First it was Mac OS (referred to as System 1, System 7, etc.), then Mac OS X, then OS X. But a comment from Apple’s earnings call this week suggests that a name change may be in the works.
As Jason Snell points out in an article on Six Colors:
But there was another little slip that was very interesting to me. It probably means nothing, but when Maestri listed off Apple’s four major product platforms, he said this: “We’ve built a huge installed base around four platforms: iOS, Mac OS, watchOS, and tvOS.”
Officially, that second platform is still “OS X.” But calling it Mac OS instead sure fits better, doesn’t it?
Jason had already suggested this name change last year, but the fact that Maestri said “Mac OS” suggests that it’s in the works. (And did he say Mac OS, MacOS, or macOS?)
When you think about it, OS X (Oh Ess Ten) gets a bit hanky when you get to version 10.10 and 10.11, where we are now (Oh Ess Ten ten point eleven), and I think it should have been changed once the odometer flipped to double digits. But since everything else is nameOS, it makes sense to go back to MacOS (in one word). Also, with iOS 10 coming up, things will get really confusing compared to OS X 10.12 (or whatever).
Apple long used the X as a branding tool, using fancy design and treating it as a logo, but that was in the days of software in boxes and on CDs or DVDs. Now, the X is subtle, and the branding is all in the background images displayed in the Mac App Store.
Perhaps the next version of Apple’s desktop operating system will be macOS Redwood…