Mac OS X 10.0

On January 9, 2001, Apple announced that Mac OS X would ship on March 24 for US$129. Its March 21 release retained that retail date; the May 21 release retrospectively confirmed shipping had begun on March 24. This entry uses 10.0 to distinguish the first commercial release from the Public Beta and 10.1.

Original typographic card; not a historical screenshot.

Family: Mac OS X
Version: 10.0
Minimum RAM: 128 MB
Historical US price: US$129

Apple · Mac OS X · 2001-01-09 · Apple · Mac OS X · 2001-03-21 · Apple · 10.0.3 / Mac · 2001-05-21

The open-source, UNIX-based Darwin foundation provided memory protection and preemptive multitasking. Quartz used PDF for 2D graphics, while OpenGL and QuickTime covered 3D graphics and multimedia. Aqua and the Dock changed the interface.

Apple · Mac OS X · 2001-03-21

Apple required at least 128 MB RAM and listed iMac, iBook, Power Macintosh G3, Power Mac G4, G4 Cube and PowerBooks introduced after May 1998 in its March release. January had said September 1998 for PowerBooks: that discrepancy is preserved and the later document is used, without certifying every configuration. The box included Mac OS 9.1 for Classic and developer tools.

Apple · Mac OS X · 2001-01-09 · Apple · Mac OS X · 2001-03-21

On May 1 Apple announced the 10.0.2 update alongside an iTunes update for burning music CDs with CD-RW drives; automatic notifications would roll out over the following week. By May 21 Apple described 10.0.3 and factory preinstallation of OS X alongside Mac OS 9.1. Default startup remained 9.1: preinstallation did not mean the initial startup system. No exact release date for 10.0.3 is assigned here.

Apple · 10.0.2 · 2001-05-01 · Apple · 10.0.3 / Mac · 2001-05-21