and "Improvements to System Performance" rather than new features.

Refinements include public transport built into the Maps application, GUI improvements

to the Notes application, as well as adopting San Francisco as the system font. Metal

API, an application enhancing software, had debuted in this operating system, being

available to "all Macs since 2012".

Version 10.12: "Sierra"

macOS Sierra was revealed on June 13, 2016, during the WWDC keynote speech. It

was released publicly on September 20, 2016.

Mac OS X Public Beta (kodiak)

The Mac OS X Public Beta was an early, test version of the Mac OS X operating system

released to the public in late 2000 for USD $30. Hardcore Macintosh fans could

therefore get a taste of the upcoming operating system before its final release. It was

named Kodiak internally by Apple. The name was not publicly used.

The Public Beta was the first time people could use the Aqua interface. Virtually

everything was new in the operating system: fonts, the Dock, even the menu bar (with

43
an Apple logo at the centre, which was later repositioned). The icons exploded in size,

and new OS eye candy was all the rage.

As it was a public beta, this version was not without its bugs and inconveniences. Apple

used user feedback to improve upon the OS, so that a vastly improved Golden Master

version of Mac OS X was ready for release by March 2001.

The Public Beta version came with a price tag, and a time limit (set for May 15, 2001).

In spite of all these shortcomings, it was still welcomed by the Mac community, with

people eager to test drive the new OS.

The Public Beta was superseded by Mac OS X 10.0.0, the first final release of Mac OS

X.

Features

Preemptive multitasking- In computing, preemption is the act of temporarily

interrupting a task being carried out by a computer system, without requiring its

cooperation, and with the intention of resuming the task at a later time. Such changes of

the executed task are known as context switches. It is normally carried out by a

privileged task or part of the system known as a preemptive scheduler, which has the

power to preempt, or interrupt, and later resume, other tasks in the system.

Memory protection- is a way to control memory access rights on a computer, and is a

part of most modern instruction set architectures and operating systems. The main

44
purpose of memory protection is to prevent a process from accessing memory that has

not been allocated to it. This prevents a bug or malware within a process from affecting

other processes, or the operating system itself. An attempt to access unowned memory

results in a hardware fault, called a segmentation fault or storage violation exception,

generally causing abnormal termination of the offending process. Memory protection for

computer security includes additional techniques such as address space layout

randomization and executable space protection.

Advantages

 Effective and unparalleled multitasking feature: Multitasking is another notable

advantage of macOS. Mac computers have hardware specifications designed for

multitasking. And because macOS integrates seamlessly with Mac hardware

components, the overall operation is smooth and responsive.

 Seamless integration between OS and hardware: Apple is both a software

developer and a device manufacturer. This means that they have optimised the

macOS to work seamlessly with all of the hardware components of a Mac device.

It also ensures that all hardware components work hand-in-hand.

Disadvantages

 It’s lack of game titles and advanced gaming experience: There are more game

titles available for Windows than in macOS. This is another noteworthy

45
 disadvantage of macOS. Some titles from independent producers that have

gained large following are unavailable for Mac computers.

 The fact remains that Apple sells expensive computers whether it is the new

MacBook Pro with Retina or a Mac Mini. This is more noticeable when comparing

the price point of Mac computers with their Windows counterpart.

Version 10.0: "Cheetah"

Code named Cheetah, is the first major release of Mac OS X (now named macOS),

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.

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 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

46
to 10.8, the cat-themed code name was not used in marketing the new operating

system.

Features

Dock — the Dock was a new way of organizing one's Mac OS X applications on a user

interface, and a change from the classic method of Application launching in previous

Mac OS systems.

Mach 3.0 — the Mach 3.0 microkernel was part of the XNU kernel for Mac OS X, and

was one of the largest changes from a technical standpoint in Mac OS X.

Terminal — the Terminal was a feature that allowed access to Mac OS X's

underpinnings, namely the Unix core. Mac OS had previously had the distinction of

being one of the few operating systems with no command line interface at all.

Mail — email client.

Address Book

TextEdit — new on-board word processor, replacement to SimpleText.

Full preemptive multitasking support, a long-awaited feature on the Mac.

PDF Support (create PDFs from any application)

Aqua UI — new user interface

47
Built on Darwin, a Unix-like operating system.

OpenGL

AppleScript

Dock — the Dock was a new way of organizing one's Mac OS X applications on a user

interface, and a change from the classic method of Application launching in previous

Mac OS systems.

Mach 3.0 — the Mach 3.0 microkernel was part of the XNU kernel for Mac OS X, and

was one of the largest changes from a technical standpoint in Mac OS X.

Terminal — the Terminal was a feature that allowed access to Mac OS X's

underpinnings, namely the Unix core. Mac OS had previously had the distinction of

being one of the few operating systems with no command line interface at all.

Mail — email client.

Address Book

TextEdit — new on-board word processor, replacement to SimpleText.

Full preemptive multitasking support, a long-awaited feature on the Mac.

PDF Support (create PDFs from any application)

Aqua UI — new user interface

48
Built on Darwin, a Unix-like operating system.

OpenGL

AppleScript

Support for Carbon and Cocoa APIs

Sherlock — desktop and web search engine.

Protected memory — memory protection so that if an application corrupts its memory,

the memory of other applications will not be corrupted.

Advantages

 Seamless integration between OS and hardware: Apple is both a software

developer and a device manufacturer. This means that they have optimised the

macOS to work seamlessly with all of the hardware components of a Mac device.

It also ensures that all hardware components work hand-in-hand.

 Comes preloaded with productivity apps: Standard Windows OS usually does not

come with Microsoft Office Suite. Both are sold separately most of the time. In

addition, new Windows-based laptop and desktop computers come with random

software or apps that merely bloat the entire system and external storage.

 Effective and unparalleled multitasking feature: Multitasking is another notable

advantage of macOS. Mac computers have hardware specifications designed for

49
 multitasking. And because macOS integrates seamlessly with Mac hardware

components, the overall operation is smooth and responsive.

Disadvantages

File-sharing client — The system can only use TCP/IP, not AppleTalk, to connect to

servers sharing the Apple Filing Protocol. The System cannot use SMB to connect to

Windows or Samba servers.

File-sharing server — As a server, the system can share files using only the Apple

Filing Protocol (over TCP/IP), HTTP, SSH, and FTP.

Mac OS X version 10.1

Mac OS X version 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.[citation needed] 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.

50
Features

Performance enhancements — Mac OS X 10.1 introduced large performance

increases throughout the system.

Easier CD and DVD burning — better support in Finder as well as in iTunes

DVD playback support — DVDs can be played in Apple DVD Player

More printer support (200 printers supported out of the box) — One of the main

complaints of version 10.0 users was the lack of printer drivers, and Apple attempted to

remedy the situation by including more drivers, although many critics complained that

there were still not enough.

Faster 3D (OpenGL performs 20% faster) — The OpenGL drivers, and handling were

vastly improved in this version of Mac OS X, which created a large performance gap for

3D elements in the interface, and 3D applications.

Improved AppleScript — The scripting interface now allows scripting access to many

more system components, such as the Printer Center, and Terminal, thus improving the

customizability of the interface. As well, Apple introduced AppleScript Studio, which

allows a user to create full AppleScript applications in a simple graphical interface.

Improved filehandling - The Finder was enhanced to optionally hide file extensions on

a per-file basis. The Cocoa API was enhanced to allow developers to set traditional Mac

type and creator information directly without relying on Carbon to do it.

51
ColorSync 4.0, the color management system and API.

Image Capture, for acquiring images from digital cameras and scanners.

Advantages

 Seamless integration between OS and hardware: Apple is both a software

developer and a device manufacturer. This means that they have optimised the

macOS to work seamlessly with all of the hardware components of a Mac device.

It also ensures that all hardware components work hand-in-hand.

 Comes preloaded with productivity apps: Standard Windows OS usually does not

come with Microsoft Office Suite. Both are sold separately most of the time. In

addition, new Windows-based laptop and desktop computers come with random

software or apps that merely bloat the entire system and external storage.

 Integration with other Apple products: One of the strengths of Apple is that most

of the products under the brand are completely integrated. The iPhone or iPad

works best with a Mac computer. This advantage of macOS is exclusive for

Apple users—or those individuals with several Apple devices.

52
Disadvantages

System performance — Although system performance in version 10.1 was greatly

improved, it was still deemed 'not enough' for many to adopt Mac OS X as their main

operating system.[citation needed]

Minor upgrade — While version 10.1 made some significant headway, many users

criticized the step between versions 10.0 and 10.1 as not large enough. The user

interface was said to have barely changed at all, and significant bugs still existed, some

that caused entire system crashes.

Version 10.2: "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

53
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.

Jaguar was the first Mac OS X release to publicly use its code name in marketing and

advertisements.

Features

Mac OS X Jaguar introduced many new features to the Mac OS that remain to this day,

including MPEG-4 support in QuickTime[citation needed], Address Book, Inkwell for

handwriting recognition, and Apple Mail. It also included the first release of Apple's

Zeroconf implementation, Rendezvous (later referred to as Bonjour), which allows

devices over a network to discover each other and display available services to the

user, such as file sharing, shared scanners, and printers.

Mac OS X Jaguar Server 10.2.2 added journaling to HFS Plus, the native Macintosh file

system, to add increased reliability and data recovery features. This was later added to

the standard Mac OS X in version 10.3, Panther.

Quartz Extreme debuted in Jaguar, used to composite graphics directly on the video

card, without the use of software to composite windows. The technology allotted the

task of drawing the 3D surface of windows to the video card, rather than to the CPU, to

increase interface responsiveness and performance.

Universal Access was added to allow the Macintosh to be usable by disabled computer

users.

54
The user interface of the Mac OS was also amended to add search features to the

Finder using the updated Sherlock 3.

Internally, Jaguar also added the Common Unix Printing System (also known as

CUPS), a modular printing system for Unix-like operating systems, and improved

support for Microsoft Windows networks using the open-source Samba as a server for

the SMB remote file access protocol and a FreeBSD-derived virtual file system module

as a client for SMB.

