Mac in Europe

Overview

Darwin is a free, open source OS for computers developed by Apple Inc. It was released in 2000 and is made of code developed by Apple, plus code derived from BSD and NeXTSTEP. It is developed using programming languages C and C++. It is the core set of components for Mac Operating System of Apple.

In 2000, the Darwin developers decided to adopt a mascot and chose Hexley the Platypus, copyrighted and designed by Jon Hooper. Hexley is a cartoon, who generally wears a cap that look like a demon’s horns. He also carries a trident, which symbolizes the daemon’s forking or processes.

Darwin can be run on its own as a fully functional operated system and is controlled via command line. It has no Graphical User Interface (GUI).

Design

Darwin is based on a Mach derived Unix-like kernel i.e. the XNU microkernel. It includes memory protection and message passing capabilities. It has an extensive kernel debugging support as well as real-time support. It also supports 32-bit and 64-bit Intel x86 processors used in the Apple TV and Mac. It also supports 32-bit ARM (Advanced RISC Machine) processor used in the iPad, iPhone and iPod Touch.

The I/O kit is a device drive framework, which provides an object-oriented model for device drivers that allows them to be written more easily and quicker. It includes SMP support and multi-threading as well as dynamic device configuration and hot pluggable devices

Derived Projects

1. OpenDarwin – It is a community-led operating system founded in April 2002 by Internet Systems Consortium and Apple Inc. Its goal was to increase collaboration between the free software community and Apple’s developers. The project was shut down on July 25, 2006.
2. PureDarwin – It was started to continue where OpenDarwin left off in 2007. They are currently working to produce a release, which is based on Darwin 9.
3. Other Projects – Other projects based on Darwin System are MacPorts, GNU-Darwin, SEDarwin, etc. There are several projects that focus on driver support e.g. card readers, modern drivers, wired NIC drivers, etc.

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