Apple Macbook Pro MJLQ2LL/A 15-inch Laptop, Intel Core i7 Processor, 16GB RAM, 256GB SSD, Mac OS X (Renewed) 4.2 out of 5 stars 133 $814.99 $ 814. 99 $884.89 $884.89. The history of macOS, Apple's current Mac operating system originally named Mac OS X until 2012 and then OS X until 2016, began with the company's project to replace its 'classic' Mac OS. That system, up to and including its final release Mac OS 9, was a direct descendant of the operating system Apple had used in its Macintosh computers since.
- OS X 10.0 Cheetah. Mac OS X 10.0 Cheetah was a minor revision, over the Public Beta. The early years of OS X were a rough ride for those following it – although many stayed with the stability of Mac OS9, until Mac OSX 10.2 ‘Jaguar'. How Apple managed to release OS X.
- Mar 24, 2015 - 20 Comments Rather than remembering a separate password and set of login information for unlocking a Mac, OS X offers the option to use an iCloud password to login to the computer at boot, reboot, authentication, locked screens, and all login windows instead.
For the protection of our customers, Apple does not disclose, discuss, or confirm security issues until a full investigation has occurred and any necessary patches or releases are available. To learn more about Apple Product Security, see the Apple Product Security website.
For information about the Apple Product Security PGP Key, see How to use the Apple Product Security PGP Key.
Where possible, CVE IDs are used to reference the vulnerabilities for further information.
To learn about other security updates, see Apple security updates.
OS X Yosemite v10.10.4 and Security Update 2015-005
Admin Framework
Available for: OS X Mavericks v10.9.5, OS X Yosemite v10.10 to v10.10.3
Impact: A process may gain admin privileges without proper authentication Apple store thunderbolt hard drive.
Description: An issue existed when checking XPC entitlements. This issue was addressed through improved entitlement checking.
CVE-ID
CVE-2015-3671 : Emil Kvarnhammar at TrueSec
Admin Framework
Available for: OS X Mavericks v10.9.5, OS X Yosemite v10.10 to v10.10.3
Impact: A non-admin user may obtain admin rights
Description: An issue existed in the handling of user authentication. This issue was addressed through improved error checking.
CVE-ID
CVE-2015-3672 : Emil Kvarnhammar at TrueSec
Admin Framework
Available for: OS X Yosemite v10.10 to v10.10.3
Impact: An attacker may abuse Directory Utility to gain root privileges
Description: Directory Utility was able to be moved and modified to achieve code execution within an entitled process. This issue was addressed by limiting the disk location that writeconfig clients may be executed from.
CVE-ID
CVE-2015-3673 : Patrick Wardle of Synack, Emil Kvarnhammar at TrueSec
afpserver
Available for: OS X Yosemite v10.10 to v10.10.3
Impact: A remote attacker may be able to cause unexpected application termination or arbitrary code execution
Description: A memory corruption issue existed in the AFP server. This issue was addressed through improved memory handling.
CVE-ID
CVE-2015-3674 : Dean Jerkovich of NCC Group
apache
Available for: OS X Yosemite v10.10 to v10.10.3
Impact: An attacker may be able to access directories that are protected with HTTP authentication without knowing the correct credentials
Description: The default Apache configuration did not include mod_hfs_apple. If Apache was manually enabled and the configuration was not changed, some files that should not be accessible might have been accessible using a specially crafted URL. This issue was addressed by enabling mod_hfs_apple.
CVE-ID
CVE-2015-3675 : Apple
apache
Available for: OS X Mavericks v10.9.5, OS X Yosemite v10.10 to v10.10.3
Impact: Multiple vulnerabilities exist in PHP, the most serious of which may lead to arbitrary code execution
Description: Multiple vulnerabilities existed in PHP versions prior to 5.5.24 and 5.4.40. These were addressed by updating PHP to versions 5.5.24 and 5.4.40.
