Mac OS X Public Beta

Mac OS X Public Beta
Part of the Mac OS X family
A screenshot of Mac OS X Public Beta. Notice the Apple menu logo in the middle of the menu bar.
Developer
Apple Computer
Releases
Release date	September 13, 2000[info]
Kernel type	Hybrid kernel
Preceded by	Mac OS 9
Succeeded by	Mac 10.0 "Cheetah"
Support status
Unsupported

The Mac OS X Public Beta (internally codenamed "Kodiak") was an early beta version of Apple Computer's Mac OS X operating system Cheetah. It was released to the public on September 13, 2000 for US$29.95. It allowed software developers and early adopters to test a preview of the upcoming operating system and develop software for the forthcoming operating system before its final release. It had a build number of 1H39.^[1]

Successor OS

The Public Beta succeeded Mac OS X Server 1.0, the first public release of Apple's new NeXT OpenStep-based operating system, which used a variant of the classic Mac OS' "Platinum" user interface look and feel. The Public Beta introduced the Aqua user interface to the world. Fundamental user interface changes were revealed with respect to fonts, the Dock, the menu bar (with an Apple logo at the center which was later repositioned, due to public request). System icons were much larger and more detailed, and new interface eye candy was prevalent.

Technical changes

With the Mac OS X Public Beta came fundamental technical changes, most courtesy of an open source Darwin core, including two features that Mac users had been anticipating for almost a decade: preemptive multitasking and protected memory. At the MacWorld Expo in June 2000, Apple CEO Steve Jobs demonstrated Bomb.app, a test application intended to crash.^[2]

Native apps

Native applications in general were few and far between. Users had to turn to open source or shareware alternatives, giving rise to an active homebrew software community around the new operating system. The poor state of the Carbon API contrasted with the relative maturity of Cocoa also gave rise to an anti-Carbon bias among OSX users, one that persists to a certain extent to this day.

Expiration

Mac OS X Public Beta expired and ceased to function in Spring 2001.^[3]

Mac OS X v10.0 was the first completed release of Mac OS X. It became available in March 2001. Owners of the Public Beta version were entitled to a $30 discount on the price of the first full version of Mac OS X 10.0.^[4]

References

1. ^ Marcin Wichary. "GUIdebook > Screenshots > Mac OS X Public Beta". Guidebookgallery.org. http://www.guidebookgallery.org/screenshots/macosxpb. Retrieved 2011-06-21. 
2. ^ "MACWORLD Expo - Live Coverage Of Steve Jobs Keynote". The Mac Observer. http://www.macobserver.com/news/00/july/000719/keynotelive.shtml. Retrieved 2011-06-21. 
3. ^ "Google translation of Japanese legacy Apple Support document". Translate.google.com. http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&u=http%3A%2F%2Fdocs.info.apple.com%2Fjarticle.html%3Fartnum%3D60845&sl=ja&tl=en. Retrieved 2011-06-21. 
4. ^ Edwards, Benj (September 13, 2010). "Looking back at OS X's origins". Macworld. http://www.macworld.com/article/154036/2010/09/osxorigins.html. Retrieved September 29, 2011.