Darwin (operating system)

"Darwin (kernel)" redirects here. For the article about the kernel, see XNU.

Darwin
DeveloperApple Inc.
Written inC, C++, Objective-C, assembly language
OS familyUnix-like,[1][2] FreeBSD,[3] BSD[4]
Working stateCurrent
Source modelcurrently open source with proprietary components[citation needed], previously open source
Initial releaseNovember 15, 2000; 23 years ago (2000-11-15)
Latest release24.0.0 / September 16, 2024; 55 days ago (2024-09-16)
Repositorygithub.com/apple-oss-distributions/distribution-macOS
PlatformsCurrent: x86-64, 64-bit ARM, 32-bit ARM (32-bit ARM support is closed-source)
Historical: PowerPC (32-bit and 64-bit), IA-32
Kernel typeHybrid (XNU)
Influenced byNeXTSTEP, FreeBSD, BSD
Default
user interface		Command-line interface (Unix shell)
LicenseMostly Apple Public Source License (APSL), with closed-source drivers[5]
Official websiteopensource.apple.com
Part of a series on
macOS
Features
Versions
Applications
Utilities
Related

Darwin is the core Unix-like operating system of macOS, iOS, watchOS, tvOS, iPadOS, audioOS, visionOS, and bridgeOS. It previously existed as an independent open-source operating system, first released by Apple Inc. in 2000. It is composed of code derived from NeXTSTEP, FreeBSD,[3] other BSD operating systems,[6] Mach, and other free software projects' code, as well as code developed by Apple.

Darwin is mostly POSIX-compatible, but has never, by itself, been certified as compatible with any version of POSIX. Starting with Leopard, macOS has been certified as compatible with the Single UNIX Specification version 3 (SUSv3).[7][8][9]

  1. ^ "Kernel Architecture Overview". Kernel Programming Guide. Archived from the original on May 9, 2019. Retrieved May 27, 2019.
  2. ^ "darwin-xnu/README.md at master". GitHub. Archived from the original on March 31, 2019. Retrieved November 21, 2019.
  3. ^ a b "Apple BSD Overview". Apple. 2002. Archived from the original on November 7, 2018. Retrieved January 1, 2002.
  4. ^ "Apple - Public Source - Darwin FAQ". Archived from the original on November 19, 2004. Retrieved August 9, 2021.
  5. ^ "Binary Drivers required for PureDarwin". Archived from the original on November 18, 2009. Retrieved July 20, 2009.
  6. ^ "1. System Overview". NeXTstep Concepts. NeXT. Archived from the original on November 21, 2021. Retrieved March 26, 2021.
  7. ^ "Mac OS X Leopard - Technology - UNIX". Leopard Technology Overview. Apple Inc. Archived from the original on December 27, 2008. Leopard is now an Open Brand UNIX 03 Registered Product, conforming to the SUSv3 and POSIX 1003.1 specifications for the C API, Shell Utilities, and Threads.
  8. ^ The Open Group (May 18, 2007). "Mac OS X Version 10.5 Leopard on Intel-based Macintosh computers certification". Archived from the original on October 25, 2019. Retrieved February 11, 2013.
  9. ^ "macOS version 10.13 High Sierra on Intel-based Mac computers". The Open Group. Archived from the original on September 28, 2017. Retrieved November 19, 2017.