CVE-ID
CVE-2015-0235
CVE-2015-0273
AppleGraphicsControl
Available for: OS X Yosemite v10.10 to v10.10.3
Impact: A malicious application may be able to determine kernel memory layout
Description: An issue existed in AppleGraphicsControl which could have led to the disclosure of kernel memory layout. This issue was addressed through improved bounds checking.
CVE-ID
CVE-2015-3676 : Chen Liang of KEEN Team
AppleFSCompression
Available for: OS X Mountain Lion v10.8.5, OS X Mavericks v10.9.5, OS X Yosemite v10.10 to v10.10.3
Impact: A malicious application may be able to determine kernel memory layout
Description: An issue existed in LZVN compression that could have led to the disclosure of kernel memory content. This issue was addressed through improved memory handling.
CVE-ID
CVE-2015-3677 : an anonymous researcher working with HP's Zero Day Initiative
AppleThunderboltEDMService
Available for: OS X Yosemite v10.10 to v10.10.3
Impact: A malicious application may be able to execute arbitrary code with system privileges
Description: A memory corruption issue existed in the handling of certain Thunderbolt commands from local processes. This issue was addressed through improved memory handling.
CVE-ID
CVE-2015-3678 : Apple
ATS
Available for: OS X Yosemite v10.10 to v10.10.3
Impact: Processing a maliciously crafted font file may lead to an unexpected application termination or arbitrary code execution
Description: Multiple memory corruption issues existed in handling of certain fonts. These issues were addressed through improved memory handling.
CVE-ID
CVE-2015-3679 : Pawel Wylecial working with HP's Zero Day Initiative
CVE-2015-3680 : Pawel Wylecial working with HP's Zero Day Initiative
CVE-2015-3681 : John Villamil (@day6reak), Yahoo Pentest Team
CVE-2015-3682 : 魏诺德
Bluetooth
Available for: OS X Mountain Lion v10.8.5, OS X Mavericks v10.9.5, OS X Yosemite v10.10 to v10.10.3
Impact: A malicious application may be able to execute arbitrary code with system privileges
Description: A memory corruption issue existed in the Bluetooth HCI interface. This issue was addressed through improved memory handling.
CVE-ID
CVE-2015-3683 : Roberto Paleari and Aristide Fattori of Emaze Networks
Certificate Trust Policy
Available for: OS X Mountain Lion v10.8.5, OS X Mavericks v10.9.5, OS X Yosemite v10.10 to v10.10.3
Impact: An attacker with a privileged network position may be able to intercept network traffic
Description: An intermediate certificate was incorrectly issued by the certificate authority CNNIC. This issue was addressed through the addition of a mechanism to trust only a subset of certificates issued prior to the mis-issuance of the intermediate. You can learn more about the security partial trust allow list.
Certificate Trust Policy
Available for: OS X Mountain Lion v10.8.5, OS X Mavericks v10.9.5, OS X Yosemite v10.10 to v10.10.3
Description: The certificate trust policy was updated. The complete list of certificates may be viewed at the OS X Trust Store.
CFNetwork HTTPAuthentication
Available for: OS X Mountain Lion v10.8.5, OS X Mavericks v10.9.5, OS X Yosemite v10.10 to v10.10.3
Impact: Following a maliciously crafted URL may lead to arbitrary code execution
Description: A memory corruption issue existed in handling of certain URL credentials. This issue was addressed through improved memory handling.
CVE-ID
CVE-2015-3684 : Apple
CoreText
Available for: OS X Mountain Lion v10.8.5, OS X Mavericks v10.9.5, OS X Yosemite v10.10 to v10.10.3
Impact: Processing a maliciously crafted text file may lead to an unexpected application termination or arbitrary code execution
Description: Multiple memory corruption issues existed in the processing of text files. These issues were addressed through improved bounds checking.
