Mac OS X Server 1.0 is an operating system developed by Apple Computer. Released on March 16, 1999, it was Apple's first commercially-released product to be derived from NeXTSTEP after the company's 1997 acquisition of NeXT. It was positioned as an integrated server product, being bundled with a file server, the Apache HTTP Server, NeXT's WebObjects application server, the NetBoot server, and the QuickTime Streaming Server.
OS X Server 1.0 was based on "Rhapsody", the NeXTSTEP-based platform that was originally proposed as a successor to the classic Mac OS; it supports applications written for the OpenStep APIs (the "Yellow Box"), and the ability to run Mac OS applications within an emulated version of Mac OS 8 (the "Blue Box").
Rhapsody had been shelved as the next consumer version of Mac OS due to a lack of third-party support for the Yellow Box, leading to Rhapsody being retooled as a stopgap, enterprise-oriented product, with Mac OS X 10.0 (which would feature a second API based on the existing Mac OS APIs to ease ports of existing software) succeeding both Mac OS 9 and OS X Server 1.0 in 2001.
Development
After Apple's 1996 acquisition of NeXT, the company announced an effort to eventually replace the classic Mac OS with a product based on NeXTSTEP. Rhapsody was presented for the first time at the Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) in May 1997, which was a variant of NeXTSTEP with a Mac OS-styled interface skin and ports of technologies such as AppleScript and QuickTime. Rhapsody supported the OpenStep APIs, branded as the "Yellow Box", and allowed Mac OS to run in an emulated environment known as the "Blue Box". However, Rhapsody proved to be unpopular among third-party developers (including, in particular, Adobe Systems), who took issue with Apple's plans for the Yellow Box to be the only API for native applications on Rhapsody, and requiring legacy software to either be rewritten for Rhapsody or run in the Blue Box environment.
Release
During Macworld Expo in January 1999, Apple officially unveiled the Rhapsody-based Mac OS X Server 1.0. Steve Jobs demonstrated the OS using the newly-unveiled blue and white Power Mac G3, including running an iMac as a diskless workstation using NetBoot, and demonstrating the QuickTime Streaming Server by streaming videos over a network to a "wall" of 49 iMacs. Mac OS X Server 1.0 was initially to be priced at US$995, and also made available on a server-oriented SKU of the new Power Mac G3.
In March 1999, the launch price was lowered to $499, alongside an announcement that portions of Mac OS X would become an open-source project known as Darwin.
Features
Mac OS X Server 1.0 is largely based on Rhapsody, which itself is based on NeXTSTEP and its Mach kernel. It bundles multiple server applications, including a file server, the Apache HTTP Server and WebObjects, NetBoot, and QuickTime Streaming Server.
Its user interface is a modification of the Display PostScript-based architecture and Workspace Manager shell used by NeXTSTEP, although reskinned to resemble the Mac OS 8 "Platinum" design. As with Rhapsody, it only supports applications written for the OpenStep-based "Yellow Box" APIs, or running within the "Blue Box" emulation environment (the "Mac OS" app). Buyers of Mac OS X Server 1.0 (who often purchased new Macs to run it) and the SANcube were forced to downgrade to AppleShare IP in order to use it. Mac OS X Server 1.0 was quickly orphaned, in favor of Mac OS X 10.0, with no discount for those who purchased it and wished to purchase Mac OS X Server 10.0. The result is that some considered the release premature and even a bait and switch.
Release history
{|class=wikitable
!Version
!Code name
!Date
!OS name
!Darwin version
|-
|style=text-align:center|Mac OS X Server 1.0
|rowspan=2|Hera1O9
|March 16, 1999
|Rhapsody 5.3
|0.1
|-
|style=text-align:center|Mac OS X Server 1.0.1
|April 15, 1999
|Rhapsody 5.4
|0.2
|-
|style=text-align:center|Mac OS X Server 1.0.2
|Hera1O9+Loki2G1
|July 29, 1999
|Rhapsody 5.5
|0.3
|-
|style=text-align:center|Mac OS X Server 1.2
|Pele1Q10
|January 14, 2000
|Rhapsody 5.6
|0.3
|-
|style=text-align:center|Mac OS X Server 1.2 v3
|Medusa1E3
|October 27, 2000
|Rhapsody 5.6
|0.3
|}
Timeline
See also
- Rhapsody (operating system)
- Mac OS X Server
References
External links
- Mac OS X Server 1.0 to 1.2: System Requirements
- Mac OS X Server 1.2 - What's new? By: Scott Anguish