# Darwin (operating system)

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Computer operating system

"Darwin (kernel)" redirects here. For the article about the kernel, see [XNU](/source/XNU).

Operating system

Darwin Developer Apple Written in C, C++, Objective-C, assembly language OS family Unix-like,[1][2] FreeBSD,[3] BSD[4] Working state Current Source model Currently open source with proprietary components,[citation needed] previously open source Initial release November 15, 2000; 25 years ago (2000-11-15) Latest release 25.0.0 / September 15, 2025; 9 months ago (2025-09-15) Repository github.com/apple-oss-distributions/distribution-macOS Supported platforms Current: 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 type Hybrid (XNU) Influenced by NeXTSTEP, FreeBSD, BSD, Mach[5] Default user interface Command-line interface (Unix shell) License Mostly Apple Public Source License (APSL), with closed-source drivers[6] Official website opensource.apple.com/releases/

Part of a series on macOS History and architecture Architecture Version history Transition to Intel processors Transition to Apple silicon Darwin Cocoa XNU Versions Version history Rhapsody (Developer Release) Hera (Server 1.0) Kodiak (Public Beta) Cheetah (10.0) Puma (10.1) Jaguar (10.2) Panther (10.3) Tiger (10.4) Leopard (10.5) Snow Leopard (10.6) Lion (10.7) Mountain Lion (10.8) Mavericks (10.9) Yosemite (10.10) El Capitan (10.11) Sierra (10.12) High Sierra (10.13) Mojave (10.14) Catalina (10.15) Big Sur (11) Monterey (12) Ventura (13) Sonoma (14) Sequoia (15) Tahoe (26) Golden Gate (27) Applications App Store Automator Books Calculator Calendar Contacts Dashboard Dictionary FaceTime Finder Game Center Grapher iTunes (history) Mail Messages Music Notes Notification Center Photo Booth Podcasts Photos Preview QuickTime Reminders Safari Sherlock Stickies TextEdit Time Machine List of built-in apps List of compatible software List of compatible games Utilities Activity Monitor AirPort Utility Archive Utility Audio MIDI Setup Bluetooth File Exchange ColorSync Console Crash Reporter DigitalColor Meter Directory Utility DiskImageMounter Disk Utility Font Book Grab Help Viewer Image Capture Installer Keychain Access Migration Assistant Network Utility ODBC Administrator Remote Install Mac OS X System Preferences System Information Terminal Universal Access VoiceOver Related operating systems Classic Mac OS Copland NeXTSTEP Rhapsody Darwin v t e

**Darwin** is the core [Unix-like](/source/Unix-like) [operating system](/source/Operating_system) of [macOS](/source/MacOS), [iOS](/source/IOS), [watchOS](/source/WatchOS), [tvOS](/source/TvOS), [iPadOS](/source/IPadOS), [audioOS](/source/AudioOS), [visionOS](/source/VisionOS), and [bridgeOS](/source/BridgeOS). It previously existed as an independent [open-source](/source/Open-source_software) operating system, first released by [Apple](/source/Apple_Inc.) in 2000. It is composed of code derived from [NeXTSTEP](/source/NeXTSTEP), [FreeBSD](/source/FreeBSD)[3] and other [BSD](/source/BSD) operating systems,[7] [Mach](/source/Mach_(kernel)), and other [free software](/source/Free_software) projects' code, as well as code developed by Apple. Darwin's unofficial mascot is Hexley the Platypus.[8]

Darwin is mostly [POSIX](/source/POSIX)-compatible, but has never, by itself, been certified as compatible with any version of POSIX. Starting with [Leopard](/source/Mac_OS_X_Leopard), macOS has been certified as compatible with the [Single UNIX Specification](/source/Single_UNIX_Specification) version 3 (SUSv3).[9][10][11]

