When Apple engage the wraps off Mac OS X a decade ago , it clearly marked a big saltation forrad from the old Mac operating system . But as Mac users installed that first genus Beta disk , it was n’t incisively clearhowbig a leap OS X would turn out to be . With ten years of updates , innovation , and sweetening under our belt , we can now see how far we ’ve fall since Steve Jobs released the Mac OS disco biscuit Public Beta at the Apple Expo in Paris on September 13 , 2000 . We now rely on OS cristal features that early OS adopters in all likelihood could n’t even consider of a ten ago .
But which OS X excogitation have been the most significant for the Mac and its users ? We put our heads together and come up with a list of ten features — for the tenth day of remembrance of the OS X beta ’s release — that we see to be the most significant contributions to the Mac experience .
Time Machine
computer science is risky business : All hard drives will fail finally , and people accidentally edit files . Introduced with OS X 10.5 , Time Machine was hugely significant for one simple reason : It made backing up your information tardily — and therefore , something you were much more potential to do .
Sure , the 3D interface may be a little cheesy , and Time Machine can slow down your organisation . It ’s also not always comfortable to recover a file when you need it . But Time Machine make back up a render . And on top of that , Time Machine backups are cracking when you ’re migrate to a novel Mac . Those are reasons alone to celebrate this OS X capability.—JONATHAN SEFF
Native PDF support
Apple ’s Preview app is the seeable face of Mac OS X ’s organisation - stage support for the PDF format . Mac drug user can well create PDF single file with any program that substantiate the Print dictation . Because PDF single file recreate the layout of the original document , saving files electronically is now as convenient as print them , except you ’re detached to relieve , e - mail , or imbed them in other documents without losing their unequalled look .
Now at interlingual rendition 5 , Preview has undergone numerous improvements over fourth dimension , but its annotation toolbar , easy selection of column , and image redaction capabilities accentuate its advantage for users.—JACKIE DOVE
Spotlight
introduce as the screen background search successor to Apple ’s Sherlock in OS 10.4 , Spotlight made waves for its metadata forefinger and instant - hunt capability . The utility ’s in - deepness hunting allowed users to searchinsidetheir single file , rather than by name alone . And with Leopard , introducing the calculation of simple math equivalence and dictionary searches , Spotlight has only get as a reference and lookup tool.—SERENITY CALDWELL
iChat
IM clients existed before Apple folded iChat into Mac OS X 10.2 in 2002 . But iChat up the ante by integrate with the operating system ’s address playscript and mail applications , and an updated version included in Panther tote up video conferencing capableness as well . The comprehension of a built - in chat guest gave OS X a celebrated productivity boost — one we experienced first - hand in theMacworldoffice . We of a sudden had a way to communicate with far - flung colleagues and contributors in a way that was more contiguous than e - postal service and more convenient than the phone . ( alternatively of dropping what you were doing to make a phone call , you could keep work in one windowpane while conducting an iChat in the other . ) The Mac has made notable in - roads in the workplace during the retiring decade , and we suspect the bearing of a build - in , full - featured messaging tool is one of the reasons why.—PHILIP MICHAELS
The Classic Environment and Boot Camp
The Classic environment and Boot Camp are very unlike technologies , but they attend ( or , in the case of Classic , wait on ) the same essential determination — provide the technological safety cyberspace and the psychological peace of mind that provide millions of people to make the replacement to Mac OS X.
For most “ Greco-Roman ” Mac user , the changeover from Mac OS 9 to Mac OS X went far more smoothly than even the most optimistic among us carry . But it never would have been so had it not been for the Classic environment , a hardware - abstraction layer that countenance users run OS 9 applicationswithinMac OS decade , side - by - side with aboriginal OS X software package . Without the Classic environs , upgrading to Mac OS X would have meant either doing without your preferent software program until it was update for the new OS , or dumping all your exist software and starting over — a candidate only slightly more appealing than simply giving in and switching to Windows . The Classic environment was n’t perfect — some OS 9 apps acted a bit quirky when hunt down within Classic , and a few did n’t function at all — but for the most part it worked well and worked invisibly , surge many a Mac substance abuser over until one day , as if by magic , it was no longer needed .
Boot Camp has fulfilled a similar role for Windows user . Since its debut ( in beta form in early 2006 , with an prescribed going in late 2007 ) , Boot Camp has offered Windows users the assurance that if they decide to switch to the Mac , they can still run all their Windows software — or , in the worst - case scenario , that if they terminate up hat OS ten , they can for good boot into Windows and just use their Mac as a to the full supported Windows PC . ( The latter option makes Boot Camp more compelling for many Windows switchers than virtualization solutions such as Fusion and Parallels . ) Of of course , after constitute the switch , many Windows users finish up incur suitable — or ranking — OS X replacements for their favorite software , and become full - metre Mac OS go users . But without Boot Camp , they never would have been in the position tonotboot into Windows.—DAN FRAKES
Developer Tools
Apple ’s developer tools are probably the top nominee for the championship of “ most important technology that the legal age of Mac users will never touch . ” Back in the heady days of the classical Mac OS , developers who want to publish software for the Mac were pendent on integrated development environment ( IDEs ) such as Metrowerks ’s CodeWarrior . When OS X rolled around , Apple seemed to have realized that in order for its next chopine to prosper , it could n’t give to have the means for creating enceinte software package controlled by someone else . Hence , the introduction of Apple ’s own developer tools alongside Mac OS X. admit in the package was an IDE — Project Builder — that was a tweaked version of the IDE that came with NeXT , the OS whose acquisition lay much of the foundation for OS X. In 2003 , Project Builder became the now familiar Xcode .
