macOS is the operating system that powers every Mac. It lets you do things you simply can’t with other computers. That’s because it’s designed specifically for the hardware it runs on — and vice versa. macOS comes with an entire suite of beautifully designed apps. It works hand in hand with iCloud to keep photos, documents, and other stuff up to date on all your devices. It makes your Mac work like magic with your iPhone and other Apple devices. And it’s been built from the ground up with privacy and security in mind.

Featuring all-new, dedicated apps for music, TV, and podcasts. Smart new features in the apps you use every day. And Sidecar, which lets you use iPad as a second Mac display.

Easy to Use When it’s simple to
do
everything, you can do anything.

• Aug 29, 2017  This video will go over all sorts of other options for free operating systems, how they relate to each other, and how you might pick a new operating system for.
• Mac System Software Mac OS was named by the company Apple as 'Mac System Software' in the beginning, a specially designed operating system only for 68K first Motorola processors. With own Macintosh hardware, Mac OS takes up a special role in the world of desktop systems. The first version was 'System 1' and appeared bundled with the Mac in 1984.

On a Mac, everything is designed to work just the way you expect it to — from operating it with simple, intuitive gestures to asking Siri to find a file to having your apps automatically update themselves. Whatever you set out to do on a Mac, there’s much less to learn and that much more to accomplish.

The Finder lets you easily browse and organize the files on your Mac — and those stored in iCloud Drive. View files by icons, in a list, or with Gallery View, which helps you quickly locate a file by how it looks. Drag and drop files into folders in the sidebar. And use the Preview pane to see all of your files’ metadata, quickly create .zip files, and share using the handy Share menu.

IOS13: Here's what you need to know about Apple's new iPhone operating system. It's official: Apple is dropping iTunes in exchange for three separate apps and called its new operating system iOS 13.

Dark Mode adds a dramatic look to your desktop and apps that puts the focus on your content. Dynamic Desktop makes your Mac even more beautiful with time-shifting desktop pictures that match the time of day wherever you are. And Stacks keeps your desktop free of clutter by automatically organizing your files, images, documents, PDFs, and more into tidy groups.

Spotlight helps you quickly and effortlessly find what you want, like documents on your Mac, movie showtimes, and flight departure and arrival times. Just type a few keystrokes in the Spotlight search field and autocomplete immediately shows you relevant results.¹

A simple two-finger swipe from the right edge of your trackpad brings up Notification Center — the same one you use on iPhone — where you can see all the alerts that have come in recently. It’s also where you’ll find your Today view, which you can customize with helpful widgets or handy information pinned from Siri searches.

Siri helps you get things done just by using your voice. It also helps you get more things done at the same time. So you can finish your document while asking Siri to tell your coworker that it’s on the way. Looking for the presentation you worked on last week? Just ask Siri.² And with Apple Music, Siri can be your personal DJ and recommend music based on your tastes, and tell you more about songs, albums, and artists.³

Continuity All your devices.
One seamless experience.

Your Mac works with your other Apple devices in ways no other computer can. If you get a call on your iPhone, you can take it on your Mac. And when friends text you — regardless of the phone they have — you can respond from your Mac, iPad, or iPhone, whichever is closest. When you copy text or an image from one device, you can paste it into another with standard copy and paste commands. And with Sidecar, you can extend your workspace by using your iPad as a second Mac display. You can even unlock your Mac with your Apple Watch. No password typing required.

Privacy and Security We believe your data belongs to you. Period.

Everything you do with your Mac is protected by strong privacy and security features. That’s because we build data security into everything we make, right from the start.

Privacy. You trust our products with your most personal information, and we believe that you should be in complete control of it. We respect your privacy by enacting strict policies that govern how all data is handled. And when you browse the web, Safari helps prevent data companies from tracking the sites you visit.

Security. We design Mac hardware and software with advanced technologies that work together to help you run apps safely, protect your data, and keep you safe on the web. The new Find My app helps you locate a missing Mac that’s lost or stolen — even if it’s offline or sleeping. And Gatekeeper makes it safer to download and install apps from the Mac App Store and the internet.

Built in Apps Apps as powerful and elegant as your Mac. Because they’re designed for it.

With every Mac, you get a collection of powerful apps. They’re the same apps you use on your iPhone or iPad, so they’ll feel instantly familiar. They all work with iCloud, so your schedule, contacts, and notes are always up to date everywhere. And because they’re native apps — not web apps in a browser — they take full advantage of the power of your Mac to deliver the fastest possible performance and more robust features.

Media. Experience music, TV, and podcasts in three all-new Mac apps. Get all the news that matters from sources you trust, all in one place.⁴ Track the market and customize your watchlist. Peruse the best book titles from your desktop. And find the latest apps and extensions for your Mac, right on your Mac.

• Podcasts

• Stocks

• App Store

Creativity. Enjoy your best photos and videos, showcased in an immersive, dynamic new look. Transform home videos into unforgettable movies or quickly share clips with your favorite people. Create music like the pros with a huge collection of sounds, instruments, amps, and a lineup of virtual session drummers and percussionists perfectly suited to play along with your song.

