Why Does Apple Assign Alias To OS X?

Because they need to differentiate between the OS X software updates. If you just had Snow Leopard you wouldn't know if you were on 10.6, 10.6.5 or 10.6.8.

HadItWithWindow said:

Whenever I want to check for updates I get totally confused about the operating systems.

When you click on the Apple and access "About This Mac" it never says you have Leopard or Lion or Mountain Lion. It is the OS X.x. A little uniformity would help.

I wished they would adopt the alias and drop the OS X.x for simplicity.

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It's important to have the version number so you know which one you have installed, but they could change "OS X" to Mountain Lion in About This Mac because it is implied that it is OS X.

They need to have the version number since all the OS's have various version updates - Lion for example encompasses 10.7.0 to 10.7.4. Knowing the precise version number is very important.

HadItWithWindow said:

I wished they would adopt the alias and drop the OS X.x for simplicity.

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Why, how often do you look at it for it to matter?

Learn the the versions of Mac OS X and then it doesn't matter.

HadItWithWindow said:

So when Customer Support asks which operating system you are running they would rather you say OS X 10.8 than Mountain Lion.

From the replies above it appears the 10.6, 10.7 and 10.8 have various updates. Leopard, Lion and Mountain Lion.

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They would rather have you say OS X 10.8.4. (Doesn't exist yet, but I'm using it for my point) They would also be fine with Mountain Lion 10.8.4. As long as they know the version number, everything's fine. But, About This Mac needs to show the number. If you don't want it to say OS X, it could say Mountain Lion, Lion, or Snow Leopard depending on what you have so it is easier for the user to know which major version they have.

Lion says OS X Lion 10.7.4 in the "About this Mac" More info section, but 10.8 doesn't say Mountain Lion anywhere in the OS. Little strange, but not really important.

Icy1007 said:

Lion says OS X Lion 10.7.4 in the "About this Mac" More info section, but 10.8 doesn't say Mountain Lion anywhere in the OS. Little strange, but not really important.

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Mine never said Lion. It said "Mac OS X", then "Version 10.7.4" underneath it.

ML just says "OS X" instead of "Mac OS X". And obviously the version is 10.8 instead of 10.7.4.

The cat names used to be internal code names, but they became so widely known that they began using them as marketing names too. It's catchy easier for lay people to refer to and remember. "Hey man, you got that Mountain Lion installed already?" Instead of "hey dude, did you upgrade to the new Mac OS X 10.8?"

It's the same thing for phones and many other electronics...like Galaxy S III instead of I9300.

VTECaddict said:

Mine never said Lion. It said "Mac OS X", then "Version 10.7.4" underneath it.

ML just says "OS X" instead of "Mac OS X". And obviously the version is 10.8 instead of 10.7.4.

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Actually, it did in Lion, if you clicked the button that says "More Info", as shown here: https://forums.macrumors.com/posts/14198146/


However, when done in 10.8, it does not say "Mountain Lion", it just says: Software OS X 10.8 (12A269)