the operating system that powers every
Apple computer is called Mac OS and if
you haven't used Apple products for very
long you may not be familiar with the
operating systems history the first
version was released in 1984 and
completely changed the computer industry
similar to how iOS on the first iPhone
completely changed the smartphone
industry but the history of Mac OS spans
a number of decades which has resulted
in the operating system appearing and
behaving much differently today than it
had over 30 years ago so in this video
we're going to explore some of the
biggest transformations and most
dramatic moments Mac OS has experienced
in its lifetime this is Greg with Apple
explained and I want to thank Mac paw
for sponsoring this video if you want to
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activity feed now the history of Mac OS
goes back to 1984 when Apple introduced
the Macintosh it was the first
commercial computer to feature a
graphical user interface and a mouse
which made the machine much easier to
use and therefore more accessible to non
tech users previously using a computer
meant understanding the abbreviated
textual commands needed to interact with
the command-line interface of an Apple 2
or IBM PC which typically only tech
hobbyists were familiar with but the
introduction of a graphical user
interface changed everything you no
longer needed to understand how the
computer worked you simply use the
machine intuitively move the cursor
around your virtual desktop and select
what you want it was that simple
and although the Macintosh didn't sell
as well as Apple had hoped it did prove
that there was a better way to implement
desktop operating systems and that was
with a graphical user interface but Bill
Gates who recognized the Macintoshes
significance was troubled by just one
thing
why did Apple decide to keep the Mac's
graphical user interface operating
system for themselves
why not license the OS to other computer
manufacturers willing to pay for it then
not only will you make more money but
you'll also capture more mark
sher so gates took it upon himself to
create a competing operating system to
Mac OS called Windows which was released
in 1985 which it so happened was the
same year Steve Jobs resigned from Apple
so with the Macintosh experiencing
sluggish sales due to its high price
Microsoft had the opportunity to
overtake Apple and that's exactly what
happened over the following decade
windows proved to be a huge success with
dozens of PC manufacturers purchasing
licenses of the operating system to use
in their hardware by 1995 Microsoft was
worth six billion dollars while Apple
was on a slippery slope to bankruptcy
Windows had a virtual monopoly over the
computer industry
with Mac OS accounting for just four to
five percent of the market Apple's
desperation became very clear as they
began licensing the Macintosh operating
system to third-party manufacturers
similar to what Microsoft had been doing
with Windows but it was too little too
late businesses and developers had
already become entrenched in the windows
ecosystem and had very little incentive
to switch to Mac OS by 1996 the
Macintosh was running on an operating
system that hadn't been updated for five
years despite multiple attempts at
building a next generation operating
system Apple had virtually nothing to
show for it that's why they turned to
third-party companies for help
hoping to purchase an operating system
that could be used in the next
generation of Macintosh computers and
that's exactly what they found in next
software a company founded by Steve Jobs
after he left Apple next had been
developing an advanced object-oriented
operating system that would provide
Apple the foundation they needed to
create a new OS for the Macintosh so at
the beginning of 1997 Apple acquired
next for 400 million dollars which also
meant Steve Jobs would be back at Apple
as a consultant five months later Mac OS
8 was ready to be released and if you're
wondering how Apple was able to build a
new operating system so quickly it's
because the initial release of Mac OS 8
wasn't much different from system 7 it
featured a new Platinum user interface a
multi-threaded finder and custom
here in themes but the underlying
technical aspects of the OS was largely
unchanged in fact Apple's Mac OS 8
release was originally named Mac OS 7.7
but Steve Jobs changed it in order to
take advantage of a legal loophole that
allowed Apple to stop licensing system 7
to third-party manufacturers and shut
down the Mac clone market altogether
response to Mac OS 8 was huge with Apple
selling 1.2 million copies in the first
two weeks and three million within six
months this was in large part due to
strong grassroots support among Mac
users who understood Apple was in
financial distress this resulted in many
users paying for the upgrade even if
they didn't need it as well as many
pirate groups refusing to distribute the
OS for free Mac OS 8 was a very
influential release with features like
an updated hierarchical file system that
continued to be used until Mac OS hi