CVE-ID
CVE-2015-1157
CVE-2015-3685 : Apple
CVE-2015-3686 : John Villamil (@day6reak), Yahoo Pentest Team
CVE-2015-3687 : John Villamil (@day6reak), Yahoo Pentest Team
CVE-2015-3688 : John Villamil (@day6reak), Yahoo Pentest Team
CVE-2015-3689 : Apple
coreTLS
Available for: OS X Yosemite v10.10 to v10.10.3
Impact: An attacker with a privileged network position may intercept SSL/TLS connections
Description: coreTLS accepted short ephemeral Diffie-Hellman (DH) keys, as used in export-strength ephemeral DH cipher suites. This issue, also known as Logjam, allowed an attacker with a privileged network position to downgrade security to 512-bit DH if the server supported an export-strength ephemeral DH cipher suite. The issue was addressed by increasing the default minimum size allowed for DH ephemeral keys to 768 bits.
CVE-ID
CVE-2015-4000 : The weakdh team at weakdh.org, Hanno Boeck
DiskImages
Available for: OS X Mountain Lion v10.8.5, OS X Mavericks v10.9.5, OS X Yosemite v10.10 to v10.10.3
Impact: A malicious application may be able to determine kernel memory layout
Description: An information disclosure issue existed in the processing of disk images. This issue was addressed through improved memory management.
CVE-ID
CVE-2015-3690 : Peter Rutenbar working with HP's Zero Day Initiative
Display Drivers
Available for: OS X Yosemite v10.10 to v10.10.3
Impact: A malicious application may be able to execute arbitrary code with system privileges
Description: An issue existed in the Monitor Control Command Set kernel extension by which a userland process could control the value of a function pointer within the kernel. The issue was addressed by removing the affected interface.
CVE-ID
CVE-2015-3691 : Roberto Paleari and Aristide Fattori of Emaze Networks
EFI
Available for: OS X Mountain Lion v10.8.5, OS X Mavericks v10.9.5, OS X Yosemite v10.10 to v10.10.3
Impact: A malicious application with root privileges may be able to modify EFI flash memory
Description: An insufficient locking issue existed with EFI flash when resuming from sleep states. This issue was addressed through improved locking.
CVE-ID
CVE-2015-3692 : Trammell Hudson of Two Sigma Investments, Xeno Kovah and Corey Kallenberg of LegbaCore LLC, Pedro Vilaça
EFI
Available for: OS X Mountain Lion v10.8.5, OS X Mavericks v10.9.5, OS X Yosemite v10.10 to v10.10.3
Impact: A malicious application may induce memory corruption to escalate privileges
Description: A disturbance error, also known as Rowhammer, exists with some DDR3 RAM that could have led to memory corruption. This issue was mitigated by increasing memory refresh rates.
CVE-ID
CVE-2015-3693 : Mark Seaborn and Thomas Dullien of Google, working from original research by Yoongu Kim et al (2014)
FontParser
Available for: OS X Yosemite v10.10 to v10.10.3
Impact: Processing a maliciously crafted font file may lead to an unexpected application termination or arbitrary code execution
Description: A memory corruption issue existed in the processing of font files. This issue was addressed through improved input validation.
CVE-ID
CVE-2015-3694 : John Villamil (@day6reak), Yahoo Pentest Team
Graphics Driver
Available for: OS X Yosemite v10.10 to v10.10.3
Impact: A malicious application may be able to execute arbitrary code with system privileges
Description: An out of bounds write issue existed in NVIDIA graphics driver. This issue was addressed through improved bounds checking.
CVE-ID
CVE-2015-3712 : Ian Beer of Google Project Zero
Intel Graphics Driver
Available for: OS X Mountain Lion v10.8.5, OS X Mavericks v10.9.5, OS X Yosemite v10.10 to v10.10.3
Impact: Multiple buffer overflow issues exist in the Intel graphics driver, the most serious of which may lead to arbitrary code execution with system privileges
Description: Multiple buffer overflow issues existed in the Intel graphics driver. These were addressed through additional bounds checks.
