Macromedia Wiki
Macromedia Wiki

Mac OS X was a series of graphical operating systems developed and marketed by Apple for its Macintosh line of computers. It succeeded the "classic" Mac OS (which dates back to the launch of the original Macintosh in 1984) and NeXTSTEP (which was developed at NeXT after Steve Jobs left Apple).[1] It has since been superseded by macOS, starting with macOS 10.12 "Sierra".

Native PDF support[]

Mac OS X used a PDF-based imaging model called Quartz. This replaced NeXTSTEP's Display PostScript implementation to avoid royalty fees to Adobe Systems.[1][2] However, as Mac OS X's use of PDF prioritizes speed and compatibility over features and compression, it is limited to PDF 1.3 (or PDF 1.4 for document "bundles" which contain embedded graphics).[3][4] Newer PDF files will either display incorrectly or cause a performance hit as Mac OS X will internally downconvert the document for display.[5]

Version history[]

 Mac OS X version  Code name Release date  Note
 Mac OS X Server 1.0  Rhapsody 1999-03-16  
 Mac OS X Public Beta  Kodiak 2000-09-13  
 10.0 "Cheetah"   2001-03-24  
 10.1 "Puma"   2001-09-25  
 10.2 "Jaguar"   2002-08-23  
 10.3 "Panther"  Pinot 2003-10-24  
 10.4 "Tiger"  Merlot 2005-04-29  Last version to support classic Mac OS apps.
 10.5 "Leopard"  Chablis 2007-10-26  First version to fully support 64-bit apps .
 10.6 "Snow Leopard"   2009-08-28  Last version to support PowerPC OS X apps (Macromedia Studio MX to 8).
 10.7 "Lion"  Barolo 2011-07-20  
 10.8 "Mountain Lion"  Zinfandel 2012-07-25  
 10.9 "Mavericks"  Cabernet 2013-10-22  
 10.10 "Yosemite"  Syrah 2014-10-16  
 10.11 "El Capitan"  Gala 2015-09-30  
 macOS version      Code name Release date  Note
 10.12 "Sierra"  Fuji 2016-09-20  
 10.13 "High Sierra"  Lobo 2017-09-25  
 10.14 "Mojave"  Liberty 2018-09-24  Last version to support 32-bit apps.[6]
 10.15 "Catalina"  Jazz 2019-10-07  No longer supports 32-bit apps.
 11.0 "Big Sur"  GoldenGate 2020-11-12  Begins transition from 64-bit Intel to Apple processors.
 12.0 "Monterey"  Star 2021-10-25  
 13.0 "Ventura"  Rome 2022-10-24  
 14.0 "Sonoma"  Sunburst 2023-09-26  
 15.0 "Sequoia"  Glow 2024-09-16  
 26.0 "Tahoe"  Cheer 2025-09-15  Last version to support Intel Macs.

References[]

  1. 1.0 1.1 NeXT: Apple’s Right Choice by Jonathan Ploudre, Low End Mac. 2001-05-07.
  2. Mac OS X and PDF by Laurens Leurs, Prepressure. 2013-08-09.
  3. Why does Preview save as PDF version 1.3 instead of version 1.7 sometimes? by Lance000, Apple Communities. 2013-12-04.
  4. Graphics & Imaging Overview, Apple Developer Connection. 2004-09-08. Archived 2004-09-17.
  5. Speed up PDF viewing in Preview, Macworld | Mac OS X Hints. 2009-03-17.
  6. If any of your apps don't work in MacOS Mojave, a small tweak in your settings might fix the problem by Dave Smith, Business Insider. 2018-12-06.

External links[]