It’s hard to believe that Steve Jobs introduced the first version of OS X on January 5, 2000. At the time, he said that the new operating system would support the Mac for decades, and he wasn’t wrong. With the arrival of the first “cats”, (the first version of OS X was named Cheetah), Apple moved from System 9 to what would become a new era for Apple and the Mac.
Now, twenty years later, macOS 10.15 Catalina marks the end of that era. Apple has finally moved away from an operating system that starts with a 10. Today, Apple released macOS 11.0 Big Sur. With the introduction of new Macs using processors designed by Apple, it seems fitting to introduce an entirely new version of the macOS.
But the new M1 processor and the new macOS 11.0 Big Sur has a long history and we thought it appropriate to take this opportunity to once again, look at the history of OS X and how we got where it is today, and begin the journey tracking macOS version 11.
History of OS X
| Version Number | Version Name | Date Announced | Date Released | Price | Major Enhancements |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10.0 | Cheetah | 1/5/2000 | 3/24/2001 | $129 | Aqua Interface Dock Terminal Address Book Text Edit |
| 10.1 | Puma | 7/18/2001 | 9/25/2001 | $129 | CD Burning Customizable Dock 3rd Party Peripheral Support |
| 10.2 | Jaguar | 7/17/2002 | 8/23/2002 | $129 | Finder with Built-In Search iChat Mail with Junk Filter |
| 10.3 | Panther | 6/23/2003 | 10/24/2003 | $129 | Expose Font Book iChat AV Safari Updated Finder |
| 10.4 | Tiger | 6/28/2004 | 4/29/2005 | $129 | Automator Dashboard iChat with multi-video and audio Safari RSS Spotlight VoiceOver |
| 10.5 | Leopard | 8/7/2006 | 10/26/2007 | $129 | 3D Dock with Stacks Boot Camp Cover Flow Quick Look Spaces Time Machine |
| 10.6 | Snow Leopard | 6/9/2009 | 8/28/2009 | $169 | 64-bit Grand Central Dispatch OpenCL |
| 10.7 | Lion | 10/20/2010 | 7/20/2011 | $29.99 - Download $69.99 - USB Flash Drive | Full Screen Apps Launchpad Mac App Store Mission Control Multi-Touch Resume and Auto Save |
| 10.8 | Mountain Lion | 2/16/2012 | 7/25/2012 | $19.99 | Airplay Dictation Facebook and Twitter Integration Game Center Gatekeeper iCloud Messages Notes Notification Center Reminders |
| 10.9 | Mavericks | 6/10/2013 | 10/22/2013 | Free | Finder Tabs iBooks iCloud Keychain Maps Multiple Display Support Tags |
| 10.10 | Yosemite | 6/2/2014 | 10/16/2014 | Free | Continuity iCloud Drive Handoff |
| 10.11 | El Capitan | 6/8/2015 | 9/30/2015 | Free | Muti-Touch Gesture Support Split View Spotlight Improvements |
| 10.12 | Sierra | 6/13/2016 | 9/20/2016 | Free | Now called macOS Siri on the Desktop Universal Clipboard Unlock with Apple Watch |
| 10.13 | High Sierra | 6/5/2017 | 9/25/2017 | Free | Apple File System HEVC Metal 2 Virtual Reality Support |
| 10.14 | Mojave | 6/4/2018 | 9/24/2018 | Free | Dark Mode Desktop Stacks Enhancements to Quick Look Redesigned Mac App Store |
| 10.15 | Catalina | 6/3/2019 | 10/7/2019 | Free | iTunes has been split into three separate apps. Updated Photos app Updated Reminders app Introduction of "Sidecar" |
History of macOS Version 11
| Version Number | Version Name | Date Announced | Date Released | Major Enhancements |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 11 | Big Sur | 6/22/20 | 11/12/20 | First release of macOS version 11 |
Do you plan to upgrade to macOS 11.0 Big Sur right away? Why not join the conversation and tell us what you think of it by leaving a comment below?
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