The famous Happy Mac that had greeted Mac users for almost 18 years during the

Macintosh startup sequence was replaced with a large grey Apple logo with the

introduction of Mac OS X Jaguar.

Advantages

 Seamless integration between OS and hardware: Apple is both a software

developer and a device manufacturer. This means that they have optimised the

macOS to work seamlessly with all of the hardware components of a Mac device.

It also ensures that all hardware components work hand-in-hand.

 Comes preloaded with productivity apps: Standard Windows OS usually does not

come with Microsoft Office Suite. Both are sold separately most of the time. In

addition, new Windows-based laptop and desktop computers come with random

software or apps that merely bloat the entire system and external

55
  Effective and unparalleled multitasking feature: Multitasking is another notable

advantage of macOS. Mac computers have hardware specifications designed for

multitasking. And because macOS integrates seamlessly with Mac hardware

components, the overall operation is smooth and responsive.

Disadvantages

 Lack of game titles and advanced gaming experience: There are more game

titles available for Windows than in macOS. This is another noteworthy

disadvantage of macOS. Some titles from independent producers that have

gained large following are unavailable for Mac computers.

 App ecosystem is still lacklustre: Windows has more software or applications.

Developers, especially small and independent software companies, often

consider building software for Windows first because of greater reach.

Mac OS X 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.

Features

Finder: Updated with a brushed-metal interface, a new live search engine,

customizable Sidebar, secure deletion, File labels and Zip support built in. The Finder

icon was also changed.

56
Fast User Switching: Allows a user to remain logged in while another user logs in

Exposé: Helps the user manage windows by showing them all as thumbnails.

TextEdit: TextEdit now is also compatible with Microsoft Word (.doc) documents.

Xcode developer tools: Faster compile times with gcc 3.3.

Preview: Increased speed with PDF rendering

QuickTime: Now supports the Pixlet high definition video codec.

Advantages

 Effective and unparalleled multitasking feature: Multitasking is another notable

advantage of macOS. Mac computers have hardware specifications designed for

multitasking. And because macOS integrates seamlessly with Mac hardware

components, the overall operation is smooth and responsive.

 Integration with other Apple products: One of the strengths of Apple is that most

of the products under the brand are completely integrated. The iPhone or iPad

works best with a Mac computer. This advantage of macOS is exclusive for

Apple users—or those individuals with several Apple devices.

Disadvantages

 Inflexible when it comes to hardware upgrades: A standard Mac computer cannot

be upgraded easily because most of its hardware components are integrated

57
 both at a design and engineering levels. This is a macOS disadvantage that is

unacceptable for hobbyists.

 Lack of game titles and advanced gaming experience: There are more game

titles available for Windows than in macOS. This is another noteworthy

disadvantage of macOS. Some titles from independent producers that have

gained large following are unavailable for Mac computers.

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.

Jaguar was the first Mac OS X release to publicly use its code name in marketing and

advertisements.

58
 Features

Mac OS X Jaguar introduced many new features to the Mac OS that remain to this day,

including MPEG-4 support in QuickTime[citation needed], Address Book, Inkwell for

handwriting recognition, and Apple Mail. It also included the first release of Apple's

Zeroconf implementation, Rendezvous (later referred to as Bonjour), which allows

devices over a network to discover each other and display available services to the

user, such as file sharing, shared scanners, and printers.

Mac OS X Jaguar Server 10.2.2 added journaling to HFS Plus, the native Macintosh file

system, to add increased reliability and data recovery features. This was later added to

the standard Mac OS X in version 10.3, Panther.

Quartz Extreme debuted in Jaguar, used to composite graphics directly on the video

card, without the use of software to composite windows. The technology allotted the

task of drawing the 3D surface of windows to the video card, rather than to the CPU, to

increase interface responsiveness and performance.

Universal Access was added to allow the Macintosh to be usable by disabled computer

users.

The user interface of the Mac OS was also amended to add search features to the

Finder using the updated Sherlock 3.

Internally, Jaguar also added the Common Unix Printing System (also known as

CUPS), a modular printing system for Unix-like operating systems, and improved

59
support for Microsoft Windows networks using the open-source Samba as a server for

the SMB remote file access protocol and a FreeBSD-derived virtual file system module

as a client for SMB. The famous Happy Mac that had greeted Mac users for almost 18

years during the Macintosh startup sequence was replaced with a large grey Apple logo

with the introduction of Mac OS X Jaguar.

Advantages

 Effective and unparalleled multitasking feature: Multitasking is another notable

advantage of macOS. Mac computers have hardware specifications designed for

multitasking. And because macOS integrates seamlessly with Mac hardware

components, the overall operation is smooth and responsive.

 Integration with other Apple products: One of the strengths of Apple is that most

of the products under the brand are completely integrated. The iPhone or iPad

works best with a Mac computer. This advantage of macOS is exclusive for

Apple users—or those individuals with several Apple devices.

Disadvantages

 Inflexible when it comes to hardware upgrades: A standard Mac computer cannot

be upgraded easily because most of its hardware components are integrated

both at a design and engineering levels. This is a macOS disadvantage that is

unacceptable for hobbyists.

60
 Lack of game titles and advanced gaming experience: There are more game

titles available for Windows than in macOS. This is another noteworthy

disadvantage of macOS. Some titles from independent producers that have

gained large following are unavailable for Mac computers.

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.

Features

Finder: Updated with a brushed-metal interface, a new live search engine,

customizable Sidebar, secure deletion, File labels and Zip support built in. The

Finder icon was also changed.

Fast User Switching: Allows a user to remain logged in while another user logs

in

Exposé: Helps the user manage windows by showing them all as thumbnails.

TextEdit: TextEdit now is also compatible with Microsoft Word (.doc) documents.

Xcode developer tools: Faster compile times with gcc 3.3.

61
 Preview: Increased speed with PDF rendering

QuickTime: Now supports the Pixlet high definition video codec.

Advantages

 Effective and unparalleled multitasking feature: Multitasking is another notable

advantage of macOS. Mac computers have hardware specifications designed for

multitasking. And because macOS integrates seamlessly with Mac hardware

components, the overall operation is smooth and responsive.

 Integration with other Apple products: One of the strengths of Apple is that most

of the products under the brand are completely integrated. The iPhone or iPad

works best with a Mac computer. This advantage of macOS is exclusive for

Apple users—or those individuals with several Apple devices.

Disadvantages

 Inflexible when it comes to hardware upgrades: A standard Mac computer cannot

be upgraded easily because most of its hardware components are integrated

both at a design and engineering levels. This is a macOS disadvantage that is

unacceptable for hobbyists.

 Lack of game titles and advanced gaming experience: There are more game

titles available for Windows than in macOS. This is another noteworthy

62
 disadvantage of macOS. Some titles from independent producers that have

gained large following are unavailable for Mac computers.

Version 10.4: "Tiger"

Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger is the fifth major release of Mac OS X (now named macOS),

Apple's desktop and server operating system for Mac computers. Tiger was released to

the public on April 29, 2005 for US$129.95 as the successor to Mac OS X 10.3 Panther.

Some of the new features included a fast searching system called Spotlight, a new

version of the Safari web browser, Dashboard, a new ‘Unified’ theme, and improved

support for 64-bit addressing on Power Mac G5s. Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger shocked

executives at Microsoft by offering a number of features, such as fast file searching and

improved graphics processing, that Microsoft had spent several years struggling to add

to Windows with acceptable performance.

Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger was included with all new Macs, and was also available as an

upgrade for existing Mac OS X users, or users of supported pre-Mac OS X systems.

The server edition, Mac OS X Server 10.4, was also available for some Macintosh

product lines. Six weeks after its official release, Apple had delivered 2 million copies of

Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger, representing 16% of all Mac OS X users. Apple claimed that Mac

OS X 10.4 Tiger was the most successful Apple OS release in the company's history.

63
At the WWDC on June 11, 2007, Apple's CEO, Steve Jobs, announced that out of the

22 million Mac OS X users, more than 67% were using Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger.

Apple announced a transition to Intel x86 processors during Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger's

lifetime, making it the first Apple operating system to work on Apple–Intel architecture

machines. The original Apple TV, released in March 2007, shipped with a customized

version of Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger branded "Apple TV OS" that replaced the usual GUI

with an updated version of Front Row.

Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger was succeeded by Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard on October 26, 2007,

after 30 months, making Mac OS 10.4 Tiger the longest running version of Mac OS X.

The last security update released for Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger users was the 2009-005

update. The next security update, 2009-006 only included support for Mac OS X 10.5

Leopard and Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard. The latest supported version of QuickTime

is 7.6.4. The latest version of iTunes that can run on Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger is 9.2.1,

because 10.0 only supports Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard and later. Safari 4.1.3 is the final

version for Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger as of November 18, 2010. Despite not having received

security updates since then, Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger remains popular with Power Mac

users and retrocomputing enthusiasts due to its wide software and hardware

compatibility, as it runs on a wide variety of older machines and is the last Mac OS X

version that supports the Classic Environment, a Mac OS 9 compatibility layer.

64
Features

Spotlight — Spotlight is a full-text and metadata search engine, which can search

everything on one's Mac including Microsoft Word documents, iCal calendars and

Address Book contact cards. The feature is also used to build the concept of ‘smart

folders’ into the Finder. Spotlight will index files as they are saved, so they can be

quickly and easily found through a search-as-you-type box in the menu bar. As a side-

effect, it adds hidden folders and indexing files to removable media like USB flash

drives.

iChat AV — The new iChat AV 3.0 in Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger supports up to four

participants in a video conference and ten participants in an audio conference. It also

now supports communication using the XMPP protocol. A XMPP server called iChat

Server is included on Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger Server.

Safari RSS — The new Safari 2.0 web browser in Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger features a built-

in reader for RSS and Atom web syndication that can be accessed easily from an RSS

button in the address bar of the web browser window. An updated version of Safari,

included as part of the free Mac OS X (10.4.3 Tiger update, can also pass the Acid2

web standards test.

Mail 2 — The new version of Mail.app email client included in Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger

featured an updated interface, "Smart Mailboxes" which utilize the Spotlight search

system, parental controls, as well as several other features.

