XQuartz
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| Developer(s) | Jeremy Huddleston Sequoia, X.Org Foundation, Apple Inc. |
|---|---|
| Stable release |
2.7.11 / October 29, 2016
|
| Written in | C |
| Operating system | macOS |
| Type | Display server |
| License |
Apple Public Source License MIT License |
| Website | www |
XQuartz (formerly and often still informally referred to as X11.app) is Apple Inc.'s version of the X server, a component of the X Window System (X11, or shortened to simply X, and sometimes informally X-Windows) for macOS. The name "XQuartz" derives from Quartz, the macOS graphics framework, to which XQuartz connects these applications. XQuartz is a required component that allows cross-platform applications to run on the macOS, many of which are not specifically designed for macOS. This includes numerous scientific and academic software projects.
X11.app was initially available as a downloadable public beta for Mac OS X v10.2 and later included as a standard package for Mac OS X v10.3. In Mac OS X v10.4, X11.app was an optional install included on the install DVD. Mac OS X v10.5, Mac OS X v10.6 and Mac OS X v10.7 installed X11.app by default, but from OS X Mountain Lion (10.8), Apple dropped dedicated support for X11.app, with users directed to the open source XQuartz project (to which it contributes) instead.
In Mac OS X v10.4, Apple's X11 implemented release 6.6 (X11R6.6). This implementation includes an XFree86 4.4 based X11 window server, Quartz rootless window manager, libraries, and basic utilities such as xterm. "Rootless" means that X window applications show up on the Quartz desktop, appearing like any other windowed Quartz application (that is, not in a virtual desktop contained within another window). In Mac OS X v10.5, X11 was updated to use X.Org Server (X11R7.2) rather than XFree86. The source code for X11 is available from Apple. Some source code is available under the Apple Public Source License while the bulk is licensed under the MIT License.
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