Today, March 24, 2021, marks 20 years since Mac OS X went on sale, and Apple's Mac software has gone through many changes over the course of the last two decades, but it was with Mac OS X that. Mac OS, operating system (OS) developed by the American computer company Apple Inc. The OS was introduced in 1984 to run the company's Macintosh line of personal computers (PCs). The Macintosh heralded the era of graphical user interface (GUI) systems, and it inspired Microsoft Corporation to develop its own GUI, the Windows OS.
Mac OS X Server 1.0 was a prelude to the first consumer-oriented version of the OS—Mac OS X 10.0—which was released in 2001. It did not include the eventual Aqua user interface (instead using NeXTSTEP's Workspace Manager shell mixed with aspects of Mac OS 8's ' Platinum ' user interface) or Carbon API. The Mac OS was disk-based from the beginning, as RAM had to be conserved, but this 'Startup Disk' could still be temporarily ejected. (Ejecting the root filesystem remained an unusual feature of the classic Mac OS until System 7.) One floppy disk was sufficient to store the System Software, an application and the data files created with the.
Today is the 20th anniversary of the launch of Mac OS X, and Macworld has an interesting piece on the history leading up to it. Jason Snell goes so far as to say that the new operating system for Macs was 'an act of desperation' by Apple.
The reason, he explains, is that while Apple had set a new direction for personal computers with the launch of the Macintosh in 1984, it had lost its way by the late 1990s …
In 1984, a graphical user interface on a personal computer was revolutionary; by the late 1990s, not so much.
As revolutionary as the original Mac was, it was also an early-1980s project that didn't offer all sorts of features that would become commonplace by the late 1990s.
That operating system had been originally designed to fit in a small memory footprint and run one app at a time. Its multitasking system was problematic; clicking on an item in the menu bar and holding down the mouse button would effectively stop the entire computer from working. Its memory management system was primitive. Apple needed to make something new, a faster and more stable system that could keep up with Microsoft, which was coming at Apple with the user-interface improvements of Windows 95 and the modern-OS underpinnings of Windows NT.
By 1996, says Snell, Apple had given up.
In a spectacularly humbling moment for Apple, the company began searching for a company from which it could buy or license an operating system or, at the least, use as the foundation of a new version of Mac OS. The company's management, led by CEO Gil Amelio and CTO Ellen Hancock, clearly had come to the conclusion that Apple itself was incapable of building the next-generation Mac OS.
Mac OS X Server 1.0 was a prelude to the first consumer-oriented version of the OS—Mac OS X 10.0—which was released in 2001. It did not include the eventual Aqua user interface (instead using NeXTSTEP's Workspace Manager shell mixed with aspects of Mac OS 8's ' Platinum ' user interface) or Carbon API. The Mac OS was disk-based from the beginning, as RAM had to be conserved, but this 'Startup Disk' could still be temporarily ejected. (Ejecting the root filesystem remained an unusual feature of the classic Mac OS until System 7.) One floppy disk was sufficient to store the System Software, an application and the data files created with the.
Today is the 20th anniversary of the launch of Mac OS X, and Macworld has an interesting piece on the history leading up to it. Jason Snell goes so far as to say that the new operating system for Macs was 'an act of desperation' by Apple.
The reason, he explains, is that while Apple had set a new direction for personal computers with the launch of the Macintosh in 1984, it had lost its way by the late 1990s …
In 1984, a graphical user interface on a personal computer was revolutionary; by the late 1990s, not so much.
As revolutionary as the original Mac was, it was also an early-1980s project that didn't offer all sorts of features that would become commonplace by the late 1990s.
That operating system had been originally designed to fit in a small memory footprint and run one app at a time. Its multitasking system was problematic; clicking on an item in the menu bar and holding down the mouse button would effectively stop the entire computer from working. Its memory management system was primitive. Apple needed to make something new, a faster and more stable system that could keep up with Microsoft, which was coming at Apple with the user-interface improvements of Windows 95 and the modern-OS underpinnings of Windows NT.
By 1996, says Snell, Apple had given up.
In a spectacularly humbling moment for Apple, the company began searching for a company from which it could buy or license an operating system or, at the least, use as the foundation of a new version of Mac OS. The company's management, led by CEO Gil Amelio and CTO Ellen Hancock, clearly had come to the conclusion that Apple itself was incapable of building the next-generation Mac OS.
We all know what happened… next.
Dec. 20, 1996–Apple Computer, Inc. today announced its intention to purchase NeXT Software Inc., in a friendly acquisition for $400 million. Pending regulatory approvals, all NeXT products, services, and technology research will become part of Apple Computer, Inc. As part of the agreement, Steve Jobs, Chairman and CEO of NeXT Software, will return to Apple–the company he co-founded in 1976–reporting to Dr. Gilbert F. Amelio, Apple's Chairman and CEO.
