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Looking Back At OS X's Origins

Posted by CmdrTaco on from the i-fail-at-history dept.

DJRumpy writes "Macworld Weekly has an interesting look at the history of OS X from its early origins in 1985 under NeXT and the Mach Kernel to Rhapsody, to its current iteration as OS X. An interesting, quick read if anyone is curious about the timeline from Apple's shaky '90s to their current position in the market. There's also an interesting link at the bottom talking about the difference between the original beta and the release product that we see today."

4 of 312 comments (clear)

  1. ars technica on os x by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Informative

    Check out Ars' run down too: http://arstechnica.com/apple/reviews/2010/09/macos-x-beta.ars

  2. There was no NeXTstep 4.2 by WillAdams · · Score: 5, Informative

    It was OPENSTEP 4.2 --- which Apple actually sold for a time, along w/ providing free Y2K patches and free upgrades to NeXTstep 3.3 or OPENSTEP 4.2 to license holders of earlier versions.

    Amusing rumour is that ``Yellow Box'' was so named because Bill Gates, when asked if he'd develop for NeXT stated, ``Develop for it? I'll piss on it.''

    http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/11/14/gates_says_jobs_saved_apple/

    As nice as Mac OS X is though, I'd still rather have NeXTstep:

      - Display PostScript
      - built-in PANTONE colour library
      - vertical, movable menu bar w/ tear off menus and pop-up menus
      - top-level Print, Hide, Quit and Services menu
      - TeX provided by default and supported by the nifty TeXview.app
      - inspector-provided sort options for Miller-column filebrowser view
      - re-sizeable Shelf which can store multiple file selections as a single icon
      - nifty apps which made use of Services and Display PostScript like beYAP.app, Altsys Virtuoso, poste.app &c.

    William

    --
    Sphinx of black quartz, judge my vow.
  3. Oops. by drerwk · · Score: 4, Informative

    Sorry for self reply - my first Mac was a IIci; yes color was missing from the Mac between 1984 and '87.

    Wish I could delete my previsou. post

  4. Re:Best. Gates Quote. Ever. by bonch · · Score: 5, Informative

    That pretty much sums it up right there. I know its probably meaningless for most people in the world, but when those who claim to be "in the know" start taking sides between Apple and MS on "innovation," they really need to just check that right there.

    You're buying into Bill Gates' bullshit. Apple didn't "steal" anything; they had an agreement with Xerox. Many of the guys who worked on the Mac were hired from Xerox.

    Several conventions originated at Apple, such as the "File Edit View Window Help" menu or the phrase "cut and paste." Lisa was already in development when Apple visited Xerox to see what they were working on, so while they were influenced by what they saw, it wasn't an inspiration to go in some whole new direction.

    Much of this is detailed at Herztfeld's site, including sketches and screenshots of their GUI work.