CVE-ID
CVE-2015-3695 : Ian Beer of Google Project Zero
CVE-2015-3696 : Ian Beer of Google Project Zero
CVE-2015-3697 : Ian Beer of Google Project Zero
CVE-2015-3698 : Ian Beer of Google Project Zero
CVE-2015-3699 : Ian Beer of Google Project Zero
CVE-2015-3700 : Ian Beer of Google Project Zero
CVE-2015-3701 : Ian Beer of Google Project Zero
CVE-2015-3702 : KEEN Team
ImageIO
Available for: OS X Mountain Lion v10.8.5, OS X Mavericks v10.9.5, OS X Yosemite v10.10 to v10.10.3
Impact: Multiple vulnerabilities existed in libtiff, the most serious of which may lead to arbitrary code execution
Description: Multiple vulnerabilities existed in libtiff versions prior to 4.0.4. They were addressed by updating libtiff to version 4.0.4.
CVE-ID
CVE-2014-8127
CVE-2014-8128
CVE-2014-8129
CVE-2014-8130
ImageIO
Available for: OS X Mountain Lion v10.8.5, OS X Mavericks v10.9.5, OS X Yosemite v10.10 to v10.10.3
Impact: Processing a maliciously crafted .tiff file may lead to an unexpected application termination or arbitrary code execution
Description: A memory corruption issue existed in the processing of .tiff files. This issue was addressed through improved bounds checking.
CVE-ID
CVE-2015-3703 : Apple
Install Framework Legacy
Available for: OS X Mountain Lion v10.8.5, OS X Mavericks v10.9.5, OS X Yosemite v10.10 to v10.10.3
Impact: A malicious application may be able to execute arbitrary code with system privileges
Description: Several issues existed in how Install.framework's 'runner' setuid binary dropped privileges. This was addressed by properly dropping privileges.
CVE-ID
CVE-2015-3704 : Ian Beer of Google Project Zero
- IOAcceleratorFamily
Available for: OS X Yosemite v10.10 to v10.10.3
Impact: A malicious application may be able to execute arbitrary code with system privileges
Description: Multiple memory corruption issues existed in IOAcceleratorFamily. These issues were addressed through improved memory handling.
CVE-ID
CVE-2015-3705 : KEEN Team
CVE-2015-3706 : KEEN Team - IOFireWireFamily
Available for: OS X Yosemite v10.10 to v10.10.3
Impact: A malicious application may be able to execute arbitrary code with system privileges
Description: Multiple null pointer dereference issues existed in the FireWire driver. These issues were addressed through improved error checking.
CVE-ID
CVE-2015-3707 : Roberto Paleari and Aristide Fattori of Emaze Networks
- Kernel
Available for: OS X Yosemite v10.10 to v10.10.3
Impact: A malicious application may be able to determine kernel memory layout
Description: A memory management issue existed in the handling of APIs related to kernel extensions which could have led to the disclosure of kernel memory layout. This issue was addressed through improved memory management.
CVE-ID
CVE-2015-3720 : Stefan Esser
- Kernel
Available for: OS X Yosemite v10.10 to v10.10.3
Impact: A malicious application may be able to determine kernel memory layout
Description: A memory management issue existed in the handling of HFS parameters which could have led to the disclosure of kernel memory layout. This issue was addressed through improved memory management.
CVE-ID
CVE-2015-3721 : Ian Beer of Google Project Zero
kext tools
Available for: OS X Yosemite v10.10 to v10.10.3
Impact: A malicious application may be able to overwrite arbitrary files
Description: kextd followed symbolic links while creating a new file. This issue was addressed through improved handling of symbolic links.
CVE-ID
CVE-2015-3708 : Ian Beer of Google Project Zero
kext tools
Available for: OS X Yosemite v10.10 to v10.10.3
Impact: A local user may be able to load unsigned kernel extensions
Description: A time-of-check time-of-use (TOCTOU) race condition condition existed while validating the paths of kernel extensions. This issue was addressed through improved checks to validate the path of the kernel extensions.
