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TheMTtakeover

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Aug 3, 2011
470
7
Just curious, do you guys think that Apple will ever completely re-write Mac OS and not have a *nix model for it?
 

thewitt

macrumors 68020
Sep 13, 2011
2,102
1,523
Just curious, do you guys think that Apple will ever completely re-write Mac OS and not have a *nix model for it?

What do you mean move past unix?

They started with a completely unique core they developed themselves, and finally move TO unix.

Why would they go back a step?
 

0007776

Suspended
Jul 11, 2006
6,473
8,170
Somewhere
Not any time in the foreseeable future. Unix is almost 50 years old and still doing fine, maybe if Apple is around in another 50 years there might be a need for something newer, but not likely to happen soon if ever.
 

TheMTtakeover

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Aug 3, 2011
470
7
What do you mean move past unix?

They started with a completely unique core they developed themselves, and finally move TO unix.

Why would they go back a step?

Well it could be forward a step if added benefits to the system. I'm not knocking unix, I think OSX is a great OS. This just sort of a hypothetical thing.
 

pdjudd

macrumors 601
Jun 19, 2007
4,037
65
Plymouth, MN
I doubt they would need to move beyond UNIX to do that though - Unix is just the kernel and any improvements would be using the existing kernel or the interfaces on top of things.

Moving away from Unix would be a lot of work that I don't think Apple would want to do.
 

Fishrrman

macrumors Penryn
Feb 20, 2009
28,348
12,464
"Will Apple move past UNIX?"

Yes.

When they finally drop the Mac OS "OS X", and reintoduce it as "Mac iOS"….
 

r0k

macrumors 68040
Mar 3, 2008
3,611
75
Detroit
Just curious, do you guys think that Apple will ever completely re-write Mac OS and not have a *nix model for it?

No.

They might further migrate toward iOS by adopting a touchscreen approach to OSX but it will still be Unix based.

Unix came out before MacOS, DOS, Windows, PalmOS, Blackberry OS. Several OS are derived from Unix including OSX, QNX, LynxOS, GreenHills Integrity, iOS, Android, Solaris and Linux. A few Unix-derived OS variants have become orphaned including webOS while virtually all of the non-Unix-derived OS variants are dead. The only non-Unix OS that is still around is Windows and that's because M$ has poured virtually unlimited resources on it.

One can argue Apple has already moved beyond Unix because you can fully operate OSX without touching the terminal. The can be said for Linux only to a lesser extent.
 

old-wiz

macrumors G3
Mar 26, 2008
8,331
228
West Suburban Boston Ma
Unix came out before MacOS, DOS, Windows, PalmOS, Blackberry OS. Several OS are derived from Unix including ....

And Multics came out before Unix - Unix was a DEC product to have Multics like operation on a PDP.

There is a LOT of code involved if they want to re-write without *NIX. Re-writing that would be a HUGE task and I'm sure Apple would have better uses for their software people.

There's nothing wrong with the *NIX underpinnings of OSx, so why get rid of it?
 

balamw

Moderator emeritus
Aug 16, 2005
19,366
979
New England
Unix was a DEC product

While true DEC did sell many versions of Unix over the years, Unix was developed at AT&T long before it came to DEC.

Unix is ubiquitous. Android and ChromeOS are both built on Unix, most more sophisticated embedded devices run some flavor of Unix/Linux....

So why change?

B
 

ChristianVirtual

macrumors 601
May 10, 2010
4,122
282
日本
"Will Apple move past UNIX?"

Yes.

When they finally drop the Mac OS "OS X", and reintoduce it as "Mac iOS"….

Mac iOS for: Mac Integrated OS ; could be, but only UI.

The kernel will remain on *IX; no doubt. The UX the levels above will change. May also see changes in files systems (bring back ZFS native :D). But the foundation will not change. All the BeOS and WebOS not really took off. And Install NT kernel, nah. OS/2 ? Too close to NT. *IX it will be.
 
Last edited:

maflynn

macrumors Haswell
May 3, 2009
73,489
43,414
Why move away from something that provides excellent memory management, security.
 

dmax35

macrumors 6502
Jun 21, 2012
447
6
Mac OS X is the reason my company is trashing PC's and deploying Mac's across associates desks and they love them.
 

old-wiz

macrumors G3
Mar 26, 2008
8,331
228
West Suburban Boston Ma
While true DEC did sell many versions of Unix over the years, Unix was developed at AT&T long before it came to DEC.

Unix is ubiquitous. Android and ChromeOS are both built on Unix, most more sophisticated embedded devices run some flavor of Unix/Linux....

So why change?

B

oops...developed by AT&T on DEC machines I think.

still no reason for apple to change as you mention.
 

waynep

macrumors 6502
Dec 31, 2009
434
0
No reason for Apple to go away from a "unix" type system. So what Unix has been around for a long time. It's been updated and enhanced over the years. I have been working with HP-UX for 18 years or so. It's changed a lot over that time, adding things as they are need. A simple example is USB support. Lot's of companies are moving away from proprietary unix flavors and moving to Linux. As long as OSX can handle what's needed to stay current, then there will be no reason so move.

IOS? IOS is based on the same Darwin base as OSX. There is no "moving" to IOS, just possible adopting some of the touch based features as Win 8 is doing.

There will be some shift in OSX/IOS in the future. Look at our computing habits now with Tablets. I use my iPad for about 65% of my home computing needs. Add the BlueTooth keyboard and it's possible to use it for more. I use my Macbook Pro less now.

10 years from now the computing world will be very interesting if we could view it from today's eye/mindset.
 

Lvivske

macrumors 6502a
Aug 22, 2011
609
248
🇺🇦
No reason for Apple to go away from a "unix" type system. So what Unix has been around for a long time. It's been updated and enhanced over the years.

I think this sums it up. Unix isn't a depreciating / decaying technology that needs to be replaced, rather, it's an evolution that would be pointless to start from scratch just to be on par with it.
 
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