Rhapsody (operating system)

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2021-07-17 10:00:08

Rhapsody was the code name given to Apple Computer's next-generation operating system during the period of its development between Apple's purchase of NeXT in late 1996 and the announcement of Mac OS X (now called "macOS") in 1998. At first more than an operating system, Rhapsody represented a new strategy for Apple, who intended the operating system to run on x86-based PCs and DEC Alpha workstations[citation needed ] as well as on PowerPC-based Macintosh hardware. In addition, the underlying API frameworks would be ported to run natively on Microsoft Windows NT. Eventually, the non-Apple platforms were dropped, and later versions consisted primarily of the OPENSTEP operating system ported to the Power Macintosh, along with a new GUI to make it appear more Mac-like. Several existing "classic" Mac OS technologies were also ported to Rhapsody, including QuickTime and AppleSearch. Rhapsody could also run Mac OS 8 in a "Blue Box" emulation layer.

Rhapsody was announced at the MacWorld Expo in San Francisco on January 7, 1997[1] and first demonstrated at the 1997 Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC). There were two subsequent general Developer Releases for computers with x86 or PowerPC processors. After this there was to be a "Premier" version somewhat analogous to the Mac OS X Public Beta, followed by the full "Unified" version in the second quarter of 1998. Apple's development schedule in integrating the features of two very different systems made it difficult to forecast the features of upcoming releases. At the 1998 MacWorld Expo in New York, Steve Jobs announced that Rhapsody would be released as Mac OS X Server 1.0 (which shipped in 1999). No home version of Rhapsody would be released. Its code base was forked into Darwin, the open source underpinnings of macOS.

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