Saturday, March 26, 2011

Mac OS X Beginnings: Public Beta (2000)

Though having released the revolutionary iMac in 1998, which featured an entirely new approach to personal computer design, the hip, translucent all-in-one personal computers still featured Apple's then-aging OS 8 and eventually OS 9 software. Behind the scenes, however, Apple had been hard at work completely rethinking the modern desktop operating system. Incorporating the powerful technologies found in NeXTSTEP, Apple developed the what eventually became to be known as OS X.

Thanks to http://pc.watch.impress.co.jp
In September of 2000, Steve Jobs stunned audiences with the flashy interface and new features of OS X. With a radically new user interface and software features like QuickTime and Sherlock, people began to look at Macs in a whole new light. The UI skin, called Aqua, did away with dull box-like controls, buttons and scrollbars. Window animations were a completely new experience. The dock created a much different way to quickly get at frequently used applications and documents. Overall, the idea behind OS X was to make everything simpler and easier.

Sure, the fresh, new Mac OS overhaul was buggy (many had said it was nearly unusable), but it was beta. Those that spent the $29.95 knew what they were getting into.

The weirdest thing though was the Apple logo placed in the middle of the top menubar... It was, however, changed back to the top left before the official release of Cheetah.

Release: Mac OS Public Beta

Features: First look at up-and-coming Mac innovations, completely new user interface, preemptive multitasking, memory protection, multiple users, Mail, QuickTime, MP3 software, Sherlock, Internet Explorer.

Price: $29.95

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