65
Dashboard — The Dashboard is a new mini-applications layer based on HTML, CSS,

and JavaScript, which returns the desk accessories concept to the Mac OS. These

accessories are known as widgets. It comes with several widgets such as Weather,

World Clock, Unit Converter, and Dictionary/Thesaurus. More are available for free

online. Its similarity to the Konfabulator application caused some criticism.

Automator — A scripting tool to link applications together to form complex automated

workflows (written in AppleScript, Cocoa, or both). Automator comes with a complete

library of actions for several applications that can be used together to make a Workflow.

VoiceOver — screen reader interface similar to Jaws for Windows and other Windows

screen readers that offers the blind and visually impaired user keyboard control and

spoken English descriptions of what is happening on screen. VoiceOver enables users

with visual impairment to use applications via keyboard commands. VoiceOver is

capable of reading aloud the contents of files including web pages, mail messages and

word processing files. Complete keyboard navigation lets the user control the computer

with the keyboard rather than the mouse, a menu is displayed in a window showing all

the available keyboard commands that can be used.

A complete built-in Dictionary/Thesaurus based on the New Oxford American

Dictionary, Second Edition, accessible through an application, Dictionary, a Dashboard

widget, and as a system-wide command (see below).

66
Mac syncing — Though this is not a new feature, .Mac syncing in Tiger is much

improved over Panther. Syncing tasks in Tiger are now accomplished through the .Mac

system preferences pane rather than the iSync application.

QuickTime 7 — A new version of Apple's multimedia software has support for the new

H.264/AVC codec which offers better quality and scalability than other video

codecs.[citation needed] This new codec is used by iChat AV for clearer video

conferencing. New classes within Cocoa provide full access to QuickTime for Cocoa

application developers. The new QuickTime 7 player application bundled with Tiger now

includes more advanced audio and video controls as well as a more detailed

Information dialog, and the new player has been rebuilt using Apple's Cocoa API to take

advantage of the new technologies more easily.

New Unix features — New versions of cp, mv, and rsync which support files with

resource forks. Command-line support for features like the above-mentioned Spotlight

are also included.

Xcode 2.0 — Xcode 2.0, Apple's Cocoa development tool now includes visual

modelling, an integrated Apple Reference Library and graphical remote debugging.

Advantages

 Effective and unparalleled multitasking feature: Multitasking is another notable

advantage of macOS. Mac computers have hardware specifications designed for

multitasking. And because macOS integrates seamlessly with Mac hardware

components, the overall operation is smooth and responsive.

67
  Integration with other Apple products: One of the strengths of Apple is that most

of the products under the brand are completely integrated. The iPhone or iPad

works best with a Mac computer. This advantage of macOS is exclusive for

Apple users—or those individuals with several Apple devices.

Disadvantages

 Inflexible when it comes to hardware upgrades: A standard Mac computer cannot

be upgraded easily because most of its hardware components are integrated

both at a design and engineering levels. This is a macOS disadvantage that is

unacceptable for hobbyists.

 Lack of game titles and advanced gaming experience: There are more game

titles available for Windows than in macOS. This is another noteworthy

disadvantage of macOS. Some titles from independent producers that have

gained large following are unavailable for Mac computers.

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 Tiger (version 10.4),

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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 Mac OS X to support the PowerPC architecture as Snow Leopard

functions solely on Intel based Macs.

According to Apple, Leopard contains over 300 changes and enhancements over its

predecessor, Mac OS X Tiger, covering core operating system components as well as

included applications and developer tools. Leopard introduces a significantly revised

desktop, with a redesigned Dock, Stacks, a semitransparent menu bar, and an updated

Finder that incorporates the Cover Flow visual navigation interface first seen in iTunes.

Other notable features include support for writing 64-bit graphical user interface

applications, an automated backup utility called Time Machine, support for Spotlight

searches across multiple machines, and the inclusion of Front Row and Photo Booth,

which were previously included with only some Mac models.

Apple missed Leopard's release time frame as originally announced by Apple's CEO

Steve Jobs. When first discussed in June 2005, Jobs had stated that Apple intended to

release Leopard at the end of 2006 or early 2007. A year later, this was amended to

Spring 2007; however on April 12, 2007, Apple issued a statement that its release

would be delayed until October 2007 because of the development of the iPhone.

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Features

 A new and improved Automator, with easy starting points to easily start a

workflow. It also can quickly create or edit workflows with new interface

improvements. Now it can use a new action called "Watch Me Do" that lets you

record a user action (like pressing a button or controlling an application without

built-in Automator support) and replay as an action in a workflow. It can create

more useful Automator workflows with actions for RSS feeds, iSight camera

video snapshots, PDF manipulation, and much more.

 Back to My Mac, a feature for MobileMe users that allows users to access files

on their home computer while away from home via the internet.

 Boot Camp, a software assistant allowing for the installation of other operating

systems, such as Windows XP (SP2 or later) or Windows Vista, on a separate

partition (or separate internal drive) on Intel-based Macs.

 Dashboard enhancements, including Web Clip, a feature that allows users to turn

a part of any Web page displayed in Safari into a live Dashboard widget, and

Dashcode to help developers code widgets.

 New Desktop, comprises a redesigned 3-D dock with a new grouping feature

called Stacks, which displays files in either a "fan" style, "grid" style, or (since

10.5.2) a "list" style. R.L. Prior, on the ThinkMac blog, criticized the shelf-like

Dock along with a number of other changes to the user interface.

 Dictionary can now search Wikipedia, and a dictionary of Apple terminology as

well. Also included is the Japanese-language dictionary Daijisen, Progressive E-J

and Progressive J-E dictionaries, and the 25,000-word thesaurus Tsukaikata no

70
 Wakaru Ruigo Reikai Jiten (使い方の分かる類語例解辞典?), all of which are

provided by the Japanese publisher Shogakukan.

 A redesigned Finder, with features similar to those seen in iTunes 7, including

Cover Flow and a Source list-like sidebar.

 Front Row has been reworked to closely resemble the interface of the original

Apple TV.

 iCal calendar sharing and group scheduling as well as syncing event invitations

from Mail. The icon also reflects the current date even when the application is

not running. In previous versions of Mac OS X, the icon would show July 17 in

the icon any time the application was not running but the current date when the

application was running.

 iChat enhancements, including multiple logins, invisibility, animated icons, and

tabbed chats, similar to features present in Pidgin, Adium and the iChat plugin

Chax; iChat Theater, allowing users to incorporate images from iPhoto,

presentations from Keynote, videos from QuickTime, and other Quick Look

features into video chats; and Backdrops, which are similar to chroma keys, but

use a real-time difference matte technique which does not require a green or

blue screen. iChat also implements screen sharing, a feature previously available

with Apple Remote Desktop.

 Mail enhancements including the additions of RSS feeds, Stationery, Notes, and

to-dos. To-dos use a system-wide service that is available to all applications.

 Network file sharing improvements include more granular control over

permissions, consolidation of AFP, FTP and SMB sharing into one control panel,

71
 and the ability to share individual folders, a feature that had not been available

since Mac OS 9.

 Parental controls now include the ability to place restrictions on use of the

Internet and to set parental controls from anywhere using remote setup.

 Photo Booth enhancements, including video recording with real-time filters and

blue/green-screen technology.

 Podcast Capture, an application allowing users to record and distribute podcasts.

It requires access to a computer running Mac OS X Server with Podcast

Producer.

 Preview adds support for annotation, graphics, extraction, search, markup,

Instant Alpha and size adjustment tools.

 Quick Look, a framework allowing documents to be viewed without opening them

in an external application and can preview it in full screen. Plug-ins are available

for Quick Look so that you can also view other files, such as Installer Packages.

 Safari 3, which includes Web Clip.

 Spaces, an implementation of virtual desktops (individually called "Spaces"),

allows multiple desktops per user, with certain applications and windows in each

desktop. Users can organize certain Spaces for certain applications (e.g., one

for work-related tasks and one for entertainment) and switch between them.

Exposé works inside Spaces, allowing the user to see at a glance all desktops on

one screen. ) Users can create and control up to 16 spaces, and applications can

be switched between each one, creating a very large workspace. The auto-

switching feature in Spaces has annoyed some of its users. Apple added a new

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 preference in 10.5.2 which disabled this feature, but there were still bugs found

while switching windows. In 10.5.3, this problem was addressed and was no

longer an issue.

 Spotlight incorporates additional search capabilities such as Boolean operators,

as well as the ability to search other computers (with permissions).

 Time Machine, an automated backup utility which allows the user to restore files

that have been deleted or replaced by another version of a file. Though

generally lauded in the press as a step forward for data recovery, Time Machine

has been criticized in multiple publications for lacking the capabilities of third-

party backup software. Analyzing the feature for TidBITS, Joe Kissell pointed out

that Time Machine does not create bootable copies of backed-up volumes, does

not back up to AirPort Disk hard drives and will not back up FileVault encrypted

home directories until the user logs out, concluding that the feature is "pretty

good at what it does" but he will only use it as part of a "broader backup

strategy". One of these issues has been resolved, however; On March 19,

2008, updates were released for AirPort and Time Machine, allowing for Time

Machine to use a USB hard disk which has been connected to an AirPort

Extreme Base Station.

 Universal Access enhancements: significant improvements to applications

including VoiceOver, along with increased support for Braille, closed captioning

and a new high‐quality Speech synthesis voice.

 Many changes to the user interface, such as a transparent menu bar, new icons,

and a 3D Dock. As well as this, the Apple icon is now black instead of blue. R.L.

73
 Prior, on the ThinkMac blog, criticized a number of changes to Leopard's user

interface, including the transparent menu bar and the new folder icons.

Decreased transparency of the menu bar, along with the ability to disable the

menu bar transparency were added with the 10.5.2 release on February 11,

2008.

 Russian language support, bringing the total to 18 languages.

 Leopard removes support for Classic applications.

 Introduced the Alex voice to VoiceOver. It is the most natural and understandable

voice yet, says Apple.