## History

Simplified history of [Unix-like](/source/Unix-like) operating systems

The heritage of Darwin began with Unix derivatives supplemented by aspects of [NeXT](/source/NeXT)'s [NeXTSTEP](/source/NeXTSTEP) operating system (later, since version 4.0, known as OPENSTEP), first released in 1989. After Apple bought NeXT in 1996, it announced it would base its next operating system on OPENSTEP. This was developed into [Rhapsody](/source/Rhapsody_(operating_system)) in 1997, [Mac OS X Server 1.0](/source/Mac_OS_X_Server_1.0) in 1999, [Mac OS X Public Beta](/source/Mac_OS_X_Public_Beta) in 2000, and [Mac OS X 10.0](/source/Mac_OS_X_v10.0) in 2001.

In 1999, Apple announced it would release the source code for the Mach 2.5 microkernel, [BSD Unix 4.4 OS](/source/4.4BSD), and the [Apache Web server](/source/Apache_Web_server) components of Mac OS X Server.[12] At the time, interim CEO [Steve Jobs](/source/Steve_Jobs) alluded to British naturalist [Charles Darwin](/source/Charles_Darwin) by announcing "because it's about evolution".[13] In 2000, the core operating system components of Mac OS X were released as [open-source software](/source/Open-source_software) under the [Apple Public Source License](/source/Apple_Public_Source_License) (APSL) as Darwin; the higher-level components, such as the [Cocoa](/source/Cocoa_(API)) and [Carbon](/source/Carbon_(API)) frameworks, remained [closed-source](/source/Proprietary_software).[14]

Up to Darwin 8.0.1, released in April 2005, Apple released a binary installer (as an [ISO image](/source/ISO_image)) after each major Mac OS X release that allowed one to install Darwin on [PowerPC](/source/PowerPC) and [Intel x86](/source/X86) systems as a standalone operating system.[15] Minor updates were released as packages that were installed separately. Darwin is now only available as source code. As of January 2023, Apple no longer mentions Darwin by name on its [Open Source website](https://opensource.apple.com) and only publishes [an incomplete collection of open-source projects relating to macOS and iOS](https://opensource.apple.com/releases/).

## Design

Diagram of macOS architecture

### Kernel

Main articles: [XNU](/source/XNU) and [Mach (kernel)](/source/Mach_(kernel))

The kernel of Darwin is [XNU](/source/XNU), a [hybrid kernel](/source/Hybrid_kernel) which uses Open Software Foundation [Mach Kernel](/source/Mach_(kernel)) (OSFMK) 7.3[16] from the [OSF](/source/Open_Software_Foundation), various elements of [FreeBSD](/source/FreeBSD) (including the process model, [network stack](/source/Protocol_stack), and [virtual file system](/source/Virtual_file_system)),[17] and an object-oriented [device driver](/source/Device_driver) [API](/source/Application_programming_interface) called [IOKit](/source/XNU#IOKit).[18] The hybrid kernel design provides the flexibility of a [microkernel](/source/Microkernel)[19][*[failed verification](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Verifiability) – [see discussion](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:Darwin_(operating_system)#"flexibility_of_a_microkernel")*] and the performance of a [monolithic kernel](/source/Monolithic_kernel).[20]

### Hardware and software support

The last bootable full release of Darwin supported 32-bit and 64-bit Apple PowerPC systems and 32-bit Intel PCs.[21]

Darwin currently includes support for the [64-bit](/source/64-bit) [x86-64](/source/X86-64) variant of the [Intel x86](/source/X86) [processors](/source/Microprocessor) used in Intel-based [Macs](/source/Mac_(computer)) and the 64-bit [ARM](/source/ARM_architecture) processors used in the [iPhone 5S](/source/IPhone_5S) and later, the [6th generation iPod Touch](/source/IPod_Touch_(6th_generation)), the [5th generation iPad](/source/IPad_(2017)) and later, the [iPad Air](/source/IPad_Air) family, the [iPad Mini 2](/source/IPad_Mini_2