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Mac OS X Server 1.0

Mac OS X Server 1.0
Website:	http://www.apple.com/server/macosx/
Company/ developer:	Apple Computer
OS family:	BSD/NEXTSTEP
Working state:	Legacy

Mac OS X Server 1.0, released in 1999, was the first operating system released by Apple Computer based on their acquisition of NeXT. Although it had the Platinum "look and feel" from Mac OS 8, it was based on the NEXTSTEP operating system instead of the classic Mac OS, giving users a preview of the future operating system Mac OS X.

Server 1.0 was a mix of features from the classic Mac OS, NEXTSTEP and Mac OS X. It had a single menu bar across the top of the screen like Mac OS but file management was performed in Workspace Manager from NEXTSTEP instead of the Mac's Finder. The user interface still used the Display PostScript based window server from NEXTSTEP, instead of the Display PDF based WindowServer which would appear a year later in Mac OS X Public Beta. Windows with unsaved content had the black dot in the window close button like NEXTSTEP. It did not have the Dock or the Aqua appearance that were later added to Mac OS X.

Server 1.0 also included the first version of a NetBoot server. This was particularly useful in a school or other public-machine setting, as it allowed the machines to be booted from a single OS copy stored on Server 1.0, making it difficult for users to damage the OS by installing software – as soon as they signed out, the machine would re-boot with a fresh OS from the NetBoot server.

To run classic Mac OS applications, Mac OS X Server 1.0 included the "Blue Box" which essentially ran a copy of Mac OS 8.5.1 in a separate process as an emulation layer. This became the "Classic Environment" in Mac OS X, though it was no longer Mac OS 8.5.1 being run, but the latest version of Mac OS 9.

Server 1.0 was replaced by a version based on Mac OS X 10.0 in 2001.

• OS X Server: First Impressions - review by Caesar for ArsTechnica.com