Advantages

 Seamless integration between OS and hardware: Apple is both a software

developer and a device manufacturer. This means that they have optimised the

macOS to work seamlessly with all of the hardware components of a Mac device.

It also ensures that all hardware components work hand-in-hand.

 Comes preloaded with productivity apps: Standard Windows OS usually does not

come with Microsoft Office Suite. Both are sold separately most of the time. In

addition, new Windows-based laptop and desktop computers come with random

software or apps that merely bloat the entire system and external storage.

 Effective and unparalleled multitasking feature: Multitasking is another notable

advantage of macOS. Mac computers have hardware specifications designed for

multitasking. And because macOS integrates seamlessly with Mac hardware

components, the overall operation is smooth and responsive.

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Disadvantages

File-sharing client — The system can only use TCP/IP, not AppleTalk, to connect to

servers sharing the Apple Filing Protocol. The System cannot use SMB to connect to

Windows or Samba servers.

File-sharing server — As a server, the system can share files using only the Apple

Filing Protocol (over TCP/IP), HTTP, SSH, and FTP.

Version 10.6: "Snow Leopard"

Mac OS X Snow Leopard (version 10.6) is the seventh major release of Mac OS

X (now named macOS), Apple's desktop and server operating system for

Macintosh computers.

Snow Leopard was publicly unveiled on June 8, 2009 at the Apple Worldwide

Developers Conference. On August 28, 2009, it was released worldwide, and

was made available for purchase from Apple's website and its retail stores at the

price of US$29 for a single-user license. As a result of the low price, initial sales

of Snow Leopard were significantly higher than that of its predecessors. The

release of Snow Leopard came nearly two years after the introduction of Mac OS

X Leopard, the second longest time span between successive Mac OS X

releases (the time span between Tiger and Leopard was the longest).

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Unlike those of previous versions of Mac OS X, the goals of Snow Leopard were

improved performance, greater efficiency and the reduction of its overall memory

footprint. Addition of new end-user features was not a primary consideration: its

name signified its goal to be a refinement of the previous OS X version, Leopard.

Much of the software in Mac OS X was extensively rewritten for this release in

order to take advantage fully of modern Macintosh hardware. New programming

frameworks, such as OpenCL, were created, allowing software developers to use

graphics cards in their applications. This is also the first Mac OS release since

System 7.1.1 that does not support Macs using PowerPC processors, as Apple

now intends to focus on its current line of Intel-based products. As support for

Rosetta was dropped in OS X Lion, Snow Leopard is the last version of Mac OS

X that is able to run PowerPC-only applications.

Snow Leopard was succeeded by Mac OS X Lion (version 10.7) on July 20,

2011. Since then, Apple has continued to sell Snow Leopard from its online

store for the benefit of users that require Snow Leopard in order to upgrade to

later versions of OS X, which have all been distributed through the Mac App

Store introduced in the Snow Leopard 10.6.6 update.

Snow Leopard is the last release of Mac OS X to support the 32-bit Intel Core

Solo and Intel Core Duo CPUs.

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Features

 Mac OS X Snow Leopard is intended to be a release aimed to refine the

existing feature set, expand the technological capabilities of the operating

system, and improve application efficiency. Many of the changes involve

how the system works in the background and are not intended to be seen

by the user. For example, the Finder application was completely rewritten

in the Cocoa application programming interface. Despite significant

changes in the software, users will experience almost no changes in the

user interface. Snow Leopard includes the following changes:

 Mac App Store – An application store built in the image of the iOS App

Store.Released on version 10.6.6.

 Boot Camp now allows Windows partitions to read and copy files from

HFS+ partitions. The new version also adds support for advanced features

on Cinema Displays and a new command-line version of the Startup Disk

Control Panel.

 The Finder has been completely rewritten in Cocoa to take advantage of

the new technologies introduced in Snow Leopard.

 A much smaller OS footprint, taking up about 7 GB less space than Mac

OS X Leopard. Some of the recovered disk space (~250 MB) is because

printer drivers are now downloaded or installed only as needed, rather

than being pre-installed. The default install only contains those drivers

needed for existing printers and a small subset of popular printers.

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 iChat enhancements include greater resolution video chats in iChat

Theater and lowered upload bandwidth requirements.

 Microsoft Exchange support is now integrated into the Mail, Address Book,

and iCal applications. However, only Microsoft Exchange 2007 is

supported and customers using prior versions of Exchange must either

upgrade or use Microsoft Entourage.

 Full multi-touch trackpad support has been added to notebooks prior to

those introduced in October 2008. While the original MacBook Air and

other early multi-touch trackpad enabled notebooks had support for some

gestures, they were unable to use four-finger gestures. This limitation has

now been removed in Snow Leopard.

 Preview can infer the structure of a paragraph in a PDF document.

 QuickTime X, the next version of QuickTime player and multimedia

framework, has been completely rewritten into a full 64-bit Cocoa

application and builds on the media technologies in Mac OS X, such as

Core Audio, Core Video, and Core Animation, to deliver playback. Apple

has redesigned the QuickTime user interface to resemble the full-screen

QuickTime view in prior versions, where the entire window displays the

video. The titlebar and playback controls fade in and out as needed.

QuickTime X also supports HTTP live streaming and takes advantage of

ColorSync to provide high-quality color reproduction. If Snow Leopard is

installed on a Mac with an nVidia GeForce 9400M, 320M or GT 330M

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 graphics card, QuickTime X will be able to use its video-decoding

capabilities to reduce CPU load.

 Safari 4 features Top Sites, Cover Flow, VoiceOver, expanded standards

support, and built-in crash resistance, which prevents browser crashes

caused by plug-ins by running them in separate processes. Safari 4 is

bundled with Snow Leopard but does not require it, as it is available for

free for Mac OS X Tiger and Leopard as well as Windows.

 Time Machine connection establishment and backups are now much

faster.

 VoiceOver has also been greatly enhanced in Snow Leopard. Reading of

web pages is improved with Auto Web Spots — areas of a page

automatically designated for quick access. On newer Apple portables,

trackpad gestures can be used to control VoiceOver functions, including

the "rotor" gesture first seen in VoiceOver for the iPhone 3GS, allowing for

the changing of certain VoiceOver navigation options by rotating fingers

on the trackpad. Braille Display support is also improved, with Bluetooth

displays supported for the first time.

Advantages

 Effective and unparalleled multitasking feature: Multitasking is another notable

advantage of macOS. Mac computers have hardware specifications designed for

multitasking. And because macOS integrates seamlessly with Mac hardware

components, the overall operation is smooth and responsive.

79
  Seamless integration between OS and hardware: Apple is both a software

developer and a device manufacturer. This means that they have optimised the

macOS to work seamlessly with all of the hardware components of a Mac device.

It also ensures that all hardware components work hand-in-hand.

Disadvantages

 It’s lack of game titles and advanced gaming experience: There are more game

titles available for Windows than in macOS. This is another noteworthy

disadvantage of macOS. Some titles from independent producers that have

gained large following are unavailable for Mac computers.

 The fact remains that Apple sells expensive computers whether it is the new

MacBook Pro with Retina or a Mac Mini. This is more noticeable when comparing

the price point of Mac computers with their Windows counterpart.

Version 10.7: "Lion"

Mac OS X Lion (version 10.7; marketed as Mac OS X 10.7 Lion) is the eighth major

release of Mac OS X (now named macOS), Apple's desktop and server operating

system for Macintosh computers.

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A preview of Mac OS X 10.7 Lion was publicly unveiled 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. 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.

Features

 Some new features were announced at the "Back to the Mac" keynote in October

2010, and the Apple website was updated in February 2011, with more details.

Other features were announced at the WWDC 2011 keynote or on Apple's Mac

OS X Lion Web site after the keynote. Apple states that there are over 250 new

or changed features in Lion, including:

 Address Book uses an iPad-like user interface. It also includes improved Yahoo

support and FaceTime calling.

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 AirDrop – Lion-to-Lion direct file sharing via Wi-Fi Direct. No wireless access

point required.

 Address space layout randomization – Address space layout randomization

(ASLR), a security technique that puts important data in unpredictable locations,

making it harder to target known weaknesses, is available for 32-bit applications,

and "has been improved for all applications", in Lion.

 Apple Push Notification Service – Send over-the-air alerts, such as news updates

or social networking status changes, using Apple's Push Notification service to

applications that support APNS. APNS allows Mac OS X Lion and iOS clients to

receive push changes to items such as mail, calendar and contacts from a

configured OS X Lion Server.

 Auto-correction behaves much like on iOS devices, displaying an iOS-like popup

box.

 Auto Save – As in iOS, documents in applications written to use Auto Save are

saved automatically so users do not have to worry about manually managing

their documents. The Auto Save feature significantly alters traditional workflow

patterns and is a controversial addition to the system.

 Emoji support – Apple has added a new Emoji font commonly used in chat to

express ideograms.

 Exposé in the Dock, a way of activating Exposé for a single application from the

Dock, a feature added in Mac OS X 10.6, is altered. One must double-tap with

two fingers on a dock icon to initiate single application exposé, or simply right-

click or control-click and select Show All Windows.

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 FaceTime comes bundled with Lion.

 FileVault offers full disk encryption and added security with XTS-AES 128 data

encryption. Support for FileVault on external hard drives has also been added.

 Finder improvements – Finder search allows multiple search criteria to be

specified without creating a smart folder, Finder search offers suggestions, files

can be grouped by various attributes, and one can merge files under two folders

with the same name – a prompt appears asking to replace or keep both files.

The navigation sidebar lost the ability to show the specific icon of a map[vague]

or volume (by default; there is a hack to still add the old ability), instead it shows

a grey standard map icon.

 Font Book 3—Font Book 3 provides more flexible displays of character glyphs

supplied by a particular font face. Duplicate font files are flagged with a warning

icon, and can be fixed automatically or resolved manually.

 Full-screen apps – Native, system-wide support for full-screen applications

running in their own space. Supporting applications display a new button at the

top right of application window, this button opens applications in full-screen

mode. However, full screen mode is not supported for dual screen setups.