CVE-ID
CVE-2015-3709 : Ian Beer of Google Project Zero
Mail
Available for: OS X Yosemite v10.10 to v10.10.3
Impact: A maliciously crafted email can replace the message content with an arbitrary webpage when the message is viewed
Description: An issue existed in the support for HTML email which allowed message content to be refreshed with an arbitrary webpage. The issue was addressed through restricted support for HTML content.
CVE-ID
CVE-2015-3710 : Aaron Sigel of vtty.com, Jan Souček
ntfs
Available for: OS X Mountain Lion v10.8.5, OS X Mavericks v10.9.5, OS X Yosemite v10.10 to v10.10.3
Impact: A malicious application may be able to determine kernel memory layout
Description: An issue existed in NTFS that could have led to the disclosure of kernel memory content. This issue was addressed through improved memory handling.
CVE-ID
CVE-2015-3711 : Peter Rutenbar working with HP's Zero Day Initiative
ntp
Available for: OS X Mountain Lion v10.8.5, OS X Mavericks v10.9.5, OS X Yosemite v10.10 to v10.10.3
Impact: An attacker in a privileged position may be able to perform a denial of service attack against two ntp clients
Description: Multiple issues existed in the authentication of ntp packets being received by configured end-points. These issues were addressed through improved connection state management.
CVE-ID
CVE-2015-1798
CVE-2015-1799
OpenSSL
Available for: OS X Yosemite v10.10 to v10.10.3
Impact: Multiple issues exist in OpenSSL, including one that may allow an attacker to intercept connections to a server that supports export-grade ciphers
Description: Multiple issues existed in OpenSSL 0.9.8zd which were addressed by updating OpenSSL to version 0.9.8zf.
CVE-ID
CVE-2015-0209
CVE-2015-0286
CVE-2015-0287
CVE-2015-0288
CVE-2015-0289
CVE-2015-0293
QuickTime
Available for: OS X Mountain Lion v10.8.5, OS X Mavericks v10.9.5, OS X Yosemite v10.10 to v10.10.3
Impact: Processing a maliciously crafted movie file may lead to an unexpected application termination or arbitrary code execution
Description: Multiple memory corruption issues existed in QuickTime. These issues were addressed through improved memory handling.
CVE-ID
CVE-2015-3661 : G. Geshev working with HP's Zero Day Initiative
CVE-2015-3662 : kdot working with HP's Zero Day Initiative
CVE-2015-3663 : kdot working with HP's Zero Day Initiative
CVE-2015-3666 : Steven Seeley of Source Incite working with HP's Zero Day Initiative
CVE-2015-3667 : Ryan Pentney, Richard Johnson of Cisco Talos and Kai Lu of Fortinet's FortiGuard Labs
CVE-2015-3668 : Kai Lu of Fortinet's FortiGuard Labs
CVE-2015-3713 : Apple
Security
Available for: OS X Mountain Lion v10.8.5, OS X Mavericks v10.9.5, OS X Yosemite v10.10 to v10.10.3
Impact: A remote attacker may cause an unexpected application termination or arbitrary code execution
Description: An integer overflow existed in the Security framework code for parsing S/MIME e-mail and some other signed or encrypted objects. This issue was addressed through improved validity checking.
CVE-ID
CVE-2013-1741
Security
Available for: OS X Mountain Lion v10.8.5, OS X Mavericks v10.9.5, OS X Yosemite v10.10 to v10.10.3
Impact: Tampered applications may not be prevented from launching
Description: Apps using custom resource rules may have been susceptible to tampering that would not have invalidated the signature. This issue was addressed with improved resource validation.
CVE-ID
CVE-2015-3714 : Joshua Pitts of Leviathan Security Group
Security
Available for: OS X Mountain Lion v10.8.5, OS X Mavericks v10.9.5, OS X Yosemite v10.10 to v10.10.3
Impact: A malicious application may be able to bypass code signing checks
Description: An issue existed where code signing did not verify libraries loaded outside the application bundle. This issue was addressed with improved bundle verification.
