MacOS
macOS (formerly Mac OS X) is the proprietary Unix-based operating system developed by Apple for its Macintosh line of computers. It was built on the foundations of NeXTSTEP after Apple acquired NeXT in 1997, and first shipped as Mac OS X in 2001.
Versions
Since 2013, macOS releases have been named after California landmarks rather than big cat species:
- Mavericks, Yosemite, El Capitan -- early California-named releases
- Big Sur -- introduced a major visual redesign and native Apple Silicon support
- Monterey, Ventura, Sonoma -- continued refinement of the Big Sur design language
- Sequoia -- most recent major release at time of writing
Features
- Unix underpinnings (a certified Unix 03 system since Leopard), giving access to a real terminal and POSIX tools
- Tight integration with Apple hardware, especially since the 2020 transition to Apple Silicon chips
- Spotlight search, Time Machine backups, and a consistent design language across Apple's OS family
- App distribution both through the Mac App Store and traditional direct downloads
History
macOS traces its lineage through NeXTSTEP, the operating system Steve Jobs's company NeXT built in the late 1980s. When Apple acquired NeXT in 1997, NeXTSTEP became the technical foundation for what would become Mac OS X, replacing the aging classic Mac OS entirely by the early 2000s.