OS Numbers versus OS Names

It is displayed by About This Mac:

10.10 Yosemite

10.9 Mavericks

10.8 Mountain Lion

10.7 Lion

10.6 Snow Leopard

10.5 Leopard

10.4 Tiger

10.3 Panther

10.2 Jaguar

gooberpeas wrote:

Does anyone know where we can find some type of conversion chart that can be used to convert OSX version numbers, such as OSX 10.6.8, to the "Name" that many use, such as "Mountain Lion", Mavericks", etc., etc. When we go to the "About This Mac" under the Apple, we can easily see the OSX version number, but the name is not provided. What is the name for OSX 10.6.8? What is the version number for "Mavericks"? And the list goes on and on! Very confusing! Why doesn't Apple include the name (under the Apple menu) if that's what we're going to be using?

Also see here

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Mac_OS

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gooberpeas wrote:

Thank you, that helps, however, it would be much more convenient if Apple would drop the names and just use the version numbers. The hierarchy of the various versions are much easier to relate to when referring to numbers instead of names. By the way, when I go to the "About This Mac" under the Apple menu, we see the OSX version number (10.6.8 in my case) but not the name as you suggested. Thanks again!

it would be much more convenient if Apple would drop the names and just use the version numbers.

vs

"When we go to the "About This Mac" under the Apple, we can easily see the OSX version number, but the name is not provided."

That seems to be the exact opposite of your original question, gooberpeas. I need more coffee

🙂

Hi Kappy, I totally agree with gooberpeas. It is highly frustrating to track the OS names to the numbers. For example, I'm trying to migrate to a new macbook pro from my older mac air, and it only shows numbers. The entire discussion from Apple on migration is about names, if you're using mavericks, do it this way, if mountain lion that way--please see this here: Move your content to a new Mac - Apple Support. It is a challenge. I know how to do a screen shot, let's see if I can attach what my about this mac says

So I have 10.9.5, not Yosemite, Mavericks, Mountain Lion etc.

It does cause a lot of confusion out here. I just bought the new macbook pro today, I have no idea what the name of the operating system is, nor anyway to find out other than search the internet and find the list you kindly provided us.

Anyway, just an FYI.

Cheers,

gmorgjr,

You have Mavericks 10.9

You can Google "os x names and numbers" and you will get several hits on translations. The Wikipedia links are most likely the best, as they are bound to be kept up to date:

<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OS_X>

<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_OS_X>

And yes, unless you are a long time Macintosh user/follower, it can be difficult to know the name/number pairing. I have a similar problem with Ubuntu and Android releases. They have these names that do not mean anything to me, because I am not a follower of those camps. I can see how the same would be true for OS X releases.

Lucky for me, Google has translations for Ubuntu and Android if I ever want to figure it out.

HI Bob,

Yes, it is somewhat amusing how some of us are supposed to be able to know that 10.9.5 means Mavericks, etc. I did notice that Apple has added this name onto this yosemite version. Well, this is the age of geekoidisms, and heres another one.

Not only is it fortunate that searches are so easy to do now, but now it is almost a necessity to get through the day.

Anyway, thanks for your comment, I appreciated it and enjoyed it.

gmorgjr wrote:

I have no idea what the name of the operating system is, nor anyway to find out other than search the internet and find the list you kindly provided us.

I'd normally suggest sending a suggestion to Apple about this, but — starting with OS X 10.10 Yosemite — you'll get both the version and the name in the About This Mac display. So "fixed in next release". At least for the newer stuff, and the older releases will fade out sooner or later.

Thank you. No alignment between version names and numbers is most user-unfriendly! I appreciate the help.

Barbara