Rumors Suggest OS X Is Going Back to Its Roots With a Welcome Name Change

When Macintosh launched their line of computer systems in 1984, the very first operating system the machines ran was simply known as “System”. The System OS, which was noted for its ease of use, was extremely simple by today’s standards. In fact, the OS didn’t even have multitasking capabilities until several revisions later, with System 4.

In 1996, the System 7.6 revision was re-branded as “Mac OS”. Mac OS went through several revisions until after Mac OS 9.2.2 – the subsequent release, instead of being called Mac OS 10, was rebranded simply as OS X (codenamed Kodiak). Many current Mac users probably remember some form of OS X as their first operating system, due to Apple’s surge in popularity in the early 2000’s.

Macintosh owners of iMacs, G4s, Powerbooks, Macbooks and more are quite used to the name. However, evidence has begun to surface that points to the fact that Apple may be looking to rebrand OS X – not to a new name, however, but back to “MacOS”.

Two weeks ago, Brazilian Apple blog MacMagazine discovered an Interface Builder document in OS X 10.11.4’s system folder with a “macOS” designation in the filename. While this alone is hardly conclusive evidence of a name change, 9to5Mac noticed yet another reference to MacOS in place of OS X, this time in an update to one of Apple’s webpages this morning. The webpage, which serves as a FAQ regarding the company’s environmental initiatives, referred to product cycles for “MacOS, tvOS… iOS and watchOS devices”. The site has since been updated, removing the MacOS reference and replacing it with OS X.

Once again, the evidence of a name change isn’t yet conclusive, but it is intriguing. As 9to5Mac points out, it would make sense for the company to re-brand OS X to match the naming conventions of the operating systems for the rest of their products – iOS for iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch devices, tvOS for their Apple TV devices, and watchOS for the Apple Watch. We will likely find out for sure this coming June during the Worldwide Developers Conference, when Apple is expected to unveil new iOS and OS X (MacOS?) updates.

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Featured photo © Ladislav Soukup | Dreamstime.com – Apple MacBook Silver

[The information provided in this article has NOT been confirmed by Apple and may be speculation. Provided details may not be factual. Take all rumors, tech or otherwise, with a grain of salt.]