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'''macOS''', which stands for '''Mac'''intosh '''O'''perating '''S'''ystem, is [[Apple Inc.]]'s [[operating system]] for[[Macintosh| Apple Macintosh]] computers, and is closely related to iOS, Apple's operating system for
other Apple products such as the [[iPod Touch]], [[iPhone]], and [[iPad]]. Mac OS was the first commercially successful operating system to use a purely [[graphical user interface]]. The original Macintosh team included [[Bill Atkinson]], [[Jef Raskin]] and [[Andy Hertzfeld]].
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'''macOS''', which stands for '''Mac'''intosh '''O'''perating '''S'''ystem, is [[Apple Inc.]]'s [[operating system]] for[[Macintosh| Apple Macintosh]] computers, and is closely related to iOS, Apple's operating system for
other Apple products such as the [[iPod Touch]], [[iPhone]], and [[iPad]]. Mac OS was the first commercially successful operating system to use a purely [[graphical user interface]]. The original Macintosh team included [[Bill Atkinson]], [[Jef Raskin]] and [[Andy Hertzfeld]].
[[File:OS-X-Mavericks-Desktop-MacBook.jpg|thumb|344px|OS X Mavericks is the latest Mac OS.]]
[[File:OS-X-Mavericks-Desktop-MacBook.jpg|thumb|344px|OS X Mavericks is the latest Mac OS.]]
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The last version of Mac OS X was
[[Mac OS X 10.9|10.9 Mavericks]].
With OS X 10.9, Apple removed the "Mac" prefix from the OS name. Later on, the last version to have the OS X name was [[OS X 10.11]] "El Capitán".
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The last version of Mac OS X was
[[Mac OS X 10.9|10.9 Mavericks]].
With OS X 10.9, Apple removed the "Mac" prefix from the OS name. Later on, the last version to have the OS X name was [[OS X 10.11]] "El Capitán".
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The lastest version is [[MacOS 10.12|macOS 10.12 "Sierra"]], which returned to the original name '''MacOS'''
but written in a style similar to the other flagship operating systems ('''''tvOS''''', '''''watchOS''''' and '''''iOS''''').
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The lastest version is [[MacOS 10.12|macOS 10.12 "Sierra"]], which returned to the original name '''MacOS'''
but written in a style similar to the other flagship operating systems ('''''tvOS''''', '''''watchOS''''' and '''''iOS''''').
There are a variety of views on how the Macintosh was developed and where the underlying ideas originated. While the connection between the Macintosh and the Alto project at [[Xerox PARC]] has been established in the historical record, the earlier contributions of Ivan Sutherland's Sketchpad and Doug Engelbart's [[On-Line System]] are no less significant.
There are a variety of views on how the Macintosh was developed and where the underlying ideas originated. While the connection between the Macintosh and the Alto project at [[Xerox PARC]] has been established in the historical record, the earlier contributions of Ivan Sutherland's Sketchpad and Doug Engelbart's [[On-Line System]] are no less significant.
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''Main article: [[List of Mac OS versions]]''
''Main article: [[List of Mac OS versions]]''
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The Macintosh operating system was initially called ''System,'' as in "[[System 6.0.7]]" or "[[System 7]]". Early on it was also sometimes referred to as "the Toolbox", which consisted of a collection of standardized routines that programs could call rather than accessing the computer hardware directly. This [[abstraction (computer science)|abstraction]] is what allowed Mac applications written for one generation of system to run on later generations: from the Mac Plus to the Mac II, to the PowerBook, to the Power Macintosh, for example. In the early days Apple deliberately obscured the existence of an "operating system" to distance the Mac from other systems such as MS-DOS, which were portrayed as much harder to use in comparison. Terms such "system" and "the toolbox" were handy ways to refer to operating system services and the Macintosh [[API]]s respectively that avoided technical jargon. Until the advent of the [[G3|PowerPC G3]] era systems (the so-called "new world" machines), large parts of the system were held in physical [[ROM]] on the motherboard, as well as other system components on disk that supplemented, overrode or patched the ROM routines. The purpose of this was to avoid using up too much of the limited storage of [[floppy disk]]s for system support, given that the early Macs had no [[hard disk]]. In fact one model of Mac was actually bootable using the ROM alone, the [[1991]] [[Macintosh Classic]], which included a recovery partition in ROM.
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The Macintosh operating system was initially called ''System,'' as in "[[System 6.0.7]]" or "[[System 7]]". Early on it was also sometimes referred to as "the Toolbox", which consisted of a collection of standardized routines that programs could call rather than accessing the computer hardware directly. This [[abstraction (computer science)|abstraction]] is what allowed Mac applications
are
written for one generation of
the
system to run on later generations: from the Mac Plus to the Mac II, to the PowerBook, to the Power Macintosh, for example. In the early days
,
Apple deliberately obscured the existence of an "operating system" to distance the Mac from other systems such as MS-DOS, which were portrayed as much harder to use in comparison. Terms such "system" and "the toolbox" were handy ways to refer to operating system services and the Macintosh [[API]]s respectively that avoided technical jargon. Until the advent of the [[G3|PowerPC G3]] era systems (the so-called "new world" machines), large parts of the system were held in physical [[ROM]] on the motherboard, as well as other system components on disk that supplemented, overrode or patched the ROM routines. The purpose of this was to avoid using up too much of the limited storage of [[floppy disk]]s for system support, given that the early Macs had no [[hard disk]]. In fact
,
one model of Mac was actually bootable using the ROM alone, the [[1991]] [[Macintosh Classic]], which included a recovery partition in ROM.
