Project codenames based on color were used internally at Apple Computer (later Apple Inc.).
History[]
The codenames originated from the use of colored index cards to organize proposed features for future Macintosh operating systems at Apple. Red cards were used for ambitious features that could only be implemented in the far future. Pink cards were used for features that could be implemented in the near future. Blue cards were used for incremental features that could be implemented immediately for the next system software release, in this case System 4, which was initially released in January 1987.[1] There were also Green cards for which the purpose has not yet been disclosed.[2]
- Blue included features such as cooperative multitasking, virtual memory, and multi-user support,[3] which did not appear until System 4.2's MultiFinder, System 7 (the engineers were called "Blue Meanies"), and Mac OS 9, respectively. This later led to Blue box being the codename for the application environment with the Carbon API that would allow classic Mac OS applications to run under PowerPC builds of Mac OS X.[1] This became known as the Classic environment which appeared in the Mac OS X Public Beta in 2000.
- Green included undisclosed goals.[2]
- Pink included features such as object-oriented programming, better international support, preemptive multitasking, and improved graphics. It was scheduled to lead to a new operating system by 1989, but the schedule slipped and it was spun off from Apple into Taligent, a joint venture formed with IBM in March 1992.[3]
- Red included features such as speech and character recognition.[3] The codename Red box was later used for the application environment that would reportedly allow Windows applications to run under Intel builds of Mac OS X.[1] However, this never shipped as Intel versions of Mac OS X ended up supporting Boot Camp and 3rd party virtual machines such as Parallels.
The following codenames were used later, independent of the original index card colors:
- Yellow box was the codename for the modern application environment that became part of Rhapsody, and then the Aqua UI and Cocoa API of Mac OS X itself.[1] The ability to create Windows executables was a planned Yellow Box feature that was never publicly released, but speculated to be used internally at Apple under the codename Dharma to build versions of iTunes, QuickTime, and Safari for PC.[4]
- Purple was the codename of the port of Mac OS X to ARM architecture to run on the first iPhone. This became released as iPhone OS 1 in 2007, which was later renamed iOS.[5]
Trivia[]
- "Blue box" is also a reference to phone phreaking devices built by Steve Wozniak and sold by Steve Jobs before they co-co-founded the Apple Computer Company in 1976.[6]
- "Blue Meanies" is a reference to the Beatles' film Yellow Submarine.[2]
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Red Box, Blue Box, Yellow Box by Daniel Knight, Low End Mac. 1999-09-17.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Blue Meanies by David K. Every and Daniel Fention at MacKiDo. 1998-08-26. Updated 2002-11-09.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Pink: Apple’s First Stab at a Modern Operating System by Tom Hormby, Low End Mac. 2014-04-27.
- ↑ Le retour de la YellowBox ? Pas sûr, mais presque ! (French) by Didier, Mac4Ever. 2007-06-15.
- ↑ Tony Fadell tells us the story of the iPod-based iPhone prototype by Nilay Patel, The Verge. 2017-01-11.
- ↑ The Definitive Story of Steve Wozniak, Steve Jobs, and Phone Phreaking by Phil Lapsley, The Atlantic. 2013-02-20.
See also[]
External links[]
- Cocoa and the Death of Yellow Box and Rhapsody by Daniel Eran at Roughly Drafted (2007-02-19)
- Behind Project Purple by Antonio Nieto-Rodriguez at Dialogue Review (2018-08-22)