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Mac OS X Jaguar
2002 operating system from Apple

Mac OS X Jaguar (version 10.2) is the third major release of macOS, Apple's desktop and server operating system. It superseded Mac OS X 10.1 and preceded Mac OS X Panther. The operating system was released on August 23, 2002. It was available both for single-computer installations and in a "family pack" that allowed five installations on separate computers in one household. Jaguar was the first Mac OS X release to publicly use its code name in marketing and advertisements.

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System requirements

Mac OS X Jaguar requires a PowerPC G3 or G4 CPU and 128 MB of RAM.3 Special builds were released for the first PowerPC G5 systems released by Apple.456

New and changed features

  • MPEG-4 support is added in QuickTime.7
  • Address Book and Inkwell are introduced for handwriting recognition.8
  • New features are introduced, such as Zeroconf and Rendezvous (later renamed to Bonjour), which allows devices on the same network to automatically discover each other and offer available services, such as file sharing, shared scanners, and printers, to the user.
  • Mac OS X Jaguar Server 10.2.2 added journaling to HFS Plus, the native Macintosh file system, to add increased reliability and data recovery features. This was later added to the standard Mac OS X in version 10.3 Panther.9
  • Jaguar saw the debut of Quartz Extreme, a technology used to composite graphics directly on the video card, without the use of software to composite windows. The technology allotted the task of drawing the 3D surface of windows to the video card, rather than to the CPU, to increase interface responsiveness and performance.
  • Universal Access was added to allow the Macintosh to be usable by disabled computer users.
  • The user interface of Jaguar was also updated to add search features to the Finder, powered by Sherlock 3.
  • Internally, Jaguar added the Common Unix Printing System (also known as CUPS), a modular printing system for Unix-like operating systems, and improved support for Microsoft Windows networks using the open-source Samba as a server for the SMB remote file access protocol and a FreeBSD-derived virtual file system module as a client for SMB.
  • The Happy Mac startup icon that was introduced with the original Macintosh was replaced with a grey Apple logo.

Marketing

Jaguar was a $129 upgrade for both Mac OS 9 and existing Mac OS X users.10 In October 2002, Apple offered free copies of Jaguar to all U.S. K-12 teachers as part of the "X For Teachers" program. Teachers who wanted to get a copy had to fill out a form and a packet containing Mac OS X installation discs and manuals was then shipped to the school where they taught.11

Jaguar was the first version of Mac OS X to use its internal codename as the official name of the operating system. To that effect, the retail packaging featured computer-generated jaguar fur designed by animation studio Pixar.12

Starting with Jaguar, Mac OS X releases were given a feline-related marketing name upon announcement until the introduction of OS X Mavericks in June 2013, at which point releases began to be named after locations in California, where Apple is headquartered. Mac OS X (rebranded as OS X in 2011 and later macOS in 2016) releases are now also referred to by their marketing name, in addition to version numbers.

Release history

VersionBuildDateDarwin versionNotes
10.26C115August 24, 20026.0Original retail release
6C115a
10.2.16D52September 18, 20026.1About the Mac OS X 10.2.1 Update, codename Jaguar Red
10.2.26F21November 11, 20026.2About the Mac OS X 10.2.2 Update, codename Jaguar Blue or Merlot
10.2.36G30December 19, 20026.3About the Mac OS X 10.2.3 Update, codename Jaguar Green
6G37Updated retail release
6G50Server edition; retail release
10.2.46I32February 13, 20036.4About the Mac OS X 10.2.4 Update, codename Jaguar Pink
10.2.56L29April 10, 20036.5About the Mac OS X 10.2.5 Update, codename Jaguar Plaid
10.2.66L60May 6, 20036.6About the Mac OS X 10.2.6 Update, codename Jaguar Black
10.2.76R65September 22, 20036.7Removed from distribution due to defects
10.2.86R73October 3, 20036.8About the Mac OS X 10.2.8 Update; released as 6R50 for one day
6S90About the Mac OS X 10.2.8 (G5) Update

Mac OS X 10.2.7 (codenames Blackrider, Smeagol) was only available to the new Power Mac G5s and aluminum PowerBook G4s released before Mac OS X Panther. It was never officially released to the general public.

Mac OS X 10.2.8 is the last version of Mac OS X officially supported on the "Beige G3" desktop, minitower, and all-in-one systems as well as the PowerBook G3 Series (1998) also known as Wallstreet/PDQ; though later releases can be run on such Macs with the help of unofficial, unlicensed, and unsupported third-party tools such as XPostFacto.

Timeline

Timeline of Mac operating systems
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References

  1. Fried, Ian (August 15, 2002). "Apple gives break to multi-Mac homes". CNET. Retrieved September 16, 2024. https://www.cnet.com/culture/apple-gives-break-to-multi-mac-homes/ ↩

  2. "About Mac OS 10.2 (Jaguar) and 10.3 (Panther)". University of California. Archived from the original on October 11, 2013. https://web.archive.org/web/20131011031045/http://lscr.berkeley.edu/advice/using/mac-os-x/macosx-2-3 ↩

  3. Knight, Dan (August 24, 2002). "Mac OS X 10.2 Jaguar". Low End Mac. Archived from the original on September 13, 2015. Retrieved September 27, 2015. http://lowendmac.com/2002/mac-os-x-10-2-jaguar ↩

  4. Knight, Dan (August 24, 2002). "Mac OS X 10.2 Jaguar". Low End Mac. Archived from the original on September 13, 2015. Retrieved September 27, 2015. http://lowendmac.com/2002/mac-os-x-10-2-jaguar ↩

  5. "Power Macintosh G5 1.6 (PCI) Specifications". EveryMac.com. Archived from the original on October 21, 2016. Retrieved September 27, 2015. http://www.everymac.com/systems/apple/powermac_g5/specs/powermac_g5_1.6.html ↩

  6. "Power Mac G5 Specifications". Apple Support. Apple Inc. Archived from the original on September 19, 2022. Retrieved September 27, 2015. https://support.apple.com/kb/SP96 ↩

  7. "Apple Introduces "Jaguar," the Next Major Release of Mac OS X" (Press release). Apple Inc. July 17, 2002. Archived from the original on September 19, 2022. Retrieved August 22, 2019. https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2002/07/17Apple-Introduces-Jaguar-the-Next-Major-Release-of-Mac-OS-X ↩

  8. Knight, Dan (August 24, 2002). "Mac OS X 10.2 Jaguar". Low End Mac. Archived from the original on September 13, 2015. Retrieved September 27, 2015. http://lowendmac.com/2002/mac-os-x-10-2-jaguar ↩

  9. "Mac OS X: About file system journaling". Apple Support. Apple Inc. Archived from the original on May 11, 2015. Retrieved September 27, 2015. https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204435 ↩

  10. Snell, Jason (June 30, 2002). "Apple Unleashes Jaguar". Macworld. Retrieved September 16, 2024. https://www.macworld.com/article/151063/17jaguar.html ↩

  11. "Apple Gives Jaguar Free to All U.S. K-12 Teachers" (Press release). Apple Inc. October 17, 2002. Retrieved September 16, 2024. https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2002/10/17Apple-Gives-Jaguar-Free-to-All-U-S-K-12-Teachers/ ↩

  12. "Jaguar: New Mac operating system a well-stuffed breed | The Seattle Times". archive.seattletimes.com. Archived from the original on July 14, 2022. Retrieved July 14, 2022. https://archive.seattletimes.com/archive/?date=20020824&slug=ptmacc24 ↩