| 12 August 2009
Almost spanning a decade and OS X (pronounced as "O"-"S"-"10" not "O"-"S"-"X") has gone through seven major OS revisions, eight including the up and coming OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard and today I decide to to actually install each of the OS X versions including Public Beta and just have a quick review for myself of the differences from version to version which I happen to take screen shots to share my OS X review today.
When it comes to OS X there have been seven released versions of OS X:
- OS X Public Beta
- OS X 10.0 "Cheetah"
- OS X 10.1 "Puma"
- OS X 10.2 "Jaguar"
- OS X 10.3 "Panther"
- OS X 10.4 "Tiger"
- OS X 10.5 "Leopard"
- ** OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard ** Expected release for September 2009
For my review of OS X I used an iMac G3 700mhz Blueberry for versions 10.0, 10.1, 10.2, 10.3, 10.4 and for OS X 10.5 an iMac Intel Core 2 Duo
*For OS release dates, cost, history, and general information, I used MacTracker found at www.mactracker.ca which is an amazing application that gives you detailed information on every Apple Macintosh computer ever made including ipods, iphones,Operating Systems and so much More. Download it today!
OS X Public Beta
Mac OS X Public Beta
Public Beta (Build)1H39 September 13, 2000
Media: CD-Rom
Initial Price: $29.95 (US)
Mac OS X Public Beta was released in September 2000. It was the first public look at the client version of Apple's long-awaited next generation operating system. It was based on the Developer Preview 4 (DP4) of OS X and was still very buggy. However, it demonstrated the strength of Apple's new system software like the new Aqua interface or the Quartz drawing engine. It was sold for $29.95 U.S. at the Apple Store and was available in English, German and French. The Public Beta still had the Apple logo in center of the menu bar, but due to many user complaints, Apple moved the Apple logo back to its original place on the left side of the menu.
System Requirements:
PowerPC G3; original PowerBook G3 not supported, 128 MB of RAM, and 1.5 GB of hard disk space
*Images for Public Beta are on behalf and sourced from GUIdebook graphical user interface gallery Here you will find a huge varity ofscreenshots for all major OS's and much more. Have a look today.
Public Beta About This Mac
OS X 10.0 "Cheetah"
Mac OS X 10.0 "Cheetah"
10.0 (Build)4K78 March 24, 2001
Media: CD-Rom
Initial Price: $129 (US)
In March 2001, Apple released the first (official) version of Mac OS X. The first release could hardly be called finished, but Apple felt that it was more important to meet the schedule. Mac OS X 10.0 was still very slow (much slower than Mac OS 9) and lacked some important features such as data CD burning or DVD video playback. Especially window resizing was extremely slow. Nonetheless, it showed many improvements over the Public Beta and it also proved that Apple was listening to the comments and criticism of the users. The lack of available software was the main problem. The first apps to appear were mostly shareware software and it took some time before the first major applications were ported to run natively under OS X.
System Requirements:
PowerPC G3 (original PowerBook G3 not supported), 128 MB of RAM, and 1.5 GB of hard disk space
Version Updates:
10.0 4K78 March 24, 2001
10.0.1 4L13 April 14, 2001
10.0.2 4P12 May 1, 2001
10.0.3 4P13 May 9, 2001
10.0.4 4Q12 June 21, 200
Mac OS X 10.1 "Puma"
Mac OS X 10.1 "Puma"10.1 (Build)5G64 September 25, 2001
Media: CD-Rom
Initial Price: $129.95 (US)
Released in September 2001, Mac OS X 10.1 was a major step from Mac OS X 10.0. While Mac OS 10.0 felt like another beta, 10.1 was the first OS X release which could actually be used. Application launch time, window resizing and menus were significantly faster, the Dock was moveable, more customizable interface, enhanced 3D graphics performance, hundreds of drivers for third-party printers, cameras, camcorders, MP3 players and storage devices and additional network integration just to name a few of the new or improved features. Mac OS X 10.1 was a free upgrade for owners of Mac OS X 10.0. However, due to its size it was not available via Internet download, but could either be order directly from Apple for $20 or was available in the Apple Stores on burned CD-Rs.
