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System 7

System 7 (later named Mac OS 7) is the seventh major release of the classic Mac OS operating system for Macintosh computers, made by Apple Computer. It was launched on May 13, 1991, to succeed System 6 with virtual memory, personal file sharing, QuickTime, TrueType fonts, the Force Quit dialog, and an improved user interface.[1][2]

This article is about the seventh major release of the classic Apple Macintosh operating system. For other uses, see System 7 (disambiguation).

Developer

Apple Computer

Macintosh

Historic

Closed source

May 13, 1991 (1991-05-13)

7.6.1 / April 7, 1997 (1997-04-07)

Motorola 68k series, PowerPC (since 7.1.2)

Monolithic (68k),
nanokernel (PowerPC)

Proprietary

System 6

Mac OS 8

Mac OS Releases at the Wayback Machine (archived April 12, 1997)

It's powerful, it's easy to use-it's the new operating system for your Macintosh.

It was codenamed "Big Bang" in development and the initial release was named "The System" or "System" like all earlier versions. With version 7.5.1, the name "Mac OS" debuted on the boot screen, and the operating system was officially renamed to Mac OS in 1997 with version 7.6. The Mac OS 7 series was current for more than six years, the longest of classic Mac OS.

Overview[edit]

Changes[edit]

In the theme of Blue, improvements in System 7 are significant but incremental.

An updated startup screen with a progress bar

A new interactive help system called

Apple Guide

A clock in the menu bar (from the third-party freeware control panel SuperClock!)

An Apple menu item called (formerly a third-party application called "PasteIt Notes"), which provided virtual Post-It Notes

Stickies

another former third-party shareware control panel, provided the ability to condense a window down to its title bar. Introduced as a "minimize" feature to compete with Windows 95 as Mac OS had no taskbar or dock.

WindowShade

was bundled, enabling any Macintosh to connect to the Internet out of the box for the first time.

MacTCP

The Control Strip (a fast way to change the system volume, control the playback of audio CDs, manage file sharing and printers, and change the monitor resolution and color depth) was enabled on desktop Macintosh models for the first time. It had previously only been included with the PowerBook series.

A new Desktop Patterns control panel allowed for tiled patterns up to 128x128 pixels with 8-bit color; previous versions were limited to 8x8 pixel tiles with a maximum of eight possible colors. Similar functionality was found on earlier system versions exclusive to Performa models and was housed in the General Controls panel.

The Extensions Manager (enabling the user to turn extensions and control panels on and off; also based on a formerly third-party control panel)

a system-level email handling service and the originator of the Keychain system.

PowerTalk

The Launcher, a containing shortcut buttons for frequently used programs (in a manner akin to the macOS Dock)

control panel

A hierarchical Apple menu (folders within the Apple Menu Items folder would expand into submenus showing their contents. Again, based on a third party control panel; HAM by Microseeds publishing)

[19]

System-wide drag & drop for text and other data (selections can be simply dragged with the mouse and dropped to their new destination, bypassing the clipboard)

A scriptable Finder

a 2-D graphics rendering and geometry engine

QuickDraw GX

For the PowerPC only, an advanced, 3d , secretly developed at Apple by a former third party contractor[20]

Graphing Calculator

Support for

OpenDoc

List of Apple operating systems

List of Macintosh software

Inside Macintosh

Mini vMac

Project Star Trek

Amit Singh, , Addison-Wesley, 2007.

Mac OS X Internals: A Systems Approach

Harry McQuillen, 10 Minute Guide to System 7 (1991),  0-672-30033-8

ISBN

Stuple, S. J., Macintosh System 7.5 For Dummies Quick Reference (1994),  1-56884-956-7

ISBN

Bob Levitus, Macintosh System 7.5 for Dummies (November 1994),  1-56884-197-3

ISBN

at the Wayback Machine (archived October 4, 2003) from apple.com

Technical Note OS05: (System 7.1) System Update 3.0

at the Wayback Machine (archived August 4, 2001) from apple.com

Technical Note OV21: System 7.5

at the Wayback Machine (archived April 29, 2004) from apple.com

Technical Note OS07: System 7.5 Update 1.0

at the Wayback Machine (archived June 28, 2004) from apple.com

Technical Note TN1017: System 7.5 Update 2.0 and System 7.5.3

at the Wayback Machine (archived August 24, 2004) from apple.com

Technical Note TN1050: System 7.5.3 Revision 2

at the Wayback Machine (archived June 27, 2004) from apple.com

Technical Note TN1069: System 7.5.5

at the Wayback Machine (archived December 7, 2003) from apple.com

Technical Note TN1090: Mac OS 7.6

at the Wayback Machine (archived December 8, 2003) from apple.com

Technical Note TN1096: Mac OS 7.6.1

System 7 Today

The Compact Mac Trio: System 6 or 7?