MacTCP is the standard

TCP/IP The Internet protocol suite, commonly known as TCP/IP, is a framework for organizing the communication protocols used in the Internet and similar computer networks according to functional criteria. The foundational protocols in the suite are ...

implementation for the

classic Mac OS Mac OS (originally System Software; retronym: Classic Mac OS) is the series of operating systems developed for the Mac (computer), Macintosh family of personal computers by Apple Computer, Inc. from 1984 to 2001, starting with System 1 and end ...

through version 7.5.1. It is the first application-independent implementation of a TCP stack for a non-

Unix Unix (, ; trademarked as UNIX) is a family of multitasking, multi-user computer operating systems that derive from the original AT&T Unix, whose development started in 1969 at the Bell Labs research center by Ken Thompson, Dennis Ritchie, a ...

platform and predates

Winsock In computing, the Windows Sockets API (WSA), later shortened to Winsock, is an application programming interface (API) that defines how Windows network application software should access network services, especially TCP/IP. It defines a standar ...

by over 5 years. Released in 1988, it is obsolete and has reliability issues and incomplete features that sometimes prevent it from operating properly on the modern

Internet The Internet (or internet) is the Global network, global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a internetworking, network of networks ...

. The

API An application programming interface (API) is a connection between computers or between computer programs. It is a type of software interface, offering a service to other pieces of software. A document or standard that describes how to build ...

is proprietary to Mac OS, and at least one developer released a

Berkeley Sockets A Berkeley ( BSD) socket is an application programming interface (API) for Internet domain sockets and Unix domain sockets, used for inter-process communication (IPC). It is commonly implemented as a library of linkable modules. It originated wi ...

-derived API to make porting from other platforms easier. It was originally a substantial purchase, at for a site license, with an additional $2,500 fee for commercial use. The price was lowered until by the mid-1990s it was . MacTCP is included free with System 7.5, when the rising popularity of the Internet made it a necessity. Apple replaced it in 1995 with

Open Transport Open Transport was the name given by Apple Inc. to its implementation of the Unix-originated UNIX System V, System V STREAMS networking stack. Based on code licensed from Mentat's Mentat Portable Streams, Portable Streams product, Open Transport w ...

, which has an improved interface for user configuration, although MacTCP remained in use on older systems due to its generally lower system requirements.

External links

* MacTCP Admin Guide 2.0
MacTCP Manual

Apple Inc. MacTCP Programmers Guide 1993

References

Macintosh operating systems APIs {{Mac-stub TCP implementations