CVE-ID
CVE-2015-3715 : Patrick Wardle of Synack
Spotlight
Available for: OS X Mountain Lion v10.8.5, OS X Mavericks v10.9.5, OS X Yosemite v10.10 to v10.10.3
Impact: Searching for a malicious file with Spotlight may lead to command injection
Description: A command injection vulnerability existed in the handling of filenames of photos added to the local photo library. This issue was addressed through improved input validation.
CVE-ID
CVE-2015-3716 : Apple
SQLite
Available for: OS X Yosemite v10.10 to v10.10.3
Impact: A remote attacker may cause an unexpected application termination or arbitrary code execution
Description: Multiple buffer overflows existed in SQLite's printf implementation. These issues were addressed through improved bounds checking.
CVE-ID
CVE-2015-3717 : Peter Rutenbar working with HP's Zero Day Initiative
SQLite
Available for: OS X Yosemite v10.10 to v10.10.3
Impact: A maliciously crafted SQL command may allow unexpected application termination or arbitrary code execution
Description: An API issue existed in SQLite functionality. This was addressed through improved restrictions.
CVE-ID
CVE-2015-7036 : Peter Rutenbar working with HP's Zero Day Initiative
System Stats
Available for: OS X Yosemite v10.10 to v10.10.3
Impact: A malicious app may be able to compromise systemstatsd
Description: A type confusion issue existed in systemstatsd's handling of interprocess communication. By sending a maliciously formatted message to systemstatsd, it may have been possible to execute arbitrary code as the systemstatsd process. The issue was addressed through additional type checking.
CVE-ID
CVE-2015-3718 : Roberto Paleari and Aristide Fattori of Emaze Networks
TrueTypeScaler
Available for: OS X Yosemite v10.10 to v10.10.3
Impact: Processing a maliciously crafted font file may lead to an unexpected application termination or arbitrary code execution
Description: A memory corruption issue existed in the processing of font files. This issue was addressed through improved input validation.
CVE-ID
CVE-2015-3719 : John Villamil (@day6reak), Yahoo Pentest Team
zip
Available for: OS X Yosemite v10.10 to v10.10.3
Impact: Extracting a maliciously crafted zip file using the unzip tool may lead to an unexpected application termination or arbitrary code execution
Description: Multiple memory corruption issues existed in the handling of zip files. These issues were addressed through improved memory handling.
CVE-ID
CVE-2014-8139
CVE-2014-8140
CVE-2014-8141
OS X Yosemite v10.10.4 includes the security content of Safari 8.0.7.
Since the dawn of Mac OS X, there have been major and minor versions.
There are Mac OS X versions that introduced major new features and those that focus mainly on speed improvements and streamlining. I first wrote this article in 2012, taking it up to Mountain Lion. Now in 2015 I revisit the idea. Has Apple changed its policy in the following few years?
Public Beta Kodiak
Mac OS X Public Beta ‘Kodiak' was our first taste of the future. Apple had for a long time wanted a next generation operating system. Classic Mac OS was getting old and behind the times, and in 2000 Apple released the Public Beta to Mac OS X.
This new system was built around the NeXT operating system it had bought from Steve Jobs a few years earlier and had a Unix/BSD base.
The Mac OS X Public Beta was the public's first exposure to Mac OS X.
Apple Os X 2015 Review
It showed off a whole new look including the dock and the Aqua interface – and set Apple on a long road of revisions. It was a major leap over Mac OS9.
For the pure reason that it is the first we saw of Mac OSX, we can state that the Public Beta was a major version.
OS X 10.0 Cheetah
Mac OS X 10.0 Cheetah was a minor revision, over the Public Beta. The early years of OS X were a rough ride for those following it – although many stayed with the stability of Mac OS9, until Mac OSX 10.2 ‘Jaguar'.
