from
The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (8 July 2008)
Macintosh Operating System
Mac OS
<operating system> (Mac OS) {Apple Computer, Inc.}'s
proprietary {operating system} for their {Macintosh} family of
{personal computers}.
The part of the operating system that simulates the desktop is
called "{Finder}." The {multitasking} version of Finder was
called "{MultiFinder}" until {multitasking} was integrated
into the core of the OS with the introduction of System 7.0 in
1990.
The Macintosh series provides a built-in graphics language,
called "{QuickDraw}", which provides a {standard} for software
developers.
Mac OS 8, scheduled for delivery in July 1997, included new
human-interface features, increased system stability and
performance, a {PowerPC} processor-native Finder, tighter
integration of {Internet} access through panel-based
"assistants," Personal Web Sharing and the ability to run
{Java applets} and programs through Mac OS Run Time for
{Java}. Version 9.2 was the last version of the bespoke Mac
OS. The next version, {Mac OS X} is quite different, being
based on {Unix}.
See also {Macintosh file system}, {Macintosh user interface}.
(2007-03-15)