The acquisition will bring together Apple's and NeXT's innovative and complementary technology portfolios and significantly strengthens Apple's position as a company advancing industry standards. Apple's leadership in ease-of-use and multimedia solutions will be married to NeXT's strengths in development software and operating environments for both the enterprise and Internet markets. NeXT's object oriented software development products will contribute to Apple's goal of creating a differentiated and profitable software business, with a wide range of products for enterprise, business, education, and home markets.
Snell gives a good outline of the software challenges that followed, and says that's what makes the anniversary such an important one.
When we celebrate the 20th anniversary of Mac OS X, it's important to realize what we're celebrating. We're celebrating a software release that was the culmination of Steve Jobs's return to Apple. We're celebrating the operating system we still use, two decades later. But we're also celebrating the foundation of iOS, iPadOS, tvOS, and watchOS.
In that way, this isn't just the 20th anniversary of Mac OS X 10.0. It's the 20th anniversary of modern Apple, and the end of the dark days when Apple couldn't fix its own operating system.
The full piece is a good read.
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Mac OS 8 introduced several modern features while still supporting Quadras and 68040-based PowerBooks and Performas.
Apple's New Mac OS Is Grrrrr-8
The six-inch '8' from that headline adorned the cover of the August 1997 issue of MacAddict magazine. Mac OS 8 had been released five days earlier, on July 26. Included on the magazine's CD-ROM was a Mac OS 8 Preview Pack that consisted of technology demo presentations and Aaron, a popular shareware extension that let you make System 7.5 through Mac OS 7.6 look like OS 8.
Mac OS 8 was not without anticipation: Aaron had already been applying the Mac OS 8 look to System 7 for years. Because of this anticipation, sales were more brisk than expected. Internet retailer Cyberian Outpost sold more than 2,000 copies in the first four days.
What caused all this commotion? New features, especially the user interface called Apple Platinum.
Here Comes the Bride (of Buster)
Mac OS 8 introduced many new features for Macintosh users. The Finder changes are the first you'll notice. These changes are deeper than just Apple Platinum; many features that are still part of the Macintosh today made their first appearance in Mac OS 8:
- Spring Loaded Folders: Drag a file or folder and then pause, holding it over a folder or disk. After a short delay, the folder or disk will darken, flash, and then open. This process can be repeated over and over until you finally reach your destination. When you drop the file or folder, all the windows that opened snap shut again, leaving only the destination window. Cheryl England, then of MacAddict magazine, described the experience as '[somewhat like] having someone pick up your socks for you.'
- Contextual Menus: Holding down Control while clicking activates this new feature. A popup menu appears with appropriate options for the object on which you're clicking. These are not Windows 95 style right-click menus, either; their contents change dynamically. For example, Empty Trash only appears in the Trash's Contextual Menu when there's actually something in the Trash.
- Simple Finder and View As Buttons: Despite their famed user-friendliness, Macs sometimes need help being classroom-friendly. With Mac OS 8, AtEase and the Launcher are replaced with this tag-team of simplification features.
Simple Finder turns off all but the most self-evident features of the Finder, making it much harder to accidentally do something destructive. Setting a window to View As Buttons makes all its icons appear inside large, single-click-to-open buttons. Turn on Simple Finder, stick aliases to all your classroom applications on the Desktop, set it to View As Buttons, and you're set. Kid-friendly and safe. - Multithreaded Finder: With Mac OS 8, you no longer needed to install Speed Doubler just to keep working while files are copying. The Multithreaded Finder of Mac OS 8 allows everything to keep on truckin', even while you're copying up a storm. It has a nicer-looking interface than Speed Doubler, too!
Not Just the Interface
There are many other improvements that may not be visible at first blush. Here are some other features that made their debut with Mac OS 8:
- Completeness: Mac OS 8 includes almost everything. It builds upon System 7.6's inclusion of Open Transport PPP by shipping a full suite of Internet connectivity software. Both Netscape and Microsoft's version 3 browsers are installed by default, along with lots of useful online utilities, such as Stuffit Expander.
- Modern Networking: Mac OS 8 was also the first system software version to come with the ability to access printer and file sharing over TCP/IP networks. With the default installation, Mac OS 8 includes everything in my Modern System 7.5 article and more!
- HFS+ File System: Mac OS 8.1 debuted the Mac OS Extended file system, also called HFS+. This file system organizes information more efficiently to waste less space on large hard drives. 680×0 Macintosh computers cannot boot from an HFS+ volume, but they can read CD-R disks burned by modern Mac OS X computers. HFS+ support is the strongest argument for using Mac OS 8.1 instead of an updated System 7.5 or 7.6.
