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Big Sur on M1 still BSD Unix?
- Thread starter philpalmiero
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ArPe
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macOS is based on XNU. Yes BSD is a kernel mode sub-system of XNU and won’t go away.
Yes, it’s still technically OS X. Also, it’s the same OS as in Intel Macs (some obvious platform-specific differences nonwithstanding).
Yes and it shouldn't be surprising since Unix is a very cross-platform OS. It runs on everything.
ArPe
Suspended
Any kernel or OS can be compiled to run on everything 😉😝 Windows NT has run on x86, IA64, MIPS, DEC Alpha, PowerPC and ARM. It was also part of hybrid Windows CE kernel in Pocket PCs and the Dreamcast.
Most modern kernels are hybrid, the main ones being XNU and NT.
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UNIX is not an OS, it’s a standard. MacOS is one of few systems that is certified of being a “real UNIX”. Fun fact: none of Linux variants have UNIX certification. Not that it matters much.
Does macOS still have certification? I haven't heard much about it recently. Seems pretty useless to be a certified Unix.
ArPe
Suspended
Yes as leman confirms. But there are changes. In the PowerPC days the full BSD sub-system was an optional install. That meant all the built in BSD Unix apps were included and could be launched with X Windows or other GUI utility. Some of those Unix apps are now gone and would have to be installed manually. If you’re purely a macOS user that’s not important anyway. For you only the kernel matters.
Project Alice
macrumors 68020
I'm pretty sure they just changed it to match the versioning of iOS and tvOS. IE a new major release every year. We'll probably see 12.x next year.