Controlling the tools used to ramp up software gave Apple a vast edge : the fellowship could ensure developer were able to take advantage of the fresh , compelling feature that Apple roll out in each consecutive OS ex update . The company position Xcode and the other development peter as an investment funds in the time to come of its program , distributing them for complimentary along with every copy of OS X — that was a pronounced dividing line to IDEs like CodeWarrior , which often ran hundreds of dollar . While Xcode may not be a technology that most Mac users are closely familiar with , it ’s the software that makes potential somewhat much every applications programme you apply on your Mac , and that ’s no little deal.—DAN MOREN
Unix underpinnings and a modern core
The Unix underpinnings provided Mac OS X with something long lacking in the Mac OS : stability and performance . Prior versions of the Mac osmium lacked protected memory , which meant that when one app crash , the Mac itself unremarkably crashed . Multitasking performance was also far from stellar , as the OS was written without multitasking in head .
Mac OS X change all that , thanks to its modern pith and Unix foundation level . distinctive users may never directly see the Unix side of Mac OS X , nor even wish that it ’s there … but every sentence they use their Mac , they benefit from that nub : multiple programs run at the same time , all play nicely with each other ; when a program crashes , only that programme crash . With the Parousia of Mac OS X , multi - daily reboots became a thing of the yesteryear , and were shortly measure in days or weeks . Thanks to this solid sum , Mac OS X and its programs are stable , antiphonal , and exploit well with one another.—ROB GRIFFITHS
Exposé
As displays got turgid through the years and Mac OS X ’s multitasking feature became even more rich , the desire to keep more windows and applications running concurrently could often lead to “ windowpane - itis”—the condition of getting buried under one ’s virtual workspace . When Apple unloosen Mac OS X 10.3 in 2003 , it showcased its unequalled bent for take on usability problems like this with the introduction of Exposé .
Exposé was arguably the first significant attempt by a major atomic number 8 maker to improve windowpane management since Windows 95 ( or perhaps WindowShade in System 8) . When Command - Tab and repeatedly hiding or belittle waves of window were no longer enough , Exposé offer a refreshing bird’s - centre vista of all the applications , or just multiple windows in a single diligence , that were presently overt , as well as the files on your desktop . The feature article debuted with just three modes , approachable by keyboard shortcut and mouse gesture : All Windows , software program Windows , and Show Desktop . For some , Exposé was mostly a novelty or a play trick to show friends why the Mac is coolheaded . For others , Exposé was a windowpane management biz auto-changer , a unexampled lease on being productive that helped proved why the Mac is great .
Apple finally added multi - touch trackpad gestures in Leopard , as well as some other venial perk in Snow Leopard , to make Exposé more accessible . But the feature has largely stay unaltered — though useful as ever — since its founding in 2003.—DAVID CHARTIER
Bonjour
Thanks to Bonjour , it ’s a lot easy to connect to printers , waiter , other computer , and other devices over a connection . Originally introduced in 2002 as Rendezvous in Mac OS X 10.2 and rename Bonjour with the 2005 release of Tiger , Bonjour is Apple ’s version of the Zero Configuration Networking ( Zeroconf ) technology . When devices on a electronic connection are using Bonjour , there ’s no need to mess up with confusing electronic connection preferences and controls . Bonjour devices automatically make themselves available on the connection , and the engineering resolve any addressing issues for you .
Bonjour has a blanket form of implementations ; it can be used to connect your Mac to a pressman , or you could connect to another Mac to divvy up file . There ’s even a Windows version of Bonjour , so your Mac can connect to a Windows personal computer . software package programs like iChat and iPhoto can apply Bonjour , too — the most vernacular software use of Bonjour is in iTunes . When you join someone who ’s share their euphony , you ’re witnessing Bonjour at work.—ROMAN LOYOLA
Smart Folders
The Finder evolved as a room to put a friendly face on the scary world of computer Indian file system , but as the way we ’ve used computers has germinate , our file systems have gotten out of control . Smart Folders ( and its cousin-german , Smart Mailboxes ) was Apple ’s way of permit user tease apart order out of an robustious set of personal files . Using the power of the Spotlight search engine ( also added as a part of Mac OS X 10.4 ) , Smart Folders are essentially save searches . Tell your Mac that you want to see all the Word files you ’ve created in the past 10 days , and boom , there ’s a folder full of those file . For many users , Smart Folders make it all right to discard all your hooey in one big folder rather than using a complex , folder - base filing system . After all , Smart Folders can do the organization for you.—JASON SNELL
Also Worth a Mention
bound yourself to just 10 noteworthy features for something as complex as Mac OS X means you ’re going to wind up with some noteworthy omissions . We had several features thatjustmissed making our lean , including the Dock ( and its clever room of keeping the applications you demand close at bridge player ) and Automator ( which demystify script - writing for most users ) . We ’re also fans of Quick Look , one of OS X ’s best time - save features for produce a glimpse of a file with a simple stroke of the blank bar . And we debated including OS X ’s supporting for Intel - build processors as well .
But that ’s just our list of OS X feature worth celebrating on this anniversary . We ’re sure we ’ve overtop a duad of your dearie ; get us know what ’s on your lean of OS X ’s greatest contributions .
