OS X
Current operating System (OS) of Apples Macintosh Computer line which is the successor of OS9.22
currently the OS names got a codename which are always "big cats":
- 10.1 Puma (not recommendable)
- 10.2 Jaguar (first usable version)
- 10.3 Panther (ok, but only one different MIDI or Audio Device only, quite silly)
- 10.4 Tiger (real good introduced a lot in audio)
- 10.5 Leopard to be released on 26.Oct. 2007 (nice for time-machine & backup things and some useful things for search not yet copied by Redmond)
- 10.6 Snow Leopard - a good place to be for older audio editors - the last one supporting PPC (Power PC) Code
- 10.7 Lion - does no longer support any PPC or non-Intel Code, not much use for musicians to upgrade from Snow Leopard
- 10.8. Mountain Lion - just as Lion - more a cosmetical update, not much more under the hood, it's more lifestyle stuff and Apple now has annual updates, so it is no longer sure you NEED a new OS
- 10.9 Maverick - has some nice power saving updates, so if you want to take the step from any Lion it's most recommended, if you are coming from Snow Leopard - well - this is another world - audio advantages as still small but you might need it since apple will not support 10.6. that long. But Security updates still made until 2013).
- 11 or X - tba.
The importance of OS X with Audio - OS X introduced Core Midi and Core Audio, which got an important update in OS X 10.4 Tiger which allowed to use multiple Audio Interfaces mixed and simultaneously, now all MIDI and Audio Devices will communicate with Core Midi and Core Audio and new ones only have to be recognized there and be available from as many apps as you want and as many devices you want. lots of keyboards and usb deviced do not even need a driver and in opposite to Windows it works on ANY USB or firewire port, you never hve to reinstall something just because you have changed the ports.
Also Apple changed their overall politics when they aquired emagic, so they had Logic under the same roof but cancelled a all MIDI activity exept the usual tools, so sounddiver died in times of Logic 5.5 and 6.X Pro - strange since Core MIDI is a very powerful tool and MIDI will be important for making music for a lot of time since software does not all the jobs sometimes.
