I don't understand the OS X nomeclature

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Level 1

118 points

I don't understand the OS X nomeclature

I feel like there may be some undocumented ways in which to classify the operating system. Is the first 10 in the version number sometimes skipped because it is redundant to the X? For instance, OS X 10.10.5, which seems to be the latest, I can't seem referred to very much in this site. I see a lot of references to OSX 10.5.8 and 6 but either these are very old versions or the first 10 is just not mentioned. If it is the latter, then I am completely baffled by the 8 or 6. I did a search on the way that App Expose works for me and I can't seem to find anything that matches.

Oh, yeah, and, then, there are the Lions and Leopards, and Tigers, etc. Is there any clear guide to these?

Is there a way to zero in on OS X 10.10.5?

Mac mini, OS X Yosemite (10.10.5)

Posted on Aug 22, 2015 6:07 PM

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Answer 1

Aug 22, 2015 6:17 PM in response to Whickwithy

There was an OS 9 before the transition to OS X. Before that, OS 7 and OS 8. But since the conversion to OS X the system has also used a numeric identifier.

10.x.y where the X is a major version, such as:

Tiger 4

Leopard 5

Snow Leopard 6

Lion 7

Mountain Lion 8

Mavericks 9

Yosemite 10

And then y is the sub version so we had

10.4.11, 10.5.8, 10.6.8, 10.7.5, 10.8.5, 10.9.5, 10.10.5 as the total versions within each Mac OS X.

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Answer 2

shamurti

Level 1

5 points

Aug 22, 2015 6:22 PM in response to Whickwithy

Apple Support categorizes 10.10.x under Yosemite. You can see the name of your operating system when you go top "About this Mac" on your computer. And, the operating system version using numbers is always stated in full; not abbreviated.

For Yosemite related discussions go to:

OS X Yosemite

I did search on "expose in yosemite" and a whole list of discussions showed up:

https://discussions.apple.com/search.jspa?facet=content&type=discussion&sort=rel evanceDesc&showAnsweredFirst=true&q=expo…

And, remember that when people enter their new discussions, they may or not use Yosemite or 10.10.x in the subject or title; it is up to them not Apple Support.

I hope that helps.

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Answer 3

Whickwithy Author

Level 1

118 points

Aug 22, 2015 6:40 PM in response to shamurti

This was very helpful. Thank you. Maybe I need to be searching on Yosemite rather than 10.10.x on the web.

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Answer 4

Whickwithy Author

Level 1

118 points

Aug 22, 2015 6:42 PM in response to Ralph Landry1

I see in some discussions that people's older Macs don't always seem to work with the latest OS. Is there any way to revert if the new OS isn't working right?

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Answer 5

BobHarris

Level 9

57,035 points

Aug 22, 2015 6:50 PM in response to Whickwithy

Whickwithy wrote:

I see in some discussions that people's older Macs don't always seem to work with the latest OS. Is there any way to revert if the new OS isn't working right?

If they make a backup. Otherwise, there is no "Undo"

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Answer 6

Whickwithy Author

Level 1

118 points

Aug 22, 2015 7:01 PM in response to BobHarris

Is there a good link concerning making that backup and, then, how to restore an older version at a later date? That sounds like a very fine idea? Also, any reference for the size of the OS? Would I need more than a 16 GByte memory stick, for instance, to copy it?

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Answer 7

Aug 23, 2015 3:37 AM in response to Whickwithy

To revert to an older system, see: OS X Yosemite: Revert to a previous OS X version

The size of the storage device depends on the volume of material being saved, which is not likely to fit on 16 GB. Users need to get an external hard drive to use for TimeMachine backups. One good source is OWC, http://www.macsales.com

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Answer 8

Whickwithy Author

Level 1

118 points

Aug 23, 2015 5:43 AM in response to Ralph Landry1

Yeah, thanks for the ideas but I'm not sure that's going to be the best way for me. I take care of my own backups (though I may have to change that, under the circumstances and the Apple environment) so, really, I was just thinking of backing up the OS only, on its own memory stick and reloading it if I ever reach the point that the new OS is imploding on me. Call me paranoid but there is no way I am leaving the safety of my files to someone else. And, those Time Machine backups are insanely huge. But, that's another problem I've encountered. I don't even have Time Machine on and, yet, every storage device I have has something called backups that is exactly the same size and it keeps growing slowly (not too big, yet, like a GB) and I have no idea how to stop it!

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Answer 9

Whickwithy Author

Level 1

118 points

Aug 23, 2015 8:32 AM in response to Ralph Landry1

I did find this, which is nice because it doesn't require Time Machine. A bit painful, but I think it will do what I'm considering.

OS X: About OS X Recovery - Apple Support

I thought it wa worth posting, though I'm not sure anyone would reach this thread from a search on OS X recovery of a previous version.

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Answer 10

Aug 23, 2015 8:44 AM in response to Whickwithy

Recovery HD partition has existed since Lion, 10.7, in the 2011-2012 time frame. Apple created the recovery HD partition as a means to reinstall the operating system rather than use DVDs packaged with a Mac. A large number of users lost/discarded those as soon as they opened the box. All Mac OS X versions from 10.7 through 10.10 have relied on recovery HD.

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Answer 11

Whickwithy Author

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118 points

Aug 23, 2015 10:11 AM in response to Ralph Landry1

Are you telling me that there is always, whether I use Time Machine or not, a copy of the previous version of the OS on the Mac hard drive? Or, is it a backup of the current version?

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Answer 12

Aug 23, 2015 12:38 PM in response to Whickwithy

Neither, the recovery partition is a bare-bones set of tools to restart and reinstall the operating system. It contains the tools for basics like formatting the hard drive and downloading the installer for the appropriate Mac OS X. That allows a user to get back up and running.

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Answer 13

Whickwithy Author

Level 1

118 points

Aug 23, 2015 12:56 PM in response to Whickwithy

I found an answer that satisfies, finally, concerning how to backup OS X only and, yes, it uses Time Machine.

This seems like a really thorough site for questions on Time Machine and probably a lot of other things.

http://pondini.org/TM/10.html

I can set Time Machine up to not backup my files by deselecting various folders. All I really want is a backup of the next-to-latest OS X.

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