Mac Operating System For Desktop

When Apple introduced the Macintosh on Jan. 24, 1984, it wasn't the first computer to sport a graphical user interface (GUI) on top of its operating system (OS), but it was an early success in the consumer market. At the time, most consumer computers used text-based command lines. Computer owners had to learn numerous commands to navigate file systems and run applications. The Macintosh GUI seemed like a big leap ahead -- so much so that other companies began to invest in creating their own GUI OS.

A quick glimpse at today's Mac OS X reveals that the GUI is stronger than ever. But the current Mac operating system owes a lot to other computer projects, some of which weren't under Apple's leadership. To understand how OS X works, you have to know its history.

Macintosh Operating System: The Macintosh Operating System (Mac OS) is an operating system (OS) designed by Apple Inc. To be installed and operated on the Apple Macintosh series of computers. Introduced in 1984, it is a graphical user interface (GUI) based OS that has since been released as multiple different versions. Initially, Mac OS was. Whether you plan to use your Mac for school, work, entertainment or everyday use, the right software can make your life easier and more productive. From business and office software to music, photo and video editing to finance and tax software, you can create, edit, organize and discover new ways to. In 1984, Apple debuted the operating system that is now known as the 'Classic' Mac OS with its release of the original Macintosh System Software.The system, rebranded 'Mac OS' in 1996, was preinstalled on every Macintosh until 2002 and offered on Macintosh clones for a short time in the 1990s.

Best Desktop Operating System

Shortly after the debut of the Macintosh there was a power struggle in the executive levels of leadership at Apple. Co-founder Steve Jobs found himself pushed to the edges of the company and eventually resigned. In 1988, Jobs went on to spearhead a project he called the NeXT Computer, which ran on an operating system called NEXTSTEP. Meanwhile, Apple continued to develop the Mac operating system.

Ultimately, NeXT received little traction in the computer market, though it was used in some high-profile applications. For example, World Wide Web founder Tim Berners Lee designed the first Web page using a NeXT computer [source: CERN]. And the executive power struggle at Apple continued as the company struggled to remain relevant. It was facing stiff competition with Microsoft's Windows OS. Apple executives considered purchasing or leasing an operating system from several different sources, including IBM. Ultimately, a phone call from Steve Jobs to Apple convinced the company to acquire NeXT in order to use its OS in Mac computers. This meant Steve Jobs was once again part of Apple.

Apple began to incorporate NeXT technology with the Mac OS. Apple also began to integrate features from a failed internal OS project codenamed Copland. In September 1997, Jobs became the interim CEO of Apple. A year later, he announced that Mac OS X -- the 10th generation of the Macintosh operating system -- would debut in 1999. On March 16 of that year, Jobs revealed the first build of Mac OS X to a group of developers. While the technical name for the operating system is Mac OS X 10.0, the company gave it the codename Cheetah. Since that first release, all OS X versions have a big-cat nickname. The most recent version as of the writing of this article is Mac OS X 10.7, also known as Lion.

Desktop Operating System

Now that we've got some basic history out of the way, let's take a quick look at what operating systems actually do.