Mac OS X Server 1.0 is an

operating system An operating system (OS) is system software that manages computer hardware and software resources, and provides common daemon (computing), services for computer programs. Time-sharing operating systems scheduler (computing), schedule tasks for ...

developed by Apple, Inc. released on March 16, 1999. It was the first version of

Mac OS X Server Mac OS X Server is a series of Discontinued software, discontinued Unix-like server operating systems developed by Apple Inc., based on macOS. It provided server functionality and system administration tools, and tools to manage both macOS ...

. It was Apple's first commercial product to be derived from " Rhapsody"—an eventual replacement 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 ...

derived from

NeXTSTEP NeXTSTEP is a discontinued object-oriented, multitasking operating system based on the Mach kernel and the UNIX-derived BSD. It was developed by NeXT, founded by Steve Jobs, in the late 1980s and early 1990s and was initially used for its ...

's architecture (acquired in 1997 as part of Apple's purchase of

NeXT NeXT, Inc. (later NeXT Computer, Inc. and NeXT Software, Inc.) was an American technology company headquartered in Redwood City, California that specialized in computer workstations for higher education and business markets, and later develope ...

) and

BSD The Berkeley Software Distribution (BSD), also known as Berkeley Unix or BSD Unix, is a discontinued Unix operating system developed and distributed by the Computer Systems Research Group (CSRG) at the University of California, Berkeley, beginni ...

-like

Mach kernel Mach () is an operating system kernel developed at Carnegie Mellon University by Richard Rashid and Avie Tevanian to support operating system research, primarily distributed and parallel computing. Mach is often considered one of the earliest ...

. It could run applications written using the " Yellow Box" API, and featured components such as NetBoot, the

QuickTime Streaming Server QuickTime Streaming Server (QTSS) is a server or service daemon that was built into Apple's Mac OS X Server until OS X Server 10.6.8. It delivers video and audio on request to users over a computer network, including the Internet. Its primary ...

, components carried over from NeXTSTEP, and the "Blue Box" environment (which allows a

Mac OS 8 Mac OS 8 is the eighth major release of the classic Mac OS operating system for Macintosh computers, released by Apple Computer on July 26, 1997. It includes the largest overhaul of the classic Mac OS experience since the release of System 7 ...

.5 session to be launched as a separate process to run legacy Mac OS software). Mac OS X Server 1.0 was a prelude to the first consumer-oriented version of the OS—

Mac OS X 10.0 Mac OS X 10.0 (code named Cheetah) is the first major release of macOS, Apple's desktop and server operating system. It was released on March 24, 2001, for a price of $129 after a public beta. Mac OS X was Apple's successor to the classic Ma ...

—which was released in 2001. It did not include the eventual Aqua user interface (instead using NeXTSTEP's Workspace Manager shell mixed with aspects of Mac OS 8's "

Platinum Platinum is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol Pt and atomic number 78. It is a density, dense, malleable, ductility, ductile, highly unreactive, precious metal, precious, silverish-white transition metal. Its name origina ...

" user interface) or

Carbon Carbon () is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol, symbol C and atomic number 6. It is nonmetallic and tetravalence, tetravalent—meaning that its atoms are able to form up to four covalent bonds due to its valence shell exhibiting 4 ...

API.

Features

Mac OS X Server 1.0 contains a mix of features from the classic Mac OS, NeXTSTEP and

Mac OS X macOS, previously OS X and originally Mac OS X, is a Unix, Unix-based operating system developed and marketed by Apple Inc., Apple since 2001. It is the current operating system for Apple's Mac (computer), Mac computers. With ...

. Like the classic Mac OS, it has a single menu bar across the top of the screen, but file management is performed in Workspace Manager from NeXTSTEP instead of the classic Mac OS Finder. The user interface still uses the Display PostScript-based window server from

, instead of the

Quartz Quartz is a hard, crystalline mineral composed of silica (silicon dioxide). The Atom, atoms are linked in a continuous framework of SiO4 silicon–oxygen Tetrahedral molecular geometry, tetrahedra, with each oxygen being shared between two tet ...

-based WindowServer, which would appear a year later in

Mac OS X Public Beta Mac OS X Public Beta (internally code named "Kodiak") was the first publicly available version of Apple Inc., Apple Computer's macOS, Mac OS X (now named macOS) operating system to feature the Aqua (user interface), Aqua user interface. It was ...

. Unlike any version of Classic Mac OS, windows with unsaved content display a black dot in the window close button like NeXTSTEP did. The

Dock The word dock () in American English refers to one or a group of human-made structures that are involved in the handling of boats or ships (usually on or near a shore). In British English, the term is not used the same way as in American Engl ...

and the Aqua appearance were not included; these were added later in Mac OS X. "

", essentially a subset of "classic" Mac OS API calls, was also absent. This meant that the only native applications for OS X Server 1.0 were written for the "Yellow Box" API, which went on to become known as " Cocoa". Furthermore, Apple's own

FireWire IEEE 1394 is an interface standard for a serial bus for high-speed communications and isochronous real-time data transfer. It was developed in the late 1980s and early 1990s by Apple in cooperation with a number of companies, primarily Sony a ...

was not supported. Server 1.0 also includes the first version of a NetBoot server, which allows computers to boot from a disk image over a local network. This was particularly useful in a school or other public-machine setting, as it allowed the machines to be booted from a single OS copy stored on Server 1.0. This made it difficult for users to damage the OS by installing software – as soon as they signed out, the machine would re-boot with a fresh OS from the NetBoot server. To run classic Mac OS applications, Mac OS X Server 1.0 includes the "Blue Box", which essentially ran a copy of

.5.1 (this could be updated to Mac OS 8.6 in version 1.2 and later) in a separate process as an emulation layer. Blue Box would eventually be renamed as the "

Classic Environment This is a list of built-in apps and system components developed by Apple Inc. for macOS that come bundled by default or are installed through a system update. Many of the default programs found on macOS have counterparts on Apple's other operat ...

" in Mac OS X, featuring the latest version of

Mac OS 9 Mac OS 9 is the ninth and final major release of the classic Mac OS operating system for Macintosh computers, made by Apple Computer. Introduced on October 23, 1999, it was promoted by Apple as "The Best Internet Operating System Ever", highlight ...

Reception

Although marketed as a large advancement over AppleShare IP, it cost $499 and did not support Apple's own

, making it incompatible with products like MicroNet's SANcube, a line of external high-speed high-capacity storage systems (debuting in the year 2000 for $4599 to $6999). Buyers of OS X Server 1.0 (who often purchased new Macs to run it) and the SANcube were forced to downgrade to AppleShare IP in order to use it. OS X Server 1.0 was quickly orphaned, in favor of Mac OS X 10.0, with no discount for those who purchased it and wished to purchase OS X Server 10.0. The result is that some considered the release premature and even a

bait and switch Bait-and-switch is a form of fraud used in retail sales but also employed in other contexts. First, the merchant "baits" the customer by advertising a product or service at a low price; then when the customer goes to purchase the item, they disco ...

Release history

Timeline

References

External links