It sounds like a lineup for Animal Planet or a poorly curated zoo exhibit. Cheetah. Puma. Jaguar. Panther. Tiger. Leopard. Snow Leopard. Lion. These aren’t just wild cats prowling the savannah. They are the monikers for each version of Apple’s OS X operating system.
The timeline is specific. Cheetah dropped in March 2001. Lion (version 10.7) arrived in January 2011. That’s a decade of feline branding.
Apple isn’t alone in this tactic. Google names its Android releases after sweets. Cupcakes. Gingerbread. Honeycomb. The dessert theme is rich, and Google isn’t likely to run out of sugar titles anytime soon. Apple? The supply chain is different. There are only so many big cat species. Apple has already claimed almost all of them. They even hold trademarks for Lynx and Cougar.
Still, a couple dozen small- and medium-sized wild cat names are up for grabs. Think ocelot. Think jaguarundi. Given Apple’s penchant for consistent labeling, the odds favor a continuation of the feline-friendly strategy. It mirrors the lowercase “i” prefix on products like the iPhone, iPod, iMac, iWork, iLife, and iPad.
Why Symbolic Names Beat Version Numbers
Why choose symbolic names instead of numbers? To the operating system architects, it’s all ones and zeros anyway. The choice is for consumers.
It’s less confusing to remember a name like Lion instead of a number like 10.7. Long strings of digits and letters are notoriously difficult for the human brain to retain. Try this: what printer model do you own? You probably don’t know off the top of your head.
Apple has never revealed the specific impetus behind its naming strategies. It remains an internal mystery. But Mac followers have noticed patterns that might hint at the inspiration. Some operating system names correspond with World War II German armored vehicles. The Panther. The Tiger.
There’s another theory, too. Critics suggest the names were inspired by Shaye, a British Mac-clone maker. Shaye gave Apple a brief but powerful run for its money in the mid-1990s. Shaye’s computers were named for lions, panthers, tigers, leopards, jaguars, pumas, and cheetahs. Apple’s OS names since 2001 follow a similar pattern.
Microsoft has oscillated between the two approaches. It’s a rival of Apple, after all. Microsoft released Windows 1.0 in 1985. Then came Windows 95, which was technically version 4.0, in 1995. Windows Vista arrived in 2006 as version 6.0. Windows 7 followed in 2009 as version 6.1. The numbering system is precise, but the consumer-facing names often obscure it.
Apple ranks fourth among the world’s largest computer companies today. It trails HP, Acer, and Dell. But it is gaining ground. The popularity of mobile devices like the iPad is driving that growth.
It’s a lot of sales. The name on the box matters less than the utility inside. Yet, the branding sticks.
Frequently Answered Questions
Which operating system named its version after large cats?
Mac OS X
