Product Description Apple's long awaited new operating system brings more than 200 new features to Mac users. Technically speaking, Tiger boasts an open source core, 64-bit system, and support for the High Definition H.264 video codec. The last OpenOffice version supporting Mac OS X 10.4 (Tiger), 10.5 (Leopard), 10.6 (Snow Leopard) is OpenOffice 4.0.1. Hardware Requirements CPU: Intel Processor.
Apple OS Downloads
Mac OS XLeopard 10.5Leopard was introduced in late 2007 after being delayed by the development for iPhone. This was the last OS to run on PowerPC chips. | Safari 5.0.6 iTunes 10.6.3 QuickTime 7.7 Java SE7 (Hack) OS X 10.5.8 Combo Update |
Mac OS XTiger 10.4Released in 2005, Tiger had some innovative new features - such as Spotlight, Dashboard, and a offline Dictionary. 10.4.4 was the first intel edition of Tiger. | Safari 4.1.3 iTunes 8.2.1 (G3) iTunes 9.2.1 (G4/G5) QuickTime 7.6.4 Java Release 9 OS X 10.4.11 Combo Update |
Mac OS XPanther 10.3Commercially available in 2003, Panther had an all new Finder that made the OS much easier to navigate with Windows Server Support out of the box. | Safari 1.3.2 (download & install Safari 1.3.1 first) iTunes 7.7.1 QuickTime 7.5 OS X 10.3.9 Combo Update |
Mac OS X Jaguar 10.2Available in 2002, Jaguar introduced Mail, Address Book, and Hand Recognition. Jaguar lived for just over a year. | Safari 1.0.3 iTunes 6.0.5 QuickTime 6.5.3 OS X 10.2.8 Combo Update |
Mac OS X Puma 10.1This was the second major release of OS X. Released exactly one month before Windows XP, Puma shared the same web browser with XP. | Internet Explorer 5.2.3 iTunes 4.7.1 QuickTime 6.3.1 OS X 10.1.5 Combo Update |
OS X beta Operating Systems
Mac OS X Puma 10.1 BetasOS X Puma Beta was the next update to Mac OS X. This time around, Apple focused on improving performance and removing bugs. Overall, it was a much more refined operating system compared to Cheetah and Windows XP. The files are compressed in 7z file format. | Final: Mirror Beta 6: Mirror Beta 5: Mirror Beta 4: Mirror |
Mac Os X Tiger 10.4 Download
Mac OS X Kodiak 10.0 BetasOS X 'Kodiak' Beta was the first glimpse into what Apple had planned for the next decade. It offered Developers helpful insights into how they needed to style their applications. In the final beta, they renamed the project to its public name, Cheetah. The files are compressed in 7z file format. | Beta 2: Mirror Beta 1: Mirror |
Introduction
Back in early November of 2003, I introduced my Mac OS X 10.3 Panther review with some concerns about Apple's OS release cycle.
It's strange to have gone from years of uncertainty and vaporware to a steady annual supply of major new operating system releases from Apple. But do I really want to pay US$129 every year for the next version of Mac OS X? Worse, do I really want to deal with the inevitable upgrade hassles and 10.x.0 release bugs every single year? Is it worth it, or is a major OS upgrade every year simply too much, too often?
In the end, I concluded that I was okay with yearly releases, but that some sort of adjustment for 'normal' customers would be nice.
Free Mac Os 10.9 Download
If there's going to be any consumer backlash, it's not going to start with me. I think Panther is worth the cost, but I consider its price to be an investment in the future of Mac OS X—something I obviously have strong opinions about. I'm probably not a typical user, however. If Apple wants to help ease the burden of the larger Mac community, decent upgrade pricing would be a good start. With a yearly release schedule, that is nearly the same thing as a simple price reduction, but if so, so be it.
So convinced was I of the inevitability of the Mac OS X yearly release juggernaut that I never even considered the possibility that relief from the $129-per-year Mac OS X tax might come in the form of an extra six-month wait for version 10.4. 'Let's do this again next year' were my exact words at the end of the Panther review.
Well, here we are 18 months and 6 days later, finally getting a look at Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger. Windows users patiently waiting for Longhorn may not be sympathetic, but the longer wait for Tiger is something new to Mac OS X users.
AdvertisementTiger's longer gestation doesn't mean that the rate of change has slowed, however. Tiger includes updates that are at least twice as significant as any single past update. Mac OS X is now getting to the point where significant improvements require a larger time investment. As far as the core OS is concerned, most of the low-hanging fruit has been harvested. Now it's time for Apple to get down to the real work of improving Mac OS X.
Tiger also represents a milestone in Mac OS X's development process. Apple has promised developers that there will be 'no API disruption for the foreseeable future.' Starting with Tiger, Apple will add new APIs to Mac OS X, but will not change any existing APIs in an incompatible way. This has not been the case during the first four years of Mac OS X's development, and Mac developers have often had to scramble to keep their applications running after each new major release.
Despite its NeXTSTEP roots, Mac OS X is still a very young operating system. Most of the technologies that make it interesting and unique are actually brand new: Quartz, Core Audio, IOKit, Core Foundation. The hold-overs from NeXT and classic Mac OS have also evolved substantially: QuickTime, Carbon, Cocoa.
It's tempting to say that Tiger marks childhood's end for Mac OS X, but I think that goes too far. A more accurate analogy is that Mac OS X versions 10.0 through 10.3 represent 'the fourth trimester' for Apple's new baby—a phrase used to describe the first three months of human life, during which the baby becomes accustomed to life outside the womb. As any new parent knows (yes, I am one of them), this is not an easy time of life, for the baby or for the parents.
It's been a rough journey, but we've made it through intact: Apple, Mac OS X, and Mac users everywhere. Tiger has arrived. Let's see what this baby can do.