-
- Early
Operating Systems (on 400K, 800K
diskette).
- Back in the
day of the first 128K Mac, the 512K "Fat Mac," FX and
others, we had no need of System version numbers and
names; the Mac's OS was simply known as, well, the MacOS.
Back then, both the Operating System and application
program fit nicely on a single 400K "floppy" (actually
the first 3.5" hard-shell Sony diskette that would become
industry standard), with enough space left over for a
document or two.
-
- System
6.0.5 and 6.0.8 (MultiFinder): MacPlus to
SE.
- The ancient
MacPlus and early SEs with 800K drives can't go past
System 6.0.8 without extensive modification to drives and
logic board to meet minimum System 7 specs. An SE
equipped with 1.4MB diskette drive(s) and other
modifications could be made to run System 7.
-
- System
7.5.5: Good choice for 68030 and 68040 Macs, including
the SE/30.
- 7.5.5
requires a 1.4MB diskette drive and 8 to 16MB RAM.
(System 7.5.5 can gobble up 4-5 times as much RAM as
System 7.0 did on 68K machines.) Communications via
bulletin boards (BBS) was the norm at that
time.
-
- System
7.6.1: Minimum Internet, from SE/30 to Performas and
PowerPCs.
- 32 MB of RAM
and System 7.6.1 _might_ get you online today, but you
won't get very far without using Cyberdog or hacking
Netscape for use on certain machines like the SE/30. This
configuration, System 7.6.1, represents the bare-bones
minimum required to allow email and internet on early
Macs and PowerBooks. System 7.6.1 also supported the
multiple SCSI bus of 603e/604e PowerPC Macs.
-
- OS 8.0:
Skip it.
- Apple used
license of this System release to terminate Mac clones.
(There were at least six at the time, including Motorola,
UMAX and Power Computing.) OS 8 was actually the last of
System 7, unofficially version 7.7. OS 8 was also the
first MacOS that came with a price tag.
-
- OS 8.1:
HFS Plus, runs on all PowerPC 601, 603 and 604
Macs.
- OS 8.1
Introduced HFS+ extended format, along with more than a
few other significant changes including enhanced software
capabilities and communications. 8.1 was the _real_
beginning of the MacOS version 8. Runs on almost all
PowerPC Macs up to the G3 Risc series processors (also
known as the 750 chip).
-
- OS 8.5 and
OS 8.6: All PowerPC Macs.
- Improved
interface and control over view functions with global
preference settings. 8.5 introduced Sherlock; 8.6 expands
on search capability, indexing. Top end for 603e CPUs. If
you can't use OS9 (which will not install on older PPCs),
8.5 or 8.6 is your best bet.
-
- OS 9.1:
Top end OS for 604ev Macs.
- OS 9.1 will
run on 604, G3, and a few G4 Macs. Newer G4s and G5s will
not startup with OS9, but can run OS9.2.2 and apps using
OSX Classic Mode (provided OS9 drivers were included with
hard drive format under OSX).
-
- OS 9.2.1
and Update 9.2.2: G3 and G4 Macs.
- With improved
security, data encryption, and many communications
enhancements, OS 9.2.1 was the last commercial release of
System 9, followed by one final update to OS 9.2.2.
Update 9.2.2 contains improved OSX "Classic Mode"
compatibility and additional hardware drivers for G4 CD
and DVD burners. Last, best browser under OS 9 was
Netscape 7.02. OS 9.2.2 is absolutely necessary if you're
still dragging "Classic" OS9 apps. Tiger 10.4 was the
last version of Mac OSX to recognize OS9 "Classic mode"
and legacy software (see below); Leopard 10.5 will not
recognize legacy software (by design?), nor can Intel
machines run legacy software.
-
- OSX
versions 10.0 Cheetah, 10.1 Puma and 10.2 Jaguar: G3s,
G4s, G5s.
- Slow,
incomplete, not a pleasant experience. OS 10.0 thru
10.2.x are best avoided; any machine capable of running
10.0-10.2 Jaguar should be running Panther (10.3)
instead.
-
- OS X
10.3.0 thru 10.3.9 Panther: G3s, G4s,
G5s.
- Officially,
all G3s - except the very first (beige) models and the
first G3 PowerBook - will run OS X versions thru 10.3.9;
in reality, RAM requirements and hard drive space are
determining factors. All G4s will run Panther nicely; a
few later G4s and all G5 models startup in OS X only, but
all machines up to Intel Macs (and Leopard 10.5, below)
will run OS9 apps in Classic Mode on HDDs with OS9
drivers installed. Unofficially, almost any Mac with PCI
architecture allowing addition of a USB card can run OSX
with a little tinkering (see "Upgrade to OSX" in sidebar,
left). Internet protocols now require Panther 10.3 or
later and a current browser (Safari and Firefox are
recommended).
-
- OSX 10.4.0
thru 10.4.10 Tiger: G4s, G5s, Intel Macs.
- Written to
accommodate the 64-bit G5 processor and newer Intel Macs,
Tiger is virtually identical to Panther with a few added
bells and whistles, many of which require a broadband
connection to the internet (as does the Software Update
function built into both Panther and Tiger). All G5 Macs
should be running (fully updated) Tiger 10.4 or later
MacOS. Early Intel Macs will happily run either Tiger
10.4 or Leopard 10.5 Operating Systems; later
Intel-powered Macs may require Leopard.
-
- OSX 10.5
Leopard: G5s, Intel Macs.
- Official
release was on Friday, October 26th, 2007. Apple finally
dropped legacy support for OS9 and Classic Mode with
Leopard 10.5, regardless of machine's processor (G5 or
Intel). Leopard boasts "300 new features" including a few
major additions and enhancements. Visit Apple's web site
for a complete introduction to the newest MacOS at
<http://www.apple.com/macosx/>.
-
- OSX 10.6
Snow Leopard: Rumored to be on its way.
- It remains to
be seen if the next MacOS will, in fact, bear either the
Snow Leopard name or 10.6 designation, but that's the
story going around from those closer to Mother Mac than
I. As the rumor goes, the next OS will be a highly
polished version of Leopard, thus the name. We'll
see.
|
.gif)
