Explore the world of Mac. Check out MacBook Pro, iMac Pro, MacBook Air, iMac, and more. Visit the Apple site to learn, buy, and get support. When you set up a new Mac, macOS gives the computer a generic name that includes the first name of the owner – 'Tim's MacBook Pro,' for example.This default name is used for identifying the.
Cheetah, puma, jaguar, panther, tiger, leopard, snow leopard and lion. Zoo exhibit? Animal Planet lineup? Actually, these are monikers for each version of Apple's OS X operating system. Cheetah was released in March 2001 and the newest incarnation of OS X, Lion (v10.7), was released in January 2011.
Apple isn't the only computer company to name its offerings after images easily conjured by the general public. Google, for example, names its Android operating systems after sweets like cupcakes, gingerbread and honeycomb [source: Sutter].
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While Google isn't likely to run out of dessert titles anytime soon, there are a finite number of big cat species -- and Apple's already named an operating system after almost all of them (they've got Lynx and Cougar trademarked, too). There are, however, still a couple dozen species of small- and medium-sized wild cats whose names are still up for grabs, like the ocelot and jaguarundi.
With Apple's penchant for consistently naming its products, odds are they'll want to continue with feline-friendly labeling. It's the same approach the company took when it slapped a lowercase 'i' at the fore of a new product line: iPhone, iPod, iMac, iWork, iLife and iPad.
But why choose symbolic names instead of numbers? After all, it's all ones and zeros to operating system architects anyway. Turns out, the catchy OS names are chosen with consumers in mind. It's less confusing to remember a name like Lion instead of a number like 10.7. Lengthy combinations of letters and numbers seem to be particularly difficult to remember. Quick, what printer model do you own?
Still, Apple's never revealed the impetus behind its naming strategies. It hasn't escaped the attention of Mac followers that some of the operating system names correspond with World War II German armored vehicles, such as the Panther and Tiger [source: Tank Museum]. Some critics believe Apples OS names were inspired by British Mac-clone-maker Shaye, a competitor that gave Apple a brief but powerful run for its money during the mid-1990s. Shaye's computers were named for lions, panthers, tigers, leopards, jaguars, pumas and cheetahs, among others -- similar to the titles that Apple has used for its operating systems since 2001.
Microsoft -- one of Apple's chief rivals -- has oscillated between naming its operating systems with numbers and names. For example, it released Windows 1.0 in 1985, Windows 95 (version number 4.0) in 1995, Windows Vista (version number 6.0) in 2006 and Windows 7 (version number 6.1) in 2009 [source: Microsoft].
Today, Apple ranks fourth among the world's largest computer companies, behind HP, Acer and Dell, but is gaining ground with the popularity of mobile devices like the iPad [source: Brodkin]. And that's a lot of sales, no matter what the product is named.
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- Fact or Fiction: Apple
Sources
- Bilton, Nick. 'Is it Time for Apple to Retire the Cats?' NYtimes.com. Feb. 10, 2010. (Aug. 15, 2011) http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/02/10/is-it-time-for-apple-to-retire-the-cats/
- Brodkin, Jon. 'Apple's iOS Doubles Operating System Market Share.' NetworkWorld.com. May 2, 2011. (Aug. 15, 2011) http://www.networkworld.com/news/2011/050211-apple-ios-share.html
- EveryMac.com. 'Mac Clones: Shaye.' (Aug. 15, 2011) http://www.everymac.com/systems/shaye/index-shaye-mac-clones.html
- International Society for Endangered Cats Canada. 'Big Wild Cats.' (Aug. 15, 2011) http://www.wildcatconservation.org/Big-Cats.html
- McKracken, Harry. 'The Amazing World of Version Numbers.' Technologizer.com. July 14, 2009. (Aug. 18, 2011) http://technologizer.com/2009/07/14/version-numbers/2/
- Microsoft.com. 'A History of Windows.' (Aug. 15, 2011) http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows/history
- Morgan, Charles. 'Name that Cat: What Breed Should OS 10.7 Be?' Gigaom.com. Sept. 16, 2009. (Aug. 15, 2011) http://gigaom.com/apple/what-breed-of-cat-will-os-10-7-be/
- Rose, Michael. 'Where OS X 'Big Cat' Code names Really Come From.' Tuaw.com. March 10, 2007. (Aug. 14, 2011) http://www.tuaw.com/2007/03/10/where-os-x-big-cat-code-names-really-come-from/
- Sutter, John. 'Why Does Google Name its Android Products After Desserts?' Feb. 4, 2011. (Aug. 15, 2011) CNN.com. http://articles.cnn.com/2011-02-04/tech/google.honeycomb.android.names_1_google-android-android-os-randall-sarafa?_s=PM:TECH
- Tank Museum. 'Military-Historical Museum of Armored Vehicles and Equipment.' (Aug. 15, 2011) http://www.tankmuseum.ru/p6.html
- Wehner, Mike. 'Mac OS X Turns 10: Screenshots of every Revision from Cheetah to Lion.' Tecca.com. March 24, 2011. (Aug. 15, 2011) http://www.tecca.com/news/2011/03/24/mac-os-x-10th-anniversary-screenshots/
The name of your macOS user account and the name of your home folder must both be the same. Changing these names does not change or reset the password of your user account.