 High-quality multilingual speech voices – users can download new high-quality

voices in more than forty languages and dialects.

 iCal has an updated user interface, an annual view, and support for a full-screen

view.

 iChat has support for logging into Yahoo! Messenger. Users can audio- and

video-chat with other iChat users using their Yahoo! accounts.

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 Languages/Localization – Arabic, Czech, Turkish and Hungarian are added as

full system languages, to make the total number of twenty-two languages

available in Mac OS X.

 Launchpad – An application launcher that displays an iOS-like icon grid of

installed applications. It features the ability to make multiple pages and group

apps into folders that function the same as folders in iOS.

 Mac App Store – An application store built in the image of the iOS App Store.

Like in iOS, it provides ways for shoppers to discover apps, one-click installation

of apps, and one-click updates of all or selected installed applications. Despite

being announced as a future feature of Lion, the Mac App Store was released for

Mac OS X Snow Leopard on January 6, 2011, as it was bundled with the Mac

OS X 10.6.6 update.

 Mail 5 – Uses an iPad-like user interface, has a fullscreen-optimized view, uses

chronological "Conversations" to organize messages, and supports Exchange

2010 (but not through the Exchange ActiveSync protocol, as iOS).

 Mission Control replaces the "All windows" Exposé feature. It gives an overview

of all running applications just like "All windows" but groups windows from the

same application. At the top of the screen it gives quick access to the

Dashboard, Spaces, and running full-screen applications.

 Multi-touch gestures – Similar to iOS, additional gestures performed using a

multi-touch input device (e.g. Magic Mouse, Magic Trackpad) allow the user to

scroll, swipe to different pages, and enter Mission Control. While this is not the

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 first official multi-touch support for Mac OS X, it has been expanded; other

frameworks, such as Lux, have already created multi-touch support.

 Multi-User Screen Sharing—The built-in Screen Sharing feature allows remote

users to log into a separate user account from the one that is currently logged in.

That means that while one user is logged into a machine, a second user can log

into the same machine remotely, seeing their own desktop and user

environment.

 Preview gains several features, including full-screen support and the ability to

sign a document just by holding a signed piece of paper up to the camera.

 Profile Manager provides several features, including push notification-based

management of OS X Lion and above.

 QuickTime re-incorporates some features from QuickTime Pro. New features

cited include Copy/Paste, Insert Clip, Crop Video, Rotate Video, Resize, Trim,

and more Export options.

 Recovery Partition – Apple has introduced a recovery partition that includes

utilities generally found on the OS X discs. This partition permits the user to

restore their computer to its original factory state. It also allows for a new copy of

OS X Lion to be installed over the internet.

 Resume – Applications resume in the same state when re-opened as already

seen in iOS.

 Safari – With full-screen mode and the new WebKit2 layout engine.

 System Information – This feature is a re-design of System Profiler, which has

been completely altered with new views which display graphical information on

85
 displays, storage devices, memory usage along with other hardware information.

The previous layout remains available by clicking "System Report". Early builds

of Lion also used System Information as a replacement for "About This Mac",

although the final release reinstated the version of this dialog box found in Snow

Leopard.

 Terminal has extra features, including full screen mode.

 TextEdit gains a new graphical toolbar with font selection and text highlighting.

The new TextEdit also supports Apple's new automatic file saving and versions

technologies.

 Versions – Time Machine-like saving and browsing of past versions of

documents for applications written to use Versions.

 Vertical text – Lion supports vertical layouts for East Asian languages.

Advantages

• Effective and unparalleled multitasking feature: Multitasking is another notable

advantage of macOS. Mac computers have hardware specifications designed for

multitasking. And because macOS integrates seamlessly with Mac hardware

components, the overall operation is smooth and responsive.

86
• Integration with other Apple products: One of the strengths of Apple is that most

of the products under the brand are completely integrated. The iPhone or iPad works

best with a Mac computer. This advantage of macOS is exclusive for Apple users—or

those individuals with several Apple devices.

Disadvantages

• Inflexible when it comes to hardware upgrades: A standard Mac computer cannot

be upgraded easily because most of its hardware components are integrated both at a

design and engineering levels. This is a macOS disadvantage that is unacceptable for

hobbyists.

• Lack of game titles and advanced gaming experience: There are more game

titles available for Windows than in macOS. This is another noteworthy disadvantage of

macOS. Some titles from independent producers that have gained large following are

unavailable for Mac computers.

Version 10.8: "Mountain Lion"

87
OS X Mountain Lion (version 10.8) is the ninth major release of OS X (now named

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. 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. Mountain Lion is also the final version of OS X to be

developed under the supervision of then-OS X head Scott Forstall.

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

88
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.

Features

 Notification Center

 Main article: Notification Center

 Notification Center was added in the operating system. It provides an overview of

alerts from applications and displays notifications until the user completes an

associated action, rather than requiring instant resolution. Users may choose

what applications appear in Notification Center, and how they are handled.

There are three types of notifications: banners, alerts, and badges. Banners are

displayed for a short period of time in the upper right corner of the Mac's screen,

and then slide off to the right. The icon of the application is displayed on the left

side of the banner, while the message from the application will be displayed on

the right side. Alerts are the same as banners, but will not disappear from the

screen until the user takes action. Badges are red notification icons that are

displayed on the application's icon. They indicate the number of items available

for the application.

 Notification Center can be accessed by clicking the icon in the right corner of the

menu bar. When open, the user can click a button to tweet, post status updates

to Facebook, or view all notifications in the sidebar pane. Swiping up will reveal

the option to disable Notification Center for one day. Many settings of

Notification Center can be customized under the "Notifications" pane in System

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 Preferences. Each application can have three ways to display notifications: none,

banners, and alerts. Options to toggle the app icons and sounds are also

available. Users can click and drag an app in the pane to change the order the

applications are displayed within Notification Center.

 Notes

 Main article: Notes (application)

 Notes, another transfer from iOS, is added. It is separate from Mail in its own

application, with support for desktop notes added (syncs along with its iOS

counterpart). Created notes are synced through all the user's Apple devices

through the iCloud service.[citation needed] Notes can be arranged in folders,

and pinned to the user's desktop. When the application is closed, the pinned note

still remains.[citation needed]

 Notes can be created in three different default fonts - Noteworthy, Marker Felt,

and Helvetica. Users can add custom fonts by visiting the Show Fonts menu. The

menu allows users to change text size, format lists, choose the alignment (left,

center, justify, or right), assign a writing direction, and indent text. Attachments,

images, and hyperlinks can also be added into a note. Attachments cannot be

viewed on iOS devices.

 Messages

 Main article: Messages (application)

 Messages, an instant messaging software application, is added in Mountain Lion.

It was announced on February 16, 2012, as part of the OS X Mountain Lion

developer preview. Starting with this release, Messages replaced iChat as the

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 default OS X instant-messaging client. A free beta version of Messages was

available to download for Mac OS X Lion from the Apple website until June 2012.

The final version of Messages was included with the release version of OS X

Mountain Lion.

 As with its predecessor, Messages has text messaging, audio, and screen-

sharing capabilities. Messages also contains native video conversation support,

utilising Apple's FaceTime video calling application where possible. However, it

does retain video capabilities for interfacing with other instant messaging clients.

Messages supports Apple's iMessage, a free instant messaging service

previously only available on devices running iOS 5. It also supports both

Extensible Messaging and Presence Protocol (XMPP) (shown in the application

under its former name, Jabber) and the AOL Instant Messenger (AIM) OSCAR

protocol. In addition, it also offers a direct connection to Yahoo! Messenger and

Google Talk.

 Game Center

 Main article: Game Center

 The Game Center application from iOS was added in OS X Mountain Lion. It is

an online multiplayer social-gaming network, and allows users to invite friends to

play a game, start a multiplayer game through matchmaking, track their

achievements, and compare their high scores on a leader board. Points are

awarded to players as a part of Game Center's achievement tracking system.

Players can earn points by meeting specific in-game challenges.[citation needed]

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 A player must establish an Apple ID to associate with a Game Center nickname.

A player has the option to create an Apple ID from within Game Center if he or

she does not already have one. Only one nickname may be associated with an

Apple ID at any given time.[citation needed] Each player is assigned a profile in

Game Center. A profile consists of the player's nickname, the number of Game

Center-compatible games the player owns, the number of friends the player has,

the number of achievement points a player has, and an optional photo and

player-defined status.[citation needed]

 Application updates

 OS X Mountain Lion added updates for many applications on the operating

system. The Chess app supports Game Center. Dashboard widgets can be

managed in a UI similar to Launchpad. Mail adds new VIP feature to save

frequent contacts. The Preview app gets an improved user interface. It is able to

fill out forms in PDF documents that don't contain actual PDF form fields.

Reminders is a new to-do list application, separate from Calendar in its own

application that syncs along with its iOS counterpart. Safari 6 gets a new release

and features a new address bar; a combination of the address bar and the

search field. The address bar also has a "Reader" button, showing the user just

the text of the article without advertisements and distraction. When the user is on

a website with no article, the button is disabled. Safari 6 is available as a

download for Mac OS X Lion. Time Machine is able to do rotating backups on

more than one storage medium.

 Other updates

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 AirPlay Mirroring is added, which allows wireless mirroring of a Mac's screen to

an Apple TV. System-wide integration of AirPlay audio transmission is added.

There are many new features for Chinese users, including support for Baidu as

an option for Safari search engine, QQ, 163.com and 126.com services for Mail,

Contacts and Calendar, Youku, Tudou and Sina Weibo are integrated into share

sheets. Dictation, new in Mountain Lion, is a system-wide voice input

mechanism that requires a broadband Internet connection. Facebook gained full

integration following an update in late 2012. Some of the features include single-

sign on and integration in Notification Center, Contacts and Share Sheets.

Gatekeeper, also new to Mountain Lion, is an anti-malware feature based on

digital signatures and the Mac App Store.

 Power Nap allows flash storage-based Macintoshes (late 2010 MacBook Air and

later, or the MacBook Pro with Retina display) to synchronize with iCloud

(Reminders, Calendars, Photo Stream, Notes, Mail, and Find My Mac) while

sleeping and also allows a Mac to download App Store and OS X updates as

well as make periodic Time Machine backups when it is plugged in and sleeping.

