Naming scheme for OS 11 leaked
Apple has leaked the naming scheme for OS 11, their successor to OS X. The new …
Polar BearsIt's been common knowledge for a while now that the upcoming 10.5 "Leopard" release will be the last version of OS X. Obviously, OS X is getting a bit long in the tooth, and it's about time for a fresh OS, that will hopefully launch Apple even further ahead of Microsoft in the OS wars. Unfortunately, there's been very little detail released about possible successors to OS X, so no one outside of Apple is quite sure what will happen after Leopard.
Until today, that is. It appears that Apple has leaked some details of OS X's successor, including the naming scheme. The biggest change for many people is that Apple will be abandoning the roman numerals, and returning to it's usual numbering scheme for the new OS, meaning it will be known as Mac OS 11. Throwback central, baby! According to Apple sources, OS 11 will move away from the BSD/Mach kernel used in OS X, and adopt the Linux kernel instead, allowing users to make use of a far greater range of packages and hardware components.
The tentative nicknames for OS 11 have also been leaked after Apple applied for their copyright. Whereas OS X naming was based on big cats (Tiger, Leopard, Jaguar, etc.), OS 11 releases will be named after bears. Here's the tentative list:
- OS 11.0, "Polar"
- OS 11.1, "Grizzly"
- OS 11.2, "Panda"
- OS 11.3, "Kodiak"
- OS 11.4, "Sloth"
- OS 11.5, "Sun"
I'm not sure I'm a big fan of some of these ("Sloth," for one), but it's nice to know where Apple will be heading after they finish up the OS X line with the Leopard release. And personally, I can't wait for OS 11's Linux kernel, and all the other improvements Apple will surely add. It will be interesting to see what they do with the OS 11, and we're looking forward to more details to be released!