How Apple managed to release OS X Cheetah and Puma in the state they did I do not know. They even managed to charge $129 for Cheetah.
Mac OS X 10.0 Cheetah really was not ready for prime time.
We Mac users ridicule Windows as being an unfinished, bug-ridden operating systems, and then Apple went from the rock solid beast that was Mac OS 8 and 9 (rock solid without third-party additions, which could make things unstable) to the early versions of OS X that could barely last a few hours without crashing.
OS X 10.1 Puma
OS X 10.1 Puma with its customisable interface, better networking and the addition of hundreds of third party drivers made it the first useable version of OS X. This was reflected in the fact that it was offered as a free upgrade from Cheetah. We tend to disregard the Public Beta and Cheetah as proper versions of OS X – and quite rightly so. Puma was the first ‘real' major version because of the significant improvements it brought with it.
Mac OS X 10.1 Puma made OS X a bit more usable than 10.0.
OS X 10.2 Jaguar
Mac OS X 10.2 Jaguar was a minor revision. It brought speed improvements and added stability over Puma as well as adding minor new features such as Quartz Extreme, an updated Mail, iChat, Bluetooth, and Rendevous (later renamed Bonjour). Because of the speed and stability it brought a lot of people consider this the first usable version of OS X. It was the first version I ran as my main OS since OS 9.
Mac OS X 10.2 Jaguar was the first generally usable version of OS X.
OS X 10.3 Panther
Mac OS X 10.3 Panther was a major revision. Not only did it clean up the whole OS, it brought AES encryption, improved Finder, Font Book, and Xcode, and it introduced Fast User Switching (which also brought the 3D cube animation for switching users). It was further improved over Jaguar. While Jaguar was good, Apple still had a long way to go to refine OS X, and Panther was another step forward.
Mac OS X 10.3 Panther made significant improvements in Classic Mode.
OS X 10.4 Tiger
Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger which is the most respected PowerPC version of OS X, was really a minor revision. The speed optimisation over Panther was amazing. I always found Panther (while better than previous versions) clunky and slow. Tiger, on the other hand, ran much better even on unsupported hardware. It brought a more unified look through out the whole OS, as well as Spotlight, improved 64-bit addressing, and a new version of Safari.
Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger lasted 2-1/2 years before it was replaced.
Tiger is the longest serving version of OS X to date, giving testimony to how great it was. It ran on a 300 MHz G3 from 1998 all the way up to Core Duo Intel Macs from 2006. Now that's impressive.
While a minor version, the streamlining and optimisation was amazing.
OS X 10.5 Leopard
Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard was a long time coming and a much needed update. It was the first version of OS X to seriously increase the system requirements, dropping the whole G3 range and early, slower G4s too, a mass culling culture that Apple would continue in future versions. This was mainly due to its heavy reliance on the graphics chip to perform fancy new effects. According to Apple, it contained over 300 new features and changes, including redesigned Dock and Finder, Cover Flow, Time Machine, Front Row, and Photo Booth.
Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard supports both PowerPC and Intel Macs.
This was the only version of OS X that could be installed to run on both PowerPC and Intel Macs. (There were separate PowerPC and Intel versions of Tiger.)
OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard
Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard was a minor revision, although this could be argued. It was a huge streamlining of Leopard and the first version of OS X to only run on Intel hardware. It was the first release that was primarily targeted by Apple for its speed improvements and having a smaller footprint rather than lots of new features. But the smaller footprint could primarily be put down to losing the PowerPC code.
Apple certainly pulled it off. Snow Leopard was a lot faster than Leopard on the same hardware and one of the most stable versions of the OS ever to be released.
OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard is Intel only – and the last to run PowerPC software.
Snow Leopard has been heralded as one of the best version releases ever by Apple – even in 2015 there are a lot of people still running it because of its extreme speed, stability and compatibility with PowerPC software.