- Large Volume Support: Working hand in hand with HFS+ is large volume support that actually works. System 7.5.3 and up reportedly support partition sizes up to 2 terabytes. In practice, this capability is almost never realized; virtually all System 7.5 users are limited to 4 GB partitions. Mac OS 8 completely removes this limitation, allowing all supported Macs (Quadras and PowerMacs) to use the largest volumes.
- 68030 Compatibility: Mac OS 8 is only officially supported on Macs with a 68040 or PowerPC processor, but an unsupported hack removes the limitation. With some effort, Mac OS 8 runs on all 32-bit clean Macintosh computers (including the SE/30 when used with a Mac IIsi or IIfx ROM). On a 25 MHz Macintosh IIci, Mac OS 8 is sluggish but useful.
A Complete Behemoth
While Mac OS 8 really is Grrrrr-8, it's not an automatic choice for every Mac that can run it.
Due in part to its inclusiveness, Mac OS 8 has a much heftier RAM requirement than previous Mac OS revisions. While System 7.5.5 can be very usable with 16 MB of RAM, 32 MB is a better minimum for Mac OS 8.
Mac OS 8 also requires a great deal more disk space than earlier versions; the default install consumes 120 MB. Installation of larger, newer hard drives into these older Macs is becoming more common, so this isn't as much of an issue as it was in years past. Still, the space crunch can be a problem for those who haven't upgraded their hard drives.
Because of the increased RAM and disk requirements, Mac OS 8 is not a good choice for users of stock 68k Macs. While Macs as old as the IIci can run Mac OS 8, their original hard drives are too small for it to fit! Later Quadras shipped with hard drives as large as 1 GB, but the meager RAM that Apple gave them is not enough for Mac OS 8.
Despite these shortcomings, Mac OS 8 can still be a useful addition to your smaller Macintosh. Almost any system with 12 MB RAM and a 68030 will be minimally functional with OS 8. For access to CD-Rs burned by Mac OS X's Disc Burner utility, only these bare minimum requirements need be met.
Even if your system isn't big enough to run Mac OS 8 all the time, it can be helpful to keep a copy around.
Closing Thoughts
To prepare for this article, I installed Mac OS 8.1 onto my Mac IIci, an unsupported 68030 Mac that runs at 25 MHz. I configured it with 20 MB of RAM and a 1 GB hard drive, and then I installed the default installation of Mac OS 8 according to Gamba's directions.
Remember that this system is quite a bit smaller than both Apple's and my recommendations. While I wouldn't encourage anyone to run 8.1 on their IIci with less than 32 MB RAM, I found the system to be quite usable – and rather sluggish. Gacha 3d mac os.
The Finder modernizations in Mac OS 8 are noticeable right away. For users with multibutton mice (such as the Kensington TurboMouse trackball), the contextual menus make for a lot less mousing-around to get to the menu bar. Spring-loaded folders really are as convenient as having your socks picked up for you. Mac OS 8 provides a great user experience.
The broad out-of-the-box compatibility with newer Macs is great, too. Right after the install, I can connect to and browse the Web using Netscape. I can exchange files with my Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger machine without the hassle of long directions and multiple updates.
Simply mounting HFS+ CD-ROMs instead of asking 'Can you please reburn this as standard HFS?' is blissful.
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While my IIci can't do it, my Quadra can store hundreds of gigabytes on one partition. System 7 user's '5 icons for one big partitioned hard drive' syndrome is no more.
All in all, I'd call my IIci with Mac OS 8 experiment a success.
The Final Verdict
For Quadra owners with RAM and hard drive upgrades, Mac OS 8 is a very convenient, modern choice. Users of heavily upgraded II-series Macs will also enjoy it. Even users with smaller Macs can find a reason to boot into Mac OS 8 from time to time.
Don't forget that the RAM and drives for these older Macs can be gotten very cheaply from many sources, including eBay. If you want to run Mac OS 8 but don't have the hardware, it can be gotten at minimal cost.
Mac OS 8 is not available for free download, but it can be found in all the usual places. One excellent source is owners of Beige G3 Macs; they shipped with Mac OS 8.1 on CD-ROM. Once again, eBay is also an excellent choice.
Once you've acquired a Mac OS 8 CD-ROM, the important 8.1 updater can be downloaded from Apple.
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As either your primary system or on a secondary hard drive, Mac OS 8.1 deserves consideration by users of all but the earliest 680×0 Macintosh computers.
Find out what it can do for you.
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