The Mac OS X operating system turns 14 today

Mar 24, 2015 22:55 GMT  ·  By

14 years ago, on March 24, 2001, Apple announced the first release of the groundbreaking Mac OS X or simply OS X (OS 10) operating system designed specifically for Macintosh computers, on which it still comes pre-installed.

Mac OS X 10 is the successor to Mac OS 9, which was released by Apple back in 1999. The first release of the Mac OS X operating system was dubbed Cheetah. After that, Apple released Mac OS X 10.1 (Puma), 10.2 (Jaguar), 10.3 (Panther), 10.4 (Tiger), 10.5 (Leopard), 10.6 (Snow Leopard), 10.7 (Lion), 10.8 (Mountain Lion), 10.9 (Mavericks), and 10.10 (Yosemite).

An interesting fact about the Mac OS X computer operating system is that all the versions until 10.8 were named after big cats, but Apple decided to change that when it announced Mac OS X Mavericks (version 10.9) in June 2013. As such, Californian landmarks were used instead of big cats.

The current release of OS X is 10.10, dubbed Yosemite, which will see a third maintenance release, version 10.10.3, in the coming weeks. Each new release of OS X brings new and attractive features that enhance the compatibility, security, and stability of your Mac.

Happy Birthday, OS X!