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[[Mac OS 7.5.1]] was the first version to include the "Mac OS" logo (a blue [[smiley face]]). [[Mac OS 7.6]] (which debuted in [[1996]]) was the first version to be officially named ''Mac OS''.
This change in name came about because of the appearance of Mac "clones":
workalikes
from other companies such as [[Power Computing]] and [[Motorola]]; Apple wanted to make it clear that the operating system was its own [[intellectual property]].
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[[Mac OS 7.5.1]] was the first version to include the "Mac OS" logo (a blue [[smiley face]]). [[Mac OS 7.6]] (which debuted in [[1996]]) was the first version to be officially named ''Mac OS''.
This change in name came about because of the appearance of Mac "clones":
workalike
from other companies such as [[Power Computing]] and [[Motorola]]; Apple wanted to make it clear that the operating system was its own [[intellectual property]].
The Mac OS can be divided into two families of operating systems:
The Mac OS can be divided into two families of operating systems:
* [["Classic" Mac OS|Classic Mac OS]], the system which shipped with the first Mac in 1984 and its descendants, culminating with [[Mac OS 9]].
* [["Classic" Mac OS|Classic Mac OS]], the system which shipped with the first Mac in 1984 and its descendants, culminating with [[Mac OS 9]].
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** Classic Mac OS can be further subdivided into variants targeted at the Motorola 68000 family of processors (M68k), which included [[System 1]] through [[Mac OS 8.1]] and variants targeted at the Motorola RISC [[PowerPC ]]processor, which included [[System 7.1 ]]through [[Mac OS 9]].
Software that could run under either system was said to be "Fat" (it included executable code for both architectures).
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** Classic Mac OS can be further subdivided into variants targeted at the Motorola 68000 family of processors (M68k), which included [[System 1]] through [[Mac OS 8.1]] and variants targeted at the Motorola RISC [[PowerPC ]]processor, which included [[System 7.1 ]]through [[Mac OS 9]].
Software that could run under either system was said to be "Fat" (it included executable code for both architectures).
* The newer [[Mac OS X]] (the "X" is pronounced ''ten'', as in the Roman numeral). Mac OS X incorporates elements of [[BSD Unix]], [[OpenStep]], and [[Mac OS 9]]. Its low-level [[Unix]]-based foundation, [[Apple Darwin|Darwin]], is [[open source]].
* The newer [[Mac OS X]] (the "X" is pronounced ''ten'', as in the Roman numeral). Mac OS X incorporates elements of [[BSD Unix]], [[OpenStep]], and [[Mac OS 9]]. Its low-level [[Unix]]-based foundation, [[Apple Darwin|Darwin]], is [[open source]].
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** Mac OS X can be further subdivided into variants targeted at the [[PowerPC]] architecture, which included [[OS X Server 1.0|Mac OS X Server 1.0]] through [[Mac OS X 10.5]], and the Intel x86 architecture, which includes [[Mac OS X 10.4]] through to the present day.
Software that could run under either system was said to be "Universal" (once again, it included executable code for both architectures).
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** Mac OS X can be further subdivided into variants targeted at the [[PowerPC]] architecture, which included [[OS X Server 1.0|Mac OS X Server 1.0]] through [[Mac OS X 10.5]], and the Intel x86 architecture, which includes [[Mac OS X 10.4]] through to the present day.
Software that could run under either system was said to be "Universal" (once again, it included executable code for both architectures).
===Classic Mac OS===
===Classic Mac OS===
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The "classic" Mac OS is characterized by its total lack of a [[Wikipedia:command line|command line]]; it is a completely graphical operating system. Heralded for its ease of use, it is also criticized for its [[Wikipedia:cooperative multitasking|cooperative multitasking]], almost total lack of [[Wikipedia:Mac OS memory management|memory management]], and susceptibility to extension conflicts. "Extensions" (originally called INITs) are program modules that extend the operating system, providing additional functionality (such as networking) or support for a particular device. Some extensions are prone not to work properly together or only when loaded in a particular order. Troubleshooting Mac OS extensions can be a time-consuming process of [[Wikipedia:trial and error|trial and error]].
The "classic" Mac OS is characterized by its total lack of a [[Wikipedia:command line|command line]]; it is a completely graphical operating system. Heralded for its ease of use, it is also criticized for its [[Wikipedia:cooperative multitasking|cooperative multitasking]], almost total lack of [[Wikipedia:Mac OS memory management|memory management]], and susceptibility to extension conflicts. "Extensions" (originally called INITs) are program modules that extend the operating system, providing additional functionality (such as networking) or support for a particular device. Some extensions are prone not to work properly together or only when loaded in a particular order. Troubleshooting Mac OS extensions can be a time-consuming process of [[Wikipedia:trial and error|trial and error]].