System Requirements:
PowerPC G3 (original PowerBook G3 not supported), 128 MB of RAM, and 1.5 GB of hard disk space
Version Updates:
10.1 5G64 September 25, 2001
10.1.1 5M28 November 12, 2001
10.1.2 5P48 December 21, 2001
10.1.3 5Q45 February 19, 2002
10.1.4 5Q125 April 17, 2002
10.1.5 5S60 June 5, 2002
Mac OS X 10.2 "Jaguar"
Mac OS X 10.2 "Jaguar"
10.2 (Build)6C115/6C115a August 24, 2002
Media: CD-Rom or DVD-Rom
Initial Price: $129.95 (US)Single User or $199(US) Family Pack
The codename of this version of Mac OS X became publicly known long before the release of 10.2 and therefore Apple decided to officially refer to this version of Mac OS X as Jaguar. Jaguar improved the performance of Mac OS X by featuring Quartz Extreme, a new version of Quartz that took advantage of the graphics accelerator cards on the modern Macs. The Mail application now had a built-in Spam mail filter, which was considered to be one of the best available. Furthermore, Apple added handwriting recognition called Inkwell. Inkwell was based on Apple's Newton handwriting recognition. New applications were also introduced such as iChat, QuickTime 6 and Sherlock 3 (and also adding a classic-Mac OS-like quick search to the Finder). Apple also added Bluetooth support and introduced Rendezvous. Another feature that was included on the demand of the users were the spring-loading folders which were available under Mac OS 9, but were missing in the first two releases of Mac OS X. Jaguar was sold for $129 U.S.
System Requirements:
PowerPC G3 (original PowerBook G3 not supported), 128 MB of RAM, and 3.0 GB of hard disk space
Version Updates:
10.2 6C115/6C115a August 24, 2002
10.2.1 6D52 September 18, 2002
10.2.2 6F21 November 11, 2002
10.2.3 6G30 December 19, 2002
10.2.4 6I32 February 13, 2003
10.2.5 6L29 April 10, 2003
10.2.6 6L60 May 6, 2003
10.2.8 6R50, 6R73 October 3, 2003
10.2.8 (G5) 6S90 October 3, 2003
OS X 10.2 About This Mac & Software Updates
Mac OS X 10.3 "Panther"
Mac OS X 10.3 "Panther"
10.3 (Build)7B85 October 24, 2003
Media: CD-Rom or DVD-Rom
Initial Price: $129.95 (US)Single User or $199(US) Family Pack
At WWDC 2003, Apple announced Mac OS X 10.3 Panther. Panther introduced lots of new features such as new window management Exposé, improved Finder, AES-128 encryption for personal files, enhanced version of Preview, faxing, faster Mail, and Font Book; a font management tool. Also, the iDisk access and synchronization was significantly improved. However, two new features got most attention: Fast User Switching and Xcode. Fast User Switching was one of the most eagerly awaited features that enabled users who shared a Mac to switch between accounts without quitting applications and logging out. Because of the graphic power of Mac OS X, the switching between users was animated by transforming the current desktop to a 3D Cube and rotating it to the new account. Xcode was a new development tool for Mac OS X applications. It improved the speed of compiling applications significantly, for instance by distributing compile workload across idle computers on a network. Panther was sold for $129 U.S.
System Requirements:
PowerPC G3 or later, built-in USB, 128 MB of RAM, and 3.0 GB of hard disk space
Version Updates:
10.3 7B85 October 24, 2003
10.3.1 7C107 November 10, 2003
10.3.2 7D24 December 17, 2003
10.3.3 7F44 March 15, 2004
10.3.4 7H63 May 26, 2004
10.3.5 7M34 August 9, 2004
10.3.6 7R28 November 5, 2004
10.3.7 7S215 December 15, 2004
10.3.8 7U16 February 9, 2005
10.3.9 7W98 April 15, 2005
Mac OS X 10.4 "Tiger"
Mac OS X 10.4 "Tiger"
10.4 (Build)8A428 April 29, 2005
Media: DVD-Rom, CD-Rom (Special Order Only)
Initial Price: $129.95 (US)Single User or $199(US) Family Pack
Mac OS X version 10.4 "Tiger" is the fifth major release of Mac OS X, Apple’s desktop and server operating system for Macintosh computers. Tiger was released to the public on April 29, 2005 as the successor to Mac OS X v10.3 "Panther", which was released 18 months earlier, and was superseded by Mac OS X v10.5 "Leopard" on October 26, 2007, after 30 months, making Mac OS X v10.4 the longest running version of the Mac OS X operating system. Some of the new features include a fast searching system called Spotlight, a new version of the Safari web browser, Dashboard, a new ‘Unified’ theme, and improved support for 64-bit addressing on Power Mac G5s. Mac OS X x10.4 "Tiger" was included with all new Macintosh computers, and was also available as an upgrade for existing Mac OS X users, or users of supported pre-Mac OS X systems. The server edition, Mac OS X Server 10.4, was also available for some Macintosh product lines. Tiger is also the first version of any released Apple operating system to work on Apple-Intel architecture machines (Apple machines using x86 processors.) The Apple TV, as released in March 2007, ships with a customized version of Mac OS X v10.4 branded "Apple TV OS" that replaces the usual graphical user interface with an updated version of Front Row. Six weeks after its official release, Apple had delivered 2 million copies of Tiger, representing 16 % of all Mac OS X users. Apple claimed that Tiger was the most successful Apple OS release in the company’s history. At the Worldwide Developers Conference on June 11, 2007, Apple CEO Steve Jobs announced that out of the 22 million OS X users, more than 67 % were using Tiger.
