macOS

Also known as Mac OS, Macintosh Operating System X, Mac OS 10, OSX

macOS (previously OS X and originally Mac OS X) is a proprietary Unix operating system, derived from OPENSTEP for Mach and FreeBSD, which has been marketed and developed by Apple since 2001. It is the current operating system for Apple's line of Mac computers. Within the market of desktop and laptop computers, it is currently the second most widely used desktop OS, after Microsoft Windows and ahead of all Linux distributions, including ChromeOS and SteamOS. , the most recent release of macOS is macOS 26 Tahoe, the 22nd major version of macOS.

AI overview

macOS is the operating system that runs Apple's Mac computers, and it has been developed by Apple since 2001. It is the second most widely used desktop and laptop operating system in the world, behind only Microsoft Windows.

AI-generated from the Wikipedia summary — may contain errors.

Key facts

OS.name: macOS
OS.logo: frameless|upright=0.8|class=skin-invert
OS.screenshot: MacOS Tahoe screenshot.png
OS.screenshot_size: 260px
OS.caption: macOS Tahoe, the latest release of macOS
OS.developer: Apple
OS.ui: Aqua (graphical)
OS.license: Proprietary
OS.language count: 47
OS.source_model: Proprietary with open source components
OS.kernel_type: Hybrid (XNU)
OS.preceded_by: Classic Mac OS, NeXTSTEP
OS.support_status: Supported

via Wikipedia infobox

Official website

OS - macOS 27 Golden Gate - Apple

apple.com →

Link to the official site · 19,122 chars · not written by Vinony

Wikidata facts

Official name: OS X
Official website: www.apple.com/os/macos
Image: 2010-01-21 MacBook Pro Mac OS X Snow Leopard with Earth background.jpg

Show 9 more facts

WordLift URL: data.thenextweb.com/tnw/entity/macos
inception: 2001-03-24
PyPI trove classifier: Operating System :: MacOS
software version identifier: 26.0
Commons category: MacOS
publication date: 2001-03-24
Stack Exchange tag: stackoverflow.com/tags/osx
official forum URL: discussions.apple.com/community/mac_os
described at URL: www.videogameschronicle.com/?post_type=platforms&p=419

Sources (12)

via Wikidata · CC0

~61 min read

Article

49 sections

Contents

History
Development
Mac OS X
OS X
macOS
Timeline of releases
Architecture
Software compatibility
Hardware compatibility
PowerPC–Intel transition
Intel–Apple silicon transition
Features
User interface
Aqua
Built-in components
Multilingual support
Updating methods
Release history
Mac OS X Public Beta
Mac OS X 10.0
Mac OS X 10.1
Mac OS X 10.2 Jaguar
Mac OS X 10.3 Panther
Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger
Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard
Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard
OS X 10.7 Lion
OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion
OS X 10.9 Mavericks
OS X 10.10 Yosemite
OS X 10.11 El Capitan
macOS 10.12 Sierra
macOS 10.13 High Sierra
macOS 10.14 Mojave
macOS 10.15 Catalina
macOS 11 Big Sur
macOS 12 Monterey
macOS 13 Ventura
macOS 14 Sonoma
macOS 15 Sequoia
macOS 26 Tahoe
Security
Malware and spyware
Reception
Usage share
Promotion
See also
References
External links

Mac OS X succeeded the classic Mac OS, the primary Macintosh operating system from 1984 to 2001. Its underlying architecture came from NeXT's NeXTSTEP, as a result of Apple's acquisition of NeXT, which also brought Steve Jobs back to Apple. The first desktop version, Mac OS X 10.0, was released on March 24, 2001. Apart from OS X Lion, all versions from Mac OS X Leopard onwards are UNIX 03 certified. Each of Apple's other contemporary operating systems, including iOS, iPadOS, watchOS, tvOS, audioOS and visionOS, are derivatives of macOS. Throughout its history, macOS has supported three major processor architectures: the initial version supported PowerPC-based Macs only, with support for Intel-based Macs beginning with OS X Tiger 10.4.4 and support for ARM-based Apple silicon Macs beginning with macOS Big Sur. Support for PowerPC-based Macs was dropped with OS X Snow Leopard, and it was announced at the 2025 Worldwide Developers Conference that macOS Tahoe will be the last to support Intel-based Macs.