Macintosh 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, contains a
number of significant improvements, including 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 Runtime for {Java}.
Apple released the {kernel} of Mac OS X Server as "{darwin}",
under an {open source} license.
See also {Macintosh file system}, {Macintosh user interface}.
(1999-11-25)