System Requirements:
PowerPC G3 or later, built-in FireWire, 256 MB of RAM, and 3.0 GB of hard disk space
Version Updates:
10.4 8A428 April 29, 2005
10.4.1 8B15 May 16, 2005
10.4.2 8C46 July 12, 2005
10.4.3 8F46 October 31, 2005
10.4.4 8G32 January 10, 2006
10.4.5 (PowerPC) 8H14 February 14, 2006
10.4.5 (Intel) 8G1454 February 14, 2006
10.4.6 (PowerPC) 8I1119 April 3, 2006
10.4.6 (Intel) 7U16 April 3, 2006
10.4.7 (PowerPC) 8J135 June 27, 2006
10.4.7 (Intel) 8J2135 June 27, 2006
10.4.8 (PowerPC) 8L127 September 29, 2006
10.4.8 (Intel) 8L2127 September 29, 2006
10.4.9 (PowerPC) 8P135 March 13, 2007
10.4.9 (Intel) 8P2137 March 13, 2007
10.4.10 (PowerPC) 8R218 June 20, 2007
10.4.10 (Intel) 8R2218, 8R2232 June 20, 2007
10.4.11 (PowerPC) 8S165 November 14, 2007
10.4.11 (Intel) 8S2167 November 14, 2007
Mac OS X 10.5 "Leopard"
Mac OS X 10.5 "Leopard"10.5 (Build)9A581 October 26, 2007
Media: DVD-Rom
Initial Price: $129.95 (US)Single User or $199(US) Family Pack
Mac OS X version 10.5 "Leopard" is the sixth major release of the Mac OS X operating system for Apple’s Mac line of personal computers, and is the successor to Mac OS X v10.4 "Tiger". Leopard was released on October 26, 2007, and is available in two variants: a desktop version suitable for personal computers, and a server version, Mac OS X Server. Apple offers a reduced-cost upgrade to people that purchase new Apple computers between October 1, 2007 and December 29, 2007 that do not already have Mac OS X v10.5 pre-installed or a Leopard upgrade DVD included. According to Apple, Leopard contains over 300 changes and enhancements,covering core operating system components as well as included applications and developer tools. Leopard introduces a significantly revised desktop, with a redesigned Dock, Stacks, a semitransparent menu bar, and an updated Finder that incorporates the Cover Flow visual navigation interface first seen in iTunes. Other notable features include support for writing 64-bit graphical user interface applications, an automated backup utility called Time Machine, support for Spotlight searches across multiple machines, and the inclusion of Front Row and Photo Booth, which were previously only included with some Mac models. Apple missed Mac OS X v10.5’s release time frame as originally announced by Apple CEO Steve Jobs. When first discussed in June 2005, Jobs had stated that Apple intended to release Leopard at the end of 2006 or early 2007. A year later, this was amended to "Spring 2007"; however on April 12, 2007, Apple issued a statement that its release would be delayed until October 2007 because of the development of the iPhone.
System Requirements:
Intel, PowerPC G5, or PowerPC G4 (867 MHz or faster) processor; 512 MB of RAM; and 9.0 GB of disk space
Version Updates:
10.5 9A581 October 26, 2007
10.5.1 9B18 November 15, 2007
10.5.2 9C31 February 11, 2008
10.5.3 9D34 May 28, 2008
10.5.4 9E17 June 30, 2008
10.5.5 9F33 September 15, 2008
10.5.6 9G55 December 15, 2008
10.5.7 9J61 May 12, 2009
10.5.8 9L30 August 5, 2009
OS X 10.5 About This Mac
I hope you enjoyed my review of the past OS X systems from the past number of years.
Comments (19)
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Have fun ... Tony.
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thanks for that :-)
i really *really* REALLY enjoyed each and every screenshot and reading your detailed commentary
GREAT EFFORT and PLEASE keep the party going for 10.6
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Thanks Again!
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Thanks,
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It used the old OS 9 UI, came with WebObjects, and retailed for $500 well over a decade ago in 1998.
I'm offering this insight not to nitpick (your history is correct for the client OS versions) but as a bit of trivia for the first release of OS X after Apple bought NeXT. As a hardcore Mac+Unix guy in 1998, I actually ponied up the $500 so I could run OS X on my blue and white G3.
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Would be great to also see the way from Rhapsody to the Developer Previews up to the 10.0 release.
Great job!
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I miss the shorcuts in the System Preferences and Sherlock but most of all, the brushed aluminum 
Great article! I can't wait to install Snow Leopard tomorrow! -
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