Apple Os Name
Because doing this incorrectly could damage your account and prevent you from logging in, you should back up your important data before proceeding.
Today, Apple ranks fourth among the world's largest computer companies, behind HP, Acer and Dell, but is gaining ground with the popularity of mobile devices like the iPad [source: Brodkin]. And that's a lot of sales, no matter what the product is named.
Advertisement
Related Articles
- Fact or Fiction: Apple
Sources
- Bilton, Nick. 'Is it Time for Apple to Retire the Cats?' NYtimes.com. Feb. 10, 2010. (Aug. 15, 2011) http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/02/10/is-it-time-for-apple-to-retire-the-cats/
- Brodkin, Jon. 'Apple's iOS Doubles Operating System Market Share.' NetworkWorld.com. May 2, 2011. (Aug. 15, 2011) http://www.networkworld.com/news/2011/050211-apple-ios-share.html
- EveryMac.com. 'Mac Clones: Shaye.' (Aug. 15, 2011) http://www.everymac.com/systems/shaye/index-shaye-mac-clones.html
- International Society for Endangered Cats Canada. 'Big Wild Cats.' (Aug. 15, 2011) http://www.wildcatconservation.org/Big-Cats.html
- McKracken, Harry. 'The Amazing World of Version Numbers.' Technologizer.com. July 14, 2009. (Aug. 18, 2011) http://technologizer.com/2009/07/14/version-numbers/2/
- Microsoft.com. 'A History of Windows.' (Aug. 15, 2011) http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows/history
- Morgan, Charles. 'Name that Cat: What Breed Should OS 10.7 Be?' Gigaom.com. Sept. 16, 2009. (Aug. 15, 2011) http://gigaom.com/apple/what-breed-of-cat-will-os-10-7-be/
- Rose, Michael. 'Where OS X 'Big Cat' Code names Really Come From.' Tuaw.com. March 10, 2007. (Aug. 14, 2011) http://www.tuaw.com/2007/03/10/where-os-x-big-cat-code-names-really-come-from/
- Sutter, John. 'Why Does Google Name its Android Products After Desserts?' Feb. 4, 2011. (Aug. 15, 2011) CNN.com. http://articles.cnn.com/2011-02-04/tech/google.honeycomb.android.names_1_google-android-android-os-randall-sarafa?_s=PM:TECH
- Tank Museum. 'Military-Historical Museum of Armored Vehicles and Equipment.' (Aug. 15, 2011) http://www.tankmuseum.ru/p6.html
- Wehner, Mike. 'Mac OS X Turns 10: Screenshots of every Revision from Cheetah to Lion.' Tecca.com. March 24, 2011. (Aug. 15, 2011) http://www.tecca.com/news/2011/03/24/mac-os-x-10th-anniversary-screenshots/
The name of your macOS user account and the name of your home folder must both be the same. Changing these names does not change or reset the password of your user account.
Apple Os Name
Because doing this incorrectly could damage your account and prevent you from logging in, you should back up your important data before proceeding.
First rename the home folder
- Log out of the account you're renaming, then log in to a different administrator account. (If you don't have another administrator account, you can create one in Users & Groups preferences.)
- Open the Users folder on the startup disk. It contains the home folder for each user. To get there, you can choose Go > Go to Folder from the menu bar, then enter
/Users
. - Rename the user's home folder without using any spaces in the new name. You'll be prompted to enter the administrator name and password that you used to log in. If you're using file sharing to share the home folder, you won't be able to rename it until you stop sharing the folder.
Then rename the account
Apple Os Name Linux
While still logged out of the account you're renaming, follow these additional steps:
- Choose Apple () menu > System Preferences, then click Users & Groups.
- Click , then enter the administrator name and password that you used to log in.
- From the list of users on the left, Control-click the user you're renaming, then choose Advanced Options.
- Change the 'Account name' field to match the new name of the home folder. It should have no spaces.
- The account name also appears in the 'Home directory' field, after
/Users/
. Change that account name to match the new name of the home folder. - If you want to change the full name associated with your account, update the 'Full name' field as well. It can be any name, and you can use either the full name or the account name to log in to your Mac or make changes that require your name and password.
- Click OK, then restart your Mac.
- Log in to the renamed account, then verify that your old files and folders are visible and the account is working as expected.