Apple’s macOS operating system is known for its stability and features, but it wasn’t always this way. Throughout the history of macOS (and OS X before it), there have been some real stinkers that Apple would probably rather we all forgot about. Yet there have also been some classic versions that still live fondly in the memories of Mac users new and old.
In this article, we’ve picked five of the best versions of Apple’s Mac operating system, as well as five of its worst, presented in chronological order. We’ve started with the launch of OS X 10.0 in 2001 and continued right up to the present, past the operating system’s rebranding as macOS in 2016. If Windows is your speed, we’ve also ranked the best Windows versions of all time. Let’s explore Apple’s greatest hits — and some of its worst howlers.
Worst: OS X 10.0 Cheetah (2001)
OS X didn’t get off to the most auspicious of starts with version 10.0 Cheetah in 2001, but you might not know it by looking at it. Cheetah introduced the Aqua interface, and its bubbly blue buttons and translucent menus instantly became iconic.
Yet it was riddled with issues, including poor performance (even on machines that met the minimum spec), freezes, kernel panics, and more. There was a disappointing lack of third-party Mac apps, and some people complained that those shiny new interfaces were hard to use.
That all coalesced into a feeling that Cheetah was simply undercooked and not ready for prime time. While its visual style was a revelation and created the playbook for future OS X releases, it probably needed a little more time in the oven before launching.
Best: OS X 10.4 Tiger (2005)
It may have come out more than 15 years ago, but OS X 10.4 Tiger introduced features that are still in use today. Spotlight, Automator (which paved the way for Shortcuts), and VoiceOver all got their start on Tiger, alongside a huge range of new and improved tools and features that made the operating system widely popular.
Tiger also launched around the time Apple began its transition away from PowerPC chips and onto Intel processors. To help facilitate that, Tiger contained the first version of Rosetta, a built-in tool that could automatically read and run apps designed for PowerPC chips on Intel Macs. It was a piece of forward-thinking that returned when Macs made the move to Apple silicon.
Tiger was so popular, in fact, that Apple didn’t feel the need to replace it for a massive 30 months — the longest such stretch for any version of Apple’s Mac operating systems. That’s a testament to how fondly it was received by users the world over.