OS X 10.7 Lion
Video encoder software. Mac OS X 10.7 Lion was a major release. It was the third time that Apple dropped large amounts of older hardware from its supported list. Where Snow Leopard dropped all PowerPC Macs, Lion dropped all 32-bit Macs, only running on Core 2 Duo Macs.
While not adding lots of new features like other major versions, it altered the path of OS X. It saw Apple bring OS X more in line with iOS, such as LaunchPad and resuming apps from their previous state. It also cut out any support for PowerPC apps, which was handled using the Rosetta emulation engine in Tiger, Leopard, and Snow Leopard on Intel.
When Apple were testing Messages it was initially released as a beta for Lion, although the final release was made for Mountain Lion upwards.
Apple Os X 2015 Price
OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion
OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion was a minor revision. Where Lion had taken leaps in terms of new features including iOS integration – Mountain Lion brought with it a serious improvement in speed. Lion was a huge resource hog, however Mountain Lion smoothed out the edges – running much better than Lion did.
Mountain Lion ran on practically the same hardware but it does require a fully 64-bit capable machine. Some Core 2 Duo Macs while being 64-bit capable are hindered by having only a 32-bit EFI meaning they can't boot to a full native 64-bit kernel and this stops them running Mountain Lion.
New iOS-inspired features include Messages (compatible with the iOS version), Notification Center, and Reminders were added to Mountain Lion.
OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion makes even more graphical demands.
Mountain Lion also required a fairly top-end graphics chip, cutting out some of those Macs with early integrated chips like the Intel GMA 950 and X3100, ensuring users gets a premium experience rather than a sluggish 'minimum requirements' experience like Microsoft.
It was also the first version to quietly drop the term Mac OSX term and simply naming it OSX in the ‘About The Mac' screen.
OS X 10.9 Mavericks
OS X 10.9 Mavericks stopped the big cat naming scheme, switching to California locations. Is Mavericks a major revision? It could be disputed that with Apple switching to a free yearly update system could any future version be called major?
The shift in naming scheme alone could class it as a major revision, but it also came with new Maps and iBook applications, refinements to existing apps and removing some of the skeuomorphic aspects of the UI. It also brought with it speed improvements.
Mavericks was the first version to be offered for free (besides 10.0 Cheetah) – available to anyone running Snow Leopard as it was downloadable via the Mac App Store, which was introduced in the 10.6.6 update. It was a clever move from Apple in a attempt to get all those that can run Mavericks to do so and it worked.
OS X 10.10 Yosemite
OS X 10.10 Yosemite was a major version and a much anticipated release. With Apples redesign of iOS7, it was expected that Yosemite would also have a major redesign – and the rumours were correct featuring a 2D dock, new system font and a whole new look.
The new look wasn't accepted by all, with many claiming it looked ‘childish' with its flamboyant icons and bright new look.
OS X 10.10 Yosemite brought a new look to OS X.
With Yosemite came Continuity making it easier to move from Mac to iOS easier and visa-versa, iPhoto was replaced by Photos, Spotlight was redesigned, and the search engines were switched to DuckDuckGo.
It was also the first time the public betas were offered since the first release of OS X in 2000.
OSX 10.11 El Capitan
OS X 10.11 El Capitan is a minor version. It looks very similar to Yosemite, with a shift to yet another system font, San Francsisco, bringing it in line with iOS 9.
El Capitan is dubbed ‘the next Snow Leopard' with its focus mainly on security and speed. App loading times are increased and new programming API Metal is introduced.
El Capitan has only been out a short time, but generally feedback is it is lighter than Yosemite and its lack of new features put it firmly in the minor revision list.
Future
Who knows what the future brings for OS X. Integration with iOS seems high on Apple's mind, and both are looking similar these days – although the still remain adamant they will keep them separate products.
Rumours are flowing that the next version of OS X could see a major hike in system requirements – which it hasn't done for a few years – hence the decision to make El Capitan a stable and fast release, as it could leave a lot of Macs behind.
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