Several new screensavers were added. Share Sheets, a "Share" button and

dialog box in Safari and other applications, are added. Twitter was integrated

with almost all of the applications, with single-sign on, tweeting from an app,

Tweet Sheets, tweeting photos and links, using multiple Twitter accounts, Twitter

notifications, profile picture integration, and Location Services available.

 Application updates automatically install from the Mac App Store. The iCloud

library User interface (UI) was integrated throughout the operating systems,

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 which includes new Open and Save dialog boxes across built-in applications,

iWork and third-party applications via an Application programming interface

(API). Applications that make use of this API support a new user interface to view

and manage documents in the cloud that are specific to the application being

used. Documents can be renamed from the title bar. iWork documents

automatically synchronize with iCloud. The full screen ability is on every

display.[citation needed]

 The Dock has received an updated look, emulating the appearance of the

aluminum metal surface that much of Apple's current hardware line-up sports.

Scroll bars widen when the mouse hovers over them. Finder displays a progress

bar in the "size" column when copying a file, and on icons in Launchpad when

downloading from the Mac App Store. Launchpad has Spotlight search for finding

applications. Address Book was renamed "Contacts", and iCal was renamed

"Calendar".

 Dropped and changed features

 MobileMe was replaced entirely by iCloud, specifically in System Preferences

options.[citation needed]

 RSS support in Mail and Safari was removed; a message is shown to suggest to

users that they search the Mac App Store for an RSS app.[citation needed]

 The Software Update service was unified into the Mac App Store.

 The list of updates installed in the past was removed.

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 The "Web Sharing" option was removed from System Preferences. Apache is still

included with the operating system and can be enabled using third-party

software.

 When the X11 app is opened, users are directed to the open source XQuartz

project instead.

 Xgrid support was removed (including in OS X Server edition).

 The Display Preferences status menu was replaced by the AirPlay icon, and it is

no longer possible to quickly switch resolutions without first opening up

preferences.

 The option in Menu Bar to display battery life using "Time" is no longer offered.

Instead, the only option is to display battery "Percentage". However, battery time

can still be viewed in the dropdown by clicking on the battery icon.[citation

needed]

Advantages

• Effective and unparalleled multitasking feature: Multitasking is another

notable advantage of macOS. Mac computers have hardware specifications

designed for multitasking. And because macOS integrates seamlessly with Mac

hardware components, the overall operation is smooth and responsive.

• Integration with other Apple products: One of the strengths of Apple is that

most of the products under the brand are completely integrated. The iPhone or

iPad works best with a Mac computer. This advantage of macOS is exclusive for

Apple users—or those individuals with several Apple devices

95
 Disadvantages

• Inflexible when it comes to hardware upgrades: A standard Mac computer

cannot be upgraded easily because most of its hardware components are

integrated both at a design and engineering levels. This is a macOS

disadvantage that is unacceptable for hobbyists.

• Lack of game titles and advanced gaming experience: There are more

game titles available for Windows than in macOS. This is another noteworthy

disadvantage of macOS. Some titles from independent producers that have

gained large following are unavailable for Mac computers.

Version 10.9: "Mavericks"

OS X Mavericks (version 10.9) is the tenth major release of OS X (now named

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, as a free upgrade through the Mac App

Store 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

96
 in 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.

Features

 The menu bar and the Dock are available on each display. Additionally, AirPlay

compatible displays such as the Apple TV can be used as an external display.

Mission Control has been updated to organize and switch between Desktop

workspaces independently between multiple displays.

 OS X Mavericks introduced App Nap, which sleeps apps that are not currently

visible. Any app running on Mavericks can be eligible for this feature by

default.

 Compressed Memory is a virtual memory compression system which

automatically compresses data from inactive apps when approaching maximum

memory capacity.

 Timer coalescing is a feature that enhances energy efficiency by reducing CPU

usage by up to 72 percent. This allows MacBooks to run for longer periods of

time and desktop Macs to run cooler.

 Apple now supports OpenGL 4.1 Core Profile and OpenCL 1.2. Server

Message Block version 2 (SMB2) is now the default protocol for sharing files

instead of AFP. This is to increase performance and cross-platform

compatibility.

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 Some skeuomorphs, such as the leather texture in Calendar, the legal pad theme

of Notes, and the book-like appearance of Contacts, have been removed from

the UI.

 iCloud Keychain stores a user's usernames, passwords and Wi-Fi passwords to

allow the user to fill this information into forms when needed.

 The system has native LinkedIn sharing integration.

 IPoTB (Internet Protocol over Thunderbolt Bridge) Thunderbolt networking is

supported in Mavericks. This feature allows the user to quickly transfer a large

amount of data between two Macs.

 Notification Center allows the user to reply to notifications instantly, allow

websites to send notifications, and the user returns to a Mac in a sleep state, the

user will see a summary of missed notifications. Some system alerts, such as

low battery, removal of drives without ejecting, and a failed Time Machine backup

have been moved to Notification Center.

 The "traffic light" close, minimize, and maximize window buttons have appeared

somewhat brighter.

 App features

 Finder gets enhancements such as tabs, fullscreen support, and document tags.

Pinch-to-zoom and swipe-to-navigate-history gestures have been removed,

although both are supported anywhere else.

 The new iBooks application allows the user to read books purchased through the

iBooks Store. The app also allows the user to purchase new content from the

iBooks Store, and a night mode to make it easier to read in dark environments.

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 The new Maps application allows the user the same functionality as in iOS Maps.

 The Calendar app has enhancements such as being able to add Facebook

events, and an estimate for the travel time of an event

 The Safari browser has a significantly enhanced JavaScript performance which

Apple claims is faster than Chrome and Firefox. A Top Sites view allows the to

quickly access the most viewed sites by default. However, the user can pin or

remove websites from the view. The sidebar now allows the user to view their

bookmarks, reading list and shared links. Safari can also auto-generate random

passwords and remember them through iCloud Keychain.

Advantages

• Effective and unparalleled multitasking feature: Multitasking is another

notable advantage of macOS. Mac computers have hardware specifications

designed for multitasking. And because macOS integrates seamlessly with Mac

hardware components, the overall operation is smooth and responsive.

• Integration with other Apple products: One of the strengths of Apple is that

most of the products under the brand are completely integrated. The iPhone or

iPad works best with a Mac computer. This advantage of macOS is exclusive for

Apple users—or those individuals with several Apple devices.

99
Disadvantages

• Inflexible when it comes to hardware upgrades: A standard Mac computer

cannot be upgraded easily because most of its hardware components are

integrated both at a design and engineering levels. This is a macOS

disadvantage that is unacceptable for hobbyists.

• Lack of game titles and advanced gaming experience: There are more

game titles available for Windows than in macOS. This is another noteworthy

disadvantage of macOS. Some titles from independent producers that have

gained large following are unavailable for Mac computers.

Version 10.10: "Yosemite"

OS X Yosemite (/joʊˈsɛmᵻtiː/ yoh-SEM-it-ee) (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.

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 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 California landmark-

based naming scheme introduced with OS X Mavericks, Yosemite is named after

the national park.

Features

 Design

 Yosemite introduced a major overhaul of OS X's user interface. Its graphics

replaced skeuomorphism with flat graphic design and blurred translucency

effects, following the aesthetic introduced with iOS 7. Some icons have been

changed to correspond with those of iOS 7 and iOS 8. Yosemite maintains the

OS X desktop metaphor.

 Other design changes include new icons, light and dark color schemes, and the

replacement of Lucida Grande with Helvetica Neue as the default system

typeface. The Dock is now a 2D translucent rectangle instead of a

skeuomorphic glass shelf, reminiscent of the Dock design used in early versions

of OS X through Tiger and in iOS since iOS 7.

 Continuity

 Many of Yosemite's new features focus on the theme of continuity, increasing its

integration with other Apple services and platforms such as iOS and iCloud. The

Handoff functionality allows the operating system to integrate with iOS 8 devices

over Bluetooth LE and Wi-Fi; users can place and answer phone calls using their

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 iPhone as a conduit, send and receive text messages, activate personal

hotspots, or load items being worked on in a mobile app (such as Mail drafts or

Numbers spreadsheets) directly into their desktop equivalent.

 Notification Center

 Notification Center features a new "Today" view, similar to that in iOS. The Today

view can display information and updates from various sources, along with

widgets. The widgets in the Today view are similar to those of iOS 8.

 Photos

 As of OS X 10.10.3, Photos replaces iPhoto and Aperture. It uses iCloud Photo

Library to upload all the user's photos across their devices.

 Other

 Spotlight is a more prominent part of the operating system; it now displays its

search box in the center of the screen and can include results from online

sources, including Bing, Maps, and Wikipedia. Stock applications such as Safari

and Mail have been updated. In particular, many security features have been

added to Safari, such as a custom history clearing option that lets users clear

history, cookies, and other data from the previous hour, day, or two days. In

addition, Apple added DuckDuckGo to its search offerings, a non-tracking search

engine that doesn’t store users’ data. Safari allows you to remotely close tabs

from an iOS device. Safari now supports browsing in private browsing mode with

certain windows (as opposed to all the windows having to be either in or out of

private browsing).

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 The green "zoom" button on windows now has a different function in applications

that support full screen mode. Instead of simply enlarging the window, the button

now enters full screen mode, eliminating the full screen button at the top right

corner of windows that has been present since Mac OS X Lion. However, holding

the Option key (⌥) while clicking the zoom button or double-clicking on the

window chrome continues to invoke the original behavior. :123–124

 JavaScript for Automation (JXA) is the new system-wide support for scripting with

JavaScript, built upon JavaScriptCore and the Open Scripting Architecture. It

features an Objective-C bridge which enables entire Cocoa applications to be

programmed in JavaScript.

 Along with other framework changes, CloudKit was integrated in this release.

CloudKit functions as a Mobile Backend as a Service (MBaaS) and is one

method for App developers to integrate access to Apple’s iCloud servers into

their apps.

 There is a "dark mode" in System Preferences which makes the dock and menu

bar darker.

