Rhapsody (operating system)
| Developer | Apple Computer |
|---|---|
| OS family | |
| Working state | Historic |
| Source model | Closed source |
| Latest release | Developer Release 2 / May 1998 |
| Platforms | Intel x86, PowerPC |
| Kernel type | Hybrid kernel |
| License | Only released to developers |
Rhapsody was the code name given to Apple Computer's next-generation operating system during the period of its development between Apple's purchase of NeXT in late 1996 and the announcement of Mac OS X in 1998. It consisted primarily of the OPENSTEP operating system ported to the Power Mac along with a new GUI to make it appear more Mac-like. Several existing "classic" Mac OS technologies were also ported to Rhapsody, including QuickTime and AppleSearch. Rhapsody could also run Mac OS 8 in a "Blue Box" emulation layer.
Rhapsody was announced at the MacWorld Expo in San Francisco on January 7, 1997 and first demonstrated at the 1997 Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC). There were two subsequent general Developer Releases for computers with Intel x86 or PowerPC processors. After this there was to be a "Premier" version somewhat analogous to the Mac OS X Public Beta, followed by the full "Unified" version in the second quarter of 1998. Apple's development schedule in integrating the features of two very different systems made it difficult to forecast the features of upcoming releases. At the 1998 MacWorld Expo in New York, Steve Jobs announced that Rhapsody would be released as Mac OS X Server 1.0 (which shipped in 1999). No home version of Rhapsody would be released. Its code base was forked into Darwin, the open source underpinnings of Mac OS X.
...
Wikipedia