Mac OS X Launched 25 Years Ago Today: 'The Future of the Mac'

Tuesday March 24, 2026 6:35 am PDT by Joe Rossignol

Today marks the 25th anniversary of Apple launching Mac OS X, the operating system that serves as the foundation of modern-day macOS.

iMac 25 Years Feature
Apple released a public beta of Mac OS X in September 2000, and the operating system officially launched on March 24, 2001.

"Mac OS X is the future of the Mac, and we hope it will delight our customers with its unrivaled power and ease of use," said Steve Jobs, in 2001. "The Public Beta has generated incredible feedback and support from Mac users and developers, which has helped us to make Mac OS X the most advanced operating system ever."

Mac OS X was a next-generation, UNIX-based operating system for the Mac, succeeding the classic Mac OS operating system. It ushered in Apple's iconic "Aqua" interface, the Dock, an improved Finder app with hierarchical navigation, and more.

Mac OS X 10.0 screenshot via Stephen Hackett's gallery

"Mac OS X is the most important software from Apple since the original Macintosh operating system in 1984 that revolutionized the entire industry," said Jobs.

In the U.S., Mac OS X was priced at $129. Apple stopped charging for macOS releases in 2013, when OS X Mavericks was released free of charge.

Mac OS X was renamed to OS X in 2012 and to macOS in 2016:

Mac OS X 10.0 (2001): "Cheetah"
Mac OS X 10.1 (2001): "Puma"
Mac OS X 10.2 (2002): Jaguar
Mac OS X 10.3 (2003): Panther
Mac OS X 10.4 (2005): Tiger
Mac OS X 10.5 (2007): Leopard
Mac OS X 10.6 (2009): Snow Leopard
Mac OS X 10.7 (2011): Lion
OS X 10.8 (2012): Mountain Lion
OS X 10.9 (2013): Mavericks
OS X 10.10 (2014): Yosemite
OS X 10.11 (2015): El Capitan
macOS 10.12 (2016): Sierra
macOS 10.13 (2017): High Sierra
macOS 10.14 (2018): Mojave
macOS 10.15 (2019): Catalina
macOS 11 (2020): Big Sur
macOS 12 (2021): Monterey
macOS 13 (2022): Ventura
macOS 14 (2023): Sonoma
macOS 15 (2024): Sequoia
macOS 26 (2025): Tahoe

Mac OS X was a big part of Apple's renaissance, which began when Jobs returned to the company in the late 1990s. Big hits in those first few years after his return included the iMac in 1998, the iBook in 1999, and Mac OS X and the iPod in 2001. In this sense, it is poetic that this milestone comes just a week ahead of Apple's 50th anniversary.

Related Roundup: macOS Tahoe

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Top Rated Comments

Max_G

7 months ago

Snow Leopard. Ah... Now that was something! Hopefully someday Tahoe will mature in a similar way.

Score: 20 Votes (Like | Disagree)

emmab2006

7 months ago

And STILL remains the best operating system over Linux and Windows in my opinion ! though Linux has improved a lot in the past 2 years thanks to VALVE

Score: 15 Votes (Like | Disagree)

ricketysquire

7 months ago

I lost count after Mavericks. Apple needs to stop releasing new OSs every single year. It doesn't make sense, the Desktop/Laptop segment is a mature product. Mac OS can be a brilliant product if they'd just focus on making each release matter. That doesn't mean there shouldn't be point releases for security and bug fixes. But Tim Cook doesn't need to go on stage at WWDC and announce Mac OS 27, 28, 29, etc. every year. Just let it cook (pun intended). The world will not end if we don't get AI but customers will be annoyed with memory leaks and bugs on their brand new MacBook Pro M5 Pro on Mac OS 27. Remember Tiger came out in 2004, Leopard 2007, Snow Leopard 2009 and the world was fine for it.

And so is mobile. It made sense to release new IOSs every year when we were making leaps in hardware that supported new things in software. Like early versions of IOS didn't have copy/paste or desktop wallpapers and once there was better CPUs and more RAM features could be added.

Thank you for listening to my TED talk.

Score: 14 Votes (Like | Disagree)

ImAlwaysRight

7 months ago

I miss OS9

Score: 14 Votes (Like | Disagree)

casjohnr

7 months ago

I always wanted a Mac just because of how cool the OS X interface looked but was young and obviously couldn't afford one...until I got my first job in 2007 and literally just spent my whole first pay packet on a iMac! (Crazily I also just walked into an Apple Store and bought it rather than having it delivered so had great fun in dragging it all the way through the shopping centre back to the train station then sat on the train with it before someone picked me up when I got home!)

I'll always remember being blown away by powering it on for the first time and being greeted by THIS though!