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100 Years of Macintosh

Posted by pudge on from the happy-birthday dept.

Zero seconds on the Mac OS system clock is January 1, 1904. The Mac OS epoch hits 100 years ... now. That's assuming you live in the Pacific time zone, anyway: the Mac OS epoch is unique in that it is time zone-specific. Of course, none of this applies unless you are running Mac OS, and all you Mac users are using Mac OS X, right? (Geek note: the Mac OS epoch is unsigned, which is why it can count over 100 years from 0 seconds, and 32-bit Unix can't, though it can count backward to 1901.)

2 of 280 comments (clear)

  1. Anyone know why? by inkswamp · · Score: 0, Redundant
    I've done a couple searches, but I'm not coming up with anything. Does anyone know why a date in 1904 was selected (assuming it was selected and not some quirk)?

    --
    --Rick "If it isn't broken, take it apart and find out why."
    1. Re:Anyone know why? by Graymalkin · · Score: 0, Redundant

      The year 1904 was choosen because it was the first leap year of the 20th century. Using this as their epoch beginning saved them several dozens of leap year checking indstructions. Apparently they thought this was pretty cool and it has stuck with the Mac since.

      --
      I'm a loner Dottie, a Rebel.