Sierra but sales of Mac OS 8 definitely
weren't enough to keep Apple afloat they
needed new hardware to bring in serious
revenue and that's exactly what they did
in 1998 with the release of the iMac
which became Apple's most successful
product launch in history at that point
but when it came to its operating system
there was sort of a mismatch because
although Mac OS 9 was released a year
after the iMac it still featured an
outdated user interface that stuck out
like a sore thumb compared to the IMAX
shiny colorful design and that's exactly
what Apple addressed in 2001 with the
transition from a co s9 to Mac OS 10 not
only is this when Apple debuted their
aqua interface which featured visual
embellishments like reflections shadows
and translucence but this also began the
tradition of Apple naming each version
of Mac OS after a big cat the first of
which was called cheetah now Mac OS 10
cheetah was a very important release
since it marked the beginning of a new
era for the Macintosh operating system
in fact it was such a monumental
transition that Apple held a funeral for
Mac OS 9 on stage but there were some
problems with cheetah first the Aqua
interface while visually appealing was a
resource hog causing system slowdowns in
bog
down application performance not only
that but the new OS required more
harddrive space which also caused a
longer boot times many users also noted
the lack of basic features like DVD
playback in CD burning which used to be
available in Mac OS 9
so although cheetah was a pleasure to
look at it certainly wasn't a pleasure
to use and the heavy criticism of the
release caused Apple to offer their next
version of Mac OS 10 to users for free
because at the time upgrading to a new
operating system used to cost about $130
now the following release Puma was a
step in the right direction and was
praised for introducing many new
features that were missing from cheetah
like CD and DVD burning DVD playback
support support for more printers and
faster 3d performance but was still
criticized for failing to fix
significant bugs that could cause
system-wide crashes and failure to
improve system performance Jaguar was
the next release and it turned Mac OS 10
into a more refined and stable operating
system it was also the first time Apple
incorporated the Jaguar name into the
products marketing whose box featured a
Jaguar fur logo now the following
Panther tiger leopard snow leopard and
lion releases all followed the same
patterns introducing new features and
system optimizations to keep the OS
competitive but there was a trend
beginning with mountain lion that set
Mac OS on a new path and it was when
Apple began introducing applications and
elements from iOS to Mac OS like notes
messages Game Center and Notification
Center in this trend only continued with
each subsequent update Mavericks
featured desktop versions of iBooks and
maps Yosemite featured photos Sierra
featured Siri and Apple pay
Mojave featured news stocks voice memos
in home and Catalina features dedicated
music and podcasts apps plus an Apple TV
app all of which were borrowed from iOS
not to mention apple's project catalyst
which is designed to help developers
bring iOS and ipad OS apps to the Mac
but when it comes to Catalina I
you want to issue a warning that it no
longer supports 32-bit apps so if you're
thinking about upgrading I highly
recommend using CleanMyMac X since it'll
identify any 32-bit apps you may have so
you'll know beforehand what applications
won't work although keep in mind there
may be updates for those 32-bit apps and
you'll find out by using clean my Mac's
updater feature which will instantly
replace your apps with 64-bit versions
if they're available it's also worth
noting that I use clean my Mac X because
it's actually notarized by Apple so to
clean up your Mac before upgrading to
Catalina
just click the link in the description
and you'll be able to download a free
trial of CleanMyMac X or you can
purchase a premium license for just $35
which is way cheaper in the long run
compared to a subscription service so
anyway Catalina does follow the trend of
being influenced by iOS and some have
seen this as a sign that the two
operating systems will someday merge
into one but I see it a different way
just consider the environment of Mac OS
back when it was first introduced
compared to today back then there were
only desktop computers with the desktop
operating systems today computers come
in many forms tablets phones watches and
desktops each with their own optimized
operating systems that borrow from one
another for example iOS did music
playback much better than iTunes on Mac
OS so it made sense to replace iTunes
with a re-engineered music app that
borrows many of its features and design
cues from iOS that doesn't mean that two
operating systems will inevitably become
the same thing
it simply means Apple is concerned with
delivering the best user experience
possible we're only going to see more of
this as time goes on and I think it's
for the best
alright guys thanks for watching and
I'll see you next time