Macs that shipped by Apple after that event could no longer boot into any version of classic Mac OS by default. Mac OS 9.2.2 was the final version of Mac OS 9, and of the classic Mac OS. The purpose of the theatrics was to announce that Apple had ended all development of OS 9. On May 6 at the 2002 Worldwide Developers Conference in San Jose, California, Apple CEO Steve Jobs delivered a mock 'funeral' for Mac OS 9 during his keynote address, dressed in black and addressing a coffin containing an orversized retail box. This operating system was codenamed 'Sonata' and was originally planned to be debuted as Mac OS 8.7.

It did not fix the problem but merely grayed out the option, so that it could not be selected.

Apple quickly distributed a patch, in the form of a system extension. However, it was found to corrupt users' hard drives upon the first use. It was meant to perform the same function as 'hibernate' on PC-compatible laptops. Interestingly, when in the ' About This Computer' window which shows the amount of memory being used, command-clicking on the Mac OS 9 picture sends you to Apple's page about their OS.Īnother feature for laptops was the 'Save Memory to Disk' option, found under the Energy Saver Control Panel. While most of the code was now PPC-only (indeed, Mac OS 9 doesn't run on 680x0 CPUs), there are still many strings in the System suitcase which make references to obsolete 680x0 machinery. Earlier versions of the Mac OS depended heavily on emulation of the older Motorola 680x0 series of processors. Perhaps most importantly, almost all of OS 9 was written in code which was compatible with PowerPC microprocessors. Unlike previous versions, it supports multiple users without third-party additions. However, it did ship from Apple with many improvements over earlier versions, such as improved OpenTransport networking, and an upgraded search tool (Sherlock 2), though it did retain the Platinum theme introduced in Mac OS 8. Mac OS 9 is, by some, considered the most functional and stable version of the original Mac OS, though OS 9 still does not have some features common to modern operating systems, such as protected memory (which, reportedly was implemented in beta versions of Mac OS 9.1, but pulled at Steve Jobs's command), and pre-emptive multitasking. Mac OS 9 was advertised by Apple as 'featuring Sherlock 2,' which was a definite improvement over the original Sherlock, and having 'more than 50 new features and nine internet power tools.' Apple also was quick to point out OS 9's 128-bit encryption capabilities.Īpple included a series of bug fixes and new features.

Mac os 9