Rhapsody (operating system)
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 A desktop showing a QuickTime movie and a drawing application. |
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| Company/ developer: |
Apple Computer |
| OS family: | BSD/NEXTSTEP |
| Source model: | Closed source |
| Latest stable release: | DR2 / May 1998 |
| Supported platforms: | Intel x86, PowerPC |
| Kernel type: | Hybrid kernel |
| License: | Never Released For the Public |
| Working state: | Historic |
Rhapsody was the code name given to Apple Computer's next-generation operating system during the period of its development between Apple's purchase of NeXT in late 1996 and the announcement of Mac OS X in 1998.
Contents |
[edit] History
Rhapsody was first demonstrated at the 1997 Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC). There were two subsequent Developer Releases for computers with Intel x86 or PowerPC processors. The full version was intended for release in spring of 1998. At the 1998 MacWorld Expo in New York, Steve Jobs announced that Rhapsody would be released as Mac OS X Server 1.0 (which shipped in 1999). Its code base was forked into Darwin, the open source underpinnings of Mac OS X.
[edit] Design
The defining features of the operating system were a Mach microkernel, a BSD operating system layer (based on 4.4BSD), the Yellow Box object-oriented frameworks from OPENSTEP, the Blue Box compatibility environment for running "Classic" Macintosh applications (PowerPC version only), and a Java virtual machine.
The user interface was modeled after Mac OS, with some elements inherited from OPENSTEP. The Workspace Manager serves in the same capacity as the Finder in the Mac OS and was derived from the Workspace Manager used in NEXTSTEP/OPENSTEP.
[edit] Name
The name is likely a reference to two things:
- To composer George Gershwin's "Rhapsody in Blue." In addition, the name "Gershwin" had been used by Apple as the code name for another next-generation operating system, which was to be the successor to the never-completed Copland operating system. (Copland itself was named after another American composer, Aaron Copland). Apple at the time used a series of music-related code names for operating systems, including Harmony (Mac OS 7.6), Tempo (Mac OS 8), Allegro (Mac OS 8.5), and Sonata (Mac OS 9).
- To Purdue University's oft-utilised NeXT shareware and source FTP repository, which was located at an assortment of music-inspired hostnames, among them symphony.cc.purdue.edu, sonata.cc.purdue.edu, and rhapsody.cc.purdue.edu.
[edit] External links
- NeXT Archive
- Shaw's Rhapsody Resource Page
- Toastytech GUI Gallery — Screenshots of Rhapsody Developer Release 2
- GUIdebook > Screenshots > Rhapsody DR2 — Screenshots of Rhapsody (Intel version) and its components.
- "Apple shows off Rhapsody OS" — An article written shortly after Apple first demonstrated Rhapsody.
- "Overall summary on Apple Rhapsody: A User Overview" — An overview of Rhapsody's technologies.
- "Rhapsody" at OSData.com — Technical specifications on the operating system.
| History of the Apple Macintosh Operating Systems |
|---|
| Classic Mac OS (History): System 6 · System 7 · Mac OS 8 · Mac OS 9 |
| Mac OS X (History): Public Beta · v10.0 · v10.1 · v10.2 · v10.3 · v10.4 · v10.5 |
| Mac OS X Server: Rhapsody · Mac OS X Server 1.0 · Mac OS X Server |
| Other OS projects: A/UX · Taligent · Copland · MkLinux · Darwin |