Advantages

• Effective and unparalleled multitasking feature: Multitasking is another notable

advantage of macOS. Mac computers have hardware specifications designed for

103
multitasking. And because macOS integrates seamlessly with Mac hardware

components, the overall operation is smooth and responsive.

• Integration with other Apple products: One of the strengths of Apple is that most

of the products under the brand are completely integrated. The iPhone or iPad works

best with a Mac computer. This advantage of macOS is exclusive for Apple users—

or those individuals with several Apple devices.

Disadvantages

• Inflexible when it comes to hardware upgrades: A standard Mac computer cannot

be upgraded easily because most of its hardware components are integrated both at

a design and engineering levels. This is a macOS disadvantage that is unacceptable

for hobbyists.

• Lack of game titles and advanced gaming experience: There are more game

titles available for Windows than in macOS. This is another noteworthy disadvantage

of macOS. Some titles from independent producers that have gained large following

are unavailable for Mac computers.

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Version 10.11: "El Capitan"

 OS X El Capitan el-KAP-ɪ-TAHN) (IPA:/ɛl kæpitɑːn/) (version 10.11) is the

twelfth major release of OS X (now named macOS), Apple Inc.'s desktop and

server operating system for Macintosh computers. It is the successor to OS X

Yosemite and focuses mainly on performance, stability and security.

Following the 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. El

Capitan is the final version to be released under the name OS X; its

successor, Sierra, was announced as macOS Sierra.

 The first beta of OS X El Capitan was released to developers shortly following

the 2015 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.

Features

OS X El Capitan includes features to improve the security, performance, design

and usability of OS X. Compared to OS X Yosemite, Apple says that opening

PDFs is four times faster, app switching and viewing messages in Mail is twice

as fast and launching apps is 40% faster. The maximum amount of memory that

could be allocated to the graphics processor has been increased from 1024 MB

to 1536 MB on Macs with an Intel HD 4000 GPU. OS X El Capitan supports

105
 Metal, Apple's graphics API introduced in iOS 8 to speed up performance in

games and professional applications. Apple's typeface San Francisco replaces

Helvetica Neue as the system typeface. OS X El Capitan also adopts LibreSSL

in replacement of OpenSSL used in previous versions.

Advantages

• Effective and unparalleled multitasking feature: Multitasking is another notable

advantage of macOS. Mac computers have hardware specifications designed for

multitasking. And because macOS integrates seamlessly with Mac hardware

components, the overall operation is smooth and responsive.

• Integration with other Apple products: One of the strengths of Apple is that most

of the products under the brand are completely integrated. The iPhone or iPad works

best with a Mac computer. This advantage of macOS is exclusive for Apple users—

or those individuals with several Apple devices.

Disadvantages

• Inflexible when it comes to hardware upgrades: A standard Mac computer cannot

be upgraded easily because most of its hardware components are integrated both at

a design and engineering levels. This is a macOS disadvantage that is unacceptable

for hobbyists.

106
 • Lack of game titles and advanced gaming experience: There are more game

titles available for Windows than in macOS. This is another noteworthy disadvantage

of macOS. Some titles from independent producers that have gained large following

are unavailable for Mac computers.

MacOS Sierra

 macOS Sierra (version 10.12) is the thirteenth major release of macOS

(previously OS X), Apple Inc.'s desktop and server operating system for

Macintosh computers. The successor to OS X El Capitan, it is the first version

of the operating system issued under the June 2016 rebranding as macOS.

Sierra is named after California's Sierra Nevada mountain range. The

mountain in the default desktop picture is Lone Pine Peak. Its major new

features concern Continuity, iCloud, and windowing, as well as support for

Apple Pay and Siri.

 The first beta of macOS Sierra was released to developers shortly following

the 2016 WWDC keynote on June 13, 2016. The first public-beta release

followed on July 7, 2016. It was released to end users on September 20,

2016 as a free upgrade through the Mac App Store.

Features

 Siri

 A demonstration of Siri on macOS Sierra Beta.

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 The user can access the Siri intelligent assistant via the Dock, the menu bar

or a keyboard shortcut and results are shown in a window in the upper-right

corner. Siri can send messages, search the web, find files and adjust

settings. Results can be dropped into other applications or pinned to

Notification Center. For instance, pictures from search results can be

dragged into a document.

 iCloud Drive and Optimized Storage

 This image shows what the Optimized Storage suggestions are.

 iCloud Drive can upload the user's documents and desktop directories and

sync them to other devices. The System Information application has a new

section that gives the user detailed information about space usage per

application or file and provides tools and suggestions for freeing up space.

For instance, the user can let the system upload old files to iCloud Drive and

remove their local copies, keeping them available on-demand in Finder. It can

also remove old files from trash automatically. iTunes can delete watched,

purchased films and TV programs from its library.

 Auto Unlock and Universal Clipboard

 Building upon Continuity, an "umbrella term features that facilitate the

communication between [Apple devices]" using Bluetooth and Wi-Fi, Sierra

adds two features. With Auto Unlock, the user can unlock their user account

by holding a paired Apple Watch close to the device. Time of flight is used to

prevent relay attacks. Auto Unlock requires a Mac that was introduced in

2013 or later. With Universal Clipboard, the user can share the clipboard for

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 cut, copy and paste between macOS Sierra and iOS 10 devices, including

text and rich content, such as pictures or videos.

 Tabs and Picture-in-Picture

 Applications that support multiple windows can support multiple tabs within a

single window, allowing the user to keep windows organized similarly to

Safari. With Picture-in-Picture, videos can be played in a floating window that

follows the user across the system.[clarification needed]

 Apple File System

 Apple released a preview of a new file system, called Apple File System

(APFS), to overcome the limitations of HFS Plus. It is intended for solid-state

drives and flash memory and will adopt several features found in modern file

systems, such as snapshots and cloning, as well as native support for

features that Apple already provides in HFS Plus through supplementary

software, such as file-system encryption and trim. The file system is currently

experimental and a release is planned for 2017. Apple plans to document and

publish the APFS volume format.

 Night Shift

 Night Shift is new in macOS 10.12.4 beta; it works the same as in iOS. Night

Shift reduces blue light at night for better reading; this can be scheduled in

the settings app, along with a toggle in Notification Center.

 Application features

 Photos

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 Apple says it has improved the face recognition of the Photos application,

adding object and scene recognition. It groups similar pictures together using

faces, locations and object recognition to create "memories". Memories

contain picture slideshows with transitions and music selected by the

algorithm, which can be modified to the user's liking. The "People" album

organizes photos by the people in them, and Places shows all photos on a

world map.

 Safari and Apple Pay

 Safari provides an "extension point" which enables developers to bundle

Safari extensions within their Cocoa applications and communicate with them

directly from the applications. Safari conceals the presence of installed

"legacy" plug-ins – such as Adobe Flash Player, Java applets, Microsoft

Silverlight and QuickTime – from websites and requires the user to enable a

specific plug-in on a per-use or per-website basis.

 Apple Pay allows vendors to embed an Apple Pay button on their websites. In

Safari, users can click the Apple Pay button to check out, then complete a

purchase using an iPhone or Apple Watch. Apple Pay requires a Mac that

supports Continuity (2012 or later models) and either an iPhone 6 or later with

iOS 10, or an Apple Watch with watchOS 3.

 Messages

 The Messages app adds aesthetic effects to messages, such as three times

bigger emojis and click back with hearts or thumbs-up on a message bubble.

The ability to play YouTube videos and preview links in a conversation was

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 introduced. Users can view interactive content added to iMessage in iOS 10.

The app also allows you to turn on or off read receipts on a conversation by

conversation basis.

 iTunes

 Apple Music within iTunes has been redesigned, making it simpler to find

favorite songs and discover new ones. A new "For You" tab has been added,

which suggests new music the user might like (similar to the existing

Genius).[citation needed] A refined MiniPlayer with the ability to view lyrics

while you listen has also been introduced.

 Notes

 The Notes app allows the user to share and collaborate on notes. This is

done by clicking on a share button at the top of the window.

 Other changes

 Disk Utility regains the ability to format and manage RAID sets, after it was

removed in El Capitan.

 Finder has an option to show folders always at the top of the view hierarchy,

for instance in list views.

 Mail adds a control to the top of email lists to quickly filter them, for instance,

by read status or the presence of attachments.

 Security improvements

 Gatekeeper

 macOS Sierra slightly changes the Gatekeeper user interface and adds two

new mechanisms. A new default in System Preferences hides the "Anywhere"

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 option which allows the user to disable the mechanism and execute programs

from any source without needing to approve each new one individually.

 The first new mechanism allows developers to code-sign disk images that can

be verified as a unit by the system. This allows developers to guarantee the

integrity of external files that are distributed alongside the application bundle

on the same disk image. An attacker could infect these external files with

malicious code and with them exploit a vulnerability in the application, without

having to break the signature of the application bundle itself. By signing the

disk image, the developer can prevent tampering and force an attacker to

repackage the files onto a new disk image, requiring a valid developer

certificate to pass Gatekeeper without a warning.

 The second new mechanism is "path randomization", which executes

application bundles from a random, hidden path and prevents them from

accessing external files relative to their location. To avoid this, the developer

has to distribute the application bundle and its external files on a signed disk

image or in a signed installer package. The user can avoid this mechanism by

moving the application bundle without its external files to a new location.

 Directory permissions and sudo

 The Unix permissions for writing to the /Volumes directory are now restricted

to root and no longer "world-writable". Apple expanded System Integrity

Protection to /Library/Application Support/com.apple.TCC, a directory that

contains a list of applications that are allowed to "control the computer", and

restricts write access to programs which were signed with an Apple "private

112
 entitlement". The file-hosting service Dropbox has been criticized for

manipulating the directory to add their Dropbox application to the list, rather

than asking the user to do it for them explicitly in System Preferences.

 The sudo command-line utility with which a user can execute a command as

another user, typically as root, is configured with the "tty_tickets" flag by

default, restricting the session timeout to the terminal session (such as a

window or tab) in which the user authenticated the program.