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Mac OS also introduced the [[Macintosh File System]], followed by the more robust [[Hierarchical File System]], an innovative system for storing digital files. Whereas a file on DOS or Unix would simply be a sequence of bytes written to disk, requiring an application to know which bytes represented code and which were graphic or other data, Mac files had two different "forks". In addition to the data fork, which contained a sequence of bytes, there was a [[resource fork]] which contained structured data such as menu definitions, graphics, sounds, or code segments. An application file might consist only of resources with no data fork. A text file might contain its text in the data fork and styling information in its resources
,
so that an application which didn't recognize the styling information could still read the raw text. Despite the many assets of this arrangement, it became quite a challenge to interoperate with other operating systems which did not recognize such a file system layout; for example, copying a file from a Mac to DOS or Unix would strip it of its resource fork.
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Mac OS also introduced the [[Macintosh File System]], followed by the more robust [[Hierarchical File System]], an innovative system for storing digital files. Whereas a file on DOS or Unix would simply be a sequence of bytes written to disk, requiring an application to know which bytes represented code and which were graphic or other data, Mac files had two different "forks". In addition to the data fork, which contained a sequence of bytes, there was a [[resource fork]] which contained structured data such as menu definitions, graphics, sounds, or code segments. An application file might consist only of resources with no data fork. A text file might contain its text in the data fork and styling information in its resources so that an application which didn't recognize the styling information could still read the raw text. Despite the many assets of this arrangement, it became quite a challenge to interoperate with other operating systems which did not recognize such a file system layout; for example, copying a file from a Mac to DOS or Unix would strip it of its resource fork.
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By the mid [[1990s]], it was clear the useful life of this [[1980s]]-era technology was coming to an end, with other more stable multitasking operating systems being developed.
In 1996, after some failed attempts to build a "next-generation" operating system in
house, Apple bought NeXT in order to use its operating system to
acellerate
the development of a modern operating system.
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By the mid [[1990s]], it was clear the useful life of this [[1980s]]-era technology was coming to an end, with other more stable multitasking operating systems being developed.
In 1996, after some failed attempts to build a "next-generation" operating system in
-
house, Apple bought NeXT in order to use its operating system to
accelerate
the development of a modern operating system.
===Mac OS X===
===Mac OS X===
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Mac OS X brought Unix-style memory management and [[pre-emptive multitasking]] to the Mac platform. Vastly improved memory management allowed more programs to run at once and virtually eliminated the possibility of one program crashing another. It is also the first Mac OS to include a command line outside of developer's tools, although this is never seen unless the user launches a "terminal" program.
Mac OS X brought Unix-style memory management and [[pre-emptive multitasking]] to the Mac platform. Vastly improved memory management allowed more programs to run at once and virtually eliminated the possibility of one program crashing another. It is also the first Mac OS to include a command line outside of developer's tools, although this is never seen unless the user launches a "terminal" program.
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Since these new features put higher demands on system resources, Mac OS X is only officially supported on [[PowerPC G3]] and newer processors. Even then, it runs slowly on older G3 systems. Interestingly, every update to Mac OS X from the original [[Mac OS X Public Beta|public beta]] through [[Mac OS X 10.6]] has had the peculiar quality of being
noticably
faster and more responsive than the version it replaced, the opposite trend of most operating systems.
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Since these new features put higher demands on system resources, Mac OS X is only officially supported on [[PowerPC G3]] and newer processors. Even then, it runs slowly on older G3 systems. Interestingly, every update to Mac OS X from the original [[Mac OS X Public Beta|public beta]] through [[Mac OS X 10.6]] has had the peculiar quality of being
noticeably
faster and more responsive than the version it replaced, the opposite trend of most operating systems.
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Mac OS X, from the [[Mac OS X Public Beta|Public Beta]] through [[Mac OS X 10.4]] had a compatibility layer for running older Mac applications, the [[Classic (Mac OS X)|Classic Environment]] (known to programmers as "the blue box"). This runs a full copy of the older Mac OS 9.x as a Mac OS X process. Most well-written "classic" applications function properly under this environment, but compatibility is only assured if the software was written to be unaware of the actual hardware
,
and to interact solely with the operating system.
+
Mac OS X, from the [[Mac OS X Public Beta|Public Beta]] through [[Mac OS X 10.4]] had a compatibility layer for running older Mac applications, the [[Classic (Mac OS X)|Classic Environment]] (known to programmers as "the blue box"). This runs a full copy of the older Mac OS 9.x as a Mac OS X process. Most well-written "classic" applications function properly under this environment, but compatibility is only assured if the software was written to be unaware of the actual hardware and to interact solely with the operating system.
Many fans of the original Mac OS accepted OS X, but a few criticized it as being more difficult to operate and less user-friendly than the original Mac OS.
Many fans of the original Mac OS accepted OS X, but a few criticized it as being more difficult to operate and less user-friendly than the original Mac OS.