Productivity. Create beautiful documents with stunning simplicity. Visualize your data precisely and persuasively in spreadsheets with images, text, and shapes. Make stage-worthy presentations using powerful graphics tools and dazzling cinematic effects to bring your ideas to life. And collaborate with friends and coworkers in real time — whether they’re across town or across the globe.

Communication. Easily manage all of your email accounts in one simple, powerful app that works with email services like iCloud, Gmail, Yahoo, AOL, and Microsoft Exchange. Send unlimited messages to anyone on any Apple device, using the same Messages app on your Mac as you do on your iPhone. Make unlimited high-quality video and audio calls right from your Mac with FaceTime. And securely locate a missing Mac using the new Find My app on Mac, iPhone, and iPad.

• Mail

• Messages

• FaceTime

Organization. A new gallery view and more powerful search help you find your notes more quickly than ever. Easily create, organize, and add attachments to reminders. Manage your iCloud, Google, and Exchange calendars in one place, create separate calendars for home, work, and school, and view them all or just the ones you want. Instantly capture personal reminders, class lectures, even interviews or song ideas with Voice Memos. Keep all your contact info up to date on all your devices, and easily import numbers, addresses, and photos from Google and Microsoft Exchange. And control all your HomeKit-enabled accessories from the comfort of your desktop.

• Notes

• Reminders

• Calendar

• Voice Memos

• Contacts

Internet. Surf the web seamlessly with an updated start page that helps you quickly access your favorite and frequently visited sites. Use Apple Pay to make purchases on the web in Safari with Touch ID on MacBook Pro and MacBook Air. Map out new destinations from your desktop, with gorgeous 3D city views like Flyover, point-to-point directions, and comprehensive transit directions. And instantly search your entire Mac or get results from the internet in just a few keystrokes.

• Spotlight

iCloud All your stuff on your Mac.
And everywhere else you want it.

Every Apple app uses iCloud — it’s the magic behind the seamless experience you have with all your Apple devices. So you always have your photos, videos, documents, email, notes, contacts, calendars, and more on whatever device you’re using. And any file you store in iCloud Drive can be shared with friends, family, and colleagues just by sending them a link. iCloud Drive also lets you access files from your Mac on your iPhone or iPad. It’s all done automatically. Just like that.⁵

Accessibility We make sure that everyone is able to use a Mac.

macOS comes standard with a wide range of assistive technologies that help people with disabilities experience what the Mac has to offer, providing many features you won’t find in other operating systems. Voice Control lets users control their Mac, iPad, and iPhone entirely with their voice. And features such as VoiceOver, Accessibility Keyboard, FaceTime,⁶ and Text to Speech help everyone get more out of Mac.

Technology Advanced to the core.

macOS features powerful core technologies engineered for the most important functions of your Mac. Thanks to Mac Catalyst, you can now enjoy your favorite iPad apps on your Mac. With SwiftUI, developers have a simple way to build better apps across all Apple platforms with less code. Create ML gives developers a faster and easier way to build machine learning into apps. And support for virtual and augmented reality lets developers create immersive worlds for you to step into.

Compatibility Need to work with Windows?
Mac does that, too.

With macOS, it’s easy to transfer your files, photos, and other data from a Windows PC to your Mac. Work with popular file types such as JPEG, MP3, and PDF, as well as Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint documents. And, of course, you can run Microsoft Office natively on a Mac. If you want, you can even run Windows on your Mac.⁷

Find the right iMac for you.

An operating system or OS is software installed on a computer's the hard drive that enables computer hardware to communicate with and run computer programs. Without an operating system, a computer and software would be useless. In the picture is an example of MicrosoftWindows XP, an early popular operating system.

Operating system types

As computers have progressed and developed, so have their operating systems. Below is a basic list of the categories of operating systems and a few examples of operating systems that fall into each of these categories. Many computer operating systems will fall into more than one of the below types.

GUI - Short for Graphical User Interface, a GUI operating system contains graphics and icons and is commonly navigated by using a computer mouse. See the GUI definition for further information. Examples of GUI operating systems are:

System 7.x
Windows 98
Windows CE

Multi-user - A multi-user operating system allows for multiple users to use the same computer at the same time and different times. See the multi-user definition for a complete definition. Examples of operating systems that would fall into this category are:

Linux
Unix
Windows 2000

Multiprocessing - An operating system capable of supporting and utilizing more than one computer processor. Examples of operating systems that would fall into this category are:

Linux
Unix
Windows XP

Multitasking - An operating system that is capable of allowing multiple software processes to run at the same time. Examples of operating systems that would fall into this category are:

Linux
Unix
Windows 8

Multithreading - Operating systems that allow different parts of a program to run concurrently. Examples of operating systems that would fall into this category are:

Linux
Unix
Windows XP

Troubleshooting

Common questions and answers pertaining to operating systems in general can be found in the operating system questions and answers section below. All other questions relating to an operating system in particular can be found through its corresponding operating system page link in the box below.

New Operating System For Macbook Air

Upgrade Mac Operating System

Operating system listing

Below is a listing of many of the different operating systems available today, the dates they were released, the platforms they have been developed for, and who developed them.

Common operating system questions and answers

Additional information

New Operating System For Mac Pro

• See our operating system definition for further information and related links.