 Removed functionality

 Sierra removes support for garbage collection from the Objective-C runtime,

a memory-management system that was added in Mac OS X Leopard and

declared deprecated in favor of Automatic Reference Counting in OS X

Mountain Lion. Applications that have been compiled with garbage collection

will no longer run.

 Apple removed native support for the VPN protocol PPTP and made

recommendations for alternatives that it considers more secure.

 In the 10.12.2 update the "time remaining" estimate has been removed after

complaints of the battery life of 2016 MacBook Pros.

 The Game Center app has been removed. However, the service still exists.

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Mac vs. Windows

Mac Hardware Costs Too Much for What You Get

Many feel the cost of a Mac is too high for what you get, but others justify the heftier
price tag by citing top-tier support, higher quality hardware, and the benefits of the
Apple ecosystem. Whether or not you feel those points are accurate, Mac
hardware does come with a number of limitations when it comes to specifications. If you
want a machine you can upgrade beyond the drive, RAM, or sometimes anything at all,
it'll cost you $2,499 for a Mac Pro. Reader (and systems administrator) Stego
summarizes this problem nicely:

The kicker with Mac, however, is that only a limited selection of hardware is officially
sanctioned, and they're no longer the powerhouse machines of yore; few include
dedicated GPUs, and those that do cost thousands of dollars (in other words, you can
forget about a good gaming experience).

If you want a cheaper Mac made by Apple, you're stuck with a computer you can't do
much to upgrade and likely won't be able to use for gaming purposes. You can, of
course, build a hackintosh to work around this problem. You can still use OS X, get
more powerful hardware, and pay a lot less. That said, as Stego notes, the hardware
isn't officially sanctioned by Apple meaning you handle the repairs and compatibility
could break at any point.

Windows Has More Software

As reader Chris Vician mentions, Windows has "tons of software. Just tons of it." If app
stores offer any indication, he's right. The Windows Store already has over 50,000
apps despite its youth whereas the Mac App Store had a little under 14,000 at the end
of its second year. Of course, the Windows Store is also a store for tablet apps, so
those numbers may not be a perfect measurement. Mac users could also make a

114
quality-over-quantity argument, but that's largely a matter of personal opinion. From our
standpoint, as bloggers who sift through many downloads on each platforms, you'll find
plenty of crappy downloads regardless of your platform. While what software you love
and use may matter the most when choosing a platform, Windows unquestionably
offers more options, at least when it comes to bigger apps like music players, video
players, IM clients, and other things of that nature.

Of course, both Windows and OS X have their own standout apps that aren't available
on the other.

Windows Offers Greater Flexibility

Although OS X doesn't suffer from Apple's "walled garden" philosophy as its mobile
counterpart iOS, it's hard to argue that Macs offer as much flexibility as Windows PC.
From a hardware standpoint, most Windows PCs let you upgrade whatever you like
whereas Macs do not. Windows users also have the benefit of everything being made
specifically for them. With software, you'll find Apple drops compatibility with old
applications far faster.

Windows is the mainstay of PCs everywhere. 98% of us grew up on PCs, or use PCs
on a daily basis, either at home or at work. Windows is flexible in that regard, running
everything from the latest games to ancient DOS Payroll software for corporations. You
can buy a pre-built PC with Windows from hundreds of vendors, or build your own from
scratch with thousands of different parts. Given time, you can build a PC that fits all of
your needs perfectly. That flexibility, though, comes at a price.

That price is, of course, higher maintenance.

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Macs Have Fewer Viruses and Require Less Maintenance

People used to argue that Macs had no viruses. Some still do, although that statement
is no longer true. Nevertheless, far fewer viruses exist for Mac and most Mac users get
by just fine without any antivirus protection. While this may not last forever, and Apple
doesn't have the best reputation when handling security issues, fewer viruses is a
current and legitimate perk of OS X. Windows, on the other hand, suffers from more
than just a few security exploits as reader Stego explains:

With Windows, you have to stay on top of driver updates, security patches, Anti-Virus
software (still recommended for the Mac, mind, but it's a particular problem with
Windows), etc. Windows is easily bogged down with clutter, bloatware, and memory
munchers.

Even though Windows can require a bit of maintenance, not every PC features
bloatware (such as the ones you build yourself) and requires more updates than a Mac.
Microsoft also handles security issues better and created Microsoft Security
Essentials (Windows Defender in Windows 8) to combat viruses easily. While we feel
Microsoft's offering fell behind its competition, plenty of free antivirus software
exists and works great. Additionally, viruses don't account for some of our primary
security concerns nowadays. As reader Strife Caecus points out, social engineering
attacks and browser-based traps largely contribute to the overall problem:

What about social engineering attacks—where people are tricked into clicking on a link
to install something malicious? Or installing extra browser toolbars? Or how about
phishing sites? Is it assumed that the average Mac user is less likely to be duped by a
social engineering attack?

From our standpoint, Mac users aren't more or less likely to fall for social engineering
attacks and don't know of an accurate way of measuring that likelihood. While viruses

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still offer a considerable threat to Windows, security issues may become platform-
agnostic in the future and render this argument irrelevant.

Both Platforms Work Well for Designers

Back in the 80s and 90s, Macs had a legitimate reputation as the first choice for
designers because the selection of design applications was superior to what you could
get on Windows PCs. Nowadays you often see Macs in design firms likely due to their
aesthetic or just out of habit. Both Windows and OS X feature plenty of great design
apps, and high file compatibility between both platforms. As a result, you'll find more
people who prefer designing on Windows despite the stereotype. Reader Scruffy Kitty
prefers Windows for design due to its speed, device compatibility, and better multi-
monitor support:

[I'm a p]rofessional graphic designer who weirdly prefers Windows. I often find with my
Mac that I use at work slow and not fantastic at multitasking. It is an iMac, fairly new,
and it chugs through things my similarly priced laptop (currently running Windows 8)
does with ease. I had to buy a $30 adapter so I could use my Cintiq with my iMac at
work, and god help me if I wanted to switch between the screens with iMac one running
Photoshop and the Cintiq running Illustrator without having to wait an endless amount of
time for it to stop stalling. I've lost a lot of time at work waiting for my computer to start
working and have learned that if I'm going to work on any hi-res art I should just bring
my laptop in and transfer the files over when I'm done.

Many designers still prefer Apple hardware and OS X for their workflow. Because Macs
are stereotypically seen more as the choice for artists (regardless of whether or not
that's actually accurate), software companies often target Macs for design-related tools.
Additionally, OS X offers excellent font management out of the box and other built-in
tools like Preview for quick conversion and other tasks. Both platforms have their pros
and cons, but when it comes to the design argument you won't find a clear winner on
either side. Like with most things, personal preference will dictate your choice here.

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Windows Offers a Better Gaming Experience

As mentioned earlier, official Apple hardware offers a paltry selection of graphics cards.

While you'll find more and more popular games—including several unique titles—

available for OS X, if you want a bleeding edge gaming experience you won't get it from

a Mac. Few people elaborated on this argument, likely because it speaks for itself: You'll

find fewer gaming options, hardware, and tools to fine-tune performance when using a

Mac. Even if you build a hackintosh and get a powerful GPU, you're still fairly limited in

regards to what you can do with it when running OS X. Oftentimes, the same game will

just run better in Windows than it will in OS X.

Neither Operating System Is Easier to Learn

Macs have a reputation of being the more intuitive choice. Apple would certainly like us

to believe that, but if you ask a handful of Windows users you'll find that they consider

the platform more intuitive in many ways. We believe it comes down to more what

you're used to, or—if new to you're a brand new computer user—how your personal

sensibilities affect your approach to either operating system. Reader Strife Caecus

offers a detailed explanation:

Learning the GUI [Graphical User Interface] for either operating system didn't seem to

be any more difficult. My assumption is if a user barely knows how to turn on a

computer, they're going to go through the same growing pains learning what and how to

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click on things. And if learning a UI [User Interface] is a struggle to begin with, then one

will definitely have some issues switching from one OS to another.

I've spent most of my years in Windows' UI. However, switching to a Mac or Linux UI

wasn't difficult considering I already understand the operations of a UI. Were there

some Mac-specific functions that annoyed me? Sure. Such as the one-button approach

compared to the two-button PC approach. However, that's been resolved several years

ago as now you can right-click on Mac for context menus. Sometimes, I accidentally

open the Mac Dashboard, but aside from that, I do like using the gestures on the Mac

Magic Mouse or the Trackpad.

In my opinion, if you can learn the [Windows] UI, you can learn any UI. Many users are

now used to the familiar Start Menu and taskbar icons. The right-mouse button opens

an extra menu of options and the scroll-wheel scrolls the page in various applications.

With the advent of Windows 8, came the Start Screen. I approached the interface willing

to learn since people in the future will be asking me how to use it. Many others have

approached it much like Sweet Brown's famous meme statement..."Ain't nobody got

time for that!" Nowadays, I switch between it and the Desktop. Yes, I do spend most of

my time on the Desktop. Much of my productivity is done here compared to the Start

Screen. While I don't have the hatred for the Start Screen like many others do, I do

understand the frustration of such an interface if you're a keyboard and mouse user

(with or without a touch screen).

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You can discuss the pros and cons of Macs versus Windows PCs in great detail, but
here's what it comes down to according to you. Most of you recommend Macs for the
following reasons:

 Macs offer a more straightforward approach to computing with fewer

maintenance tasks

 Macs have fewer viruses and security issues (with the caveats mentioned in the
relevant section above, of course)

 Macs can provide a UNIX-like experience and also have commercial applications

 Macs software, on average, focuses more on its user interface and making your
experience enjoyable than Windows software does

 Other Apple devices work best with Apple computers

Conversely, you recommended Windows PCs for these reasons:

 Windows PCs provide lots of flexibility and customization (with both hardware
and software)

 Windows PCs offer support for cutting-edge hardware

 Windows has more software available than any other platform

 Windows offers great backwards-compatibility

 Windows provides a great gaming experience thanks to great hardware support

and lots of games

 Windows offers better options for music production

 Windows is the same platform most of the world uses

On average, you felt both platforms were equal in the following categories:

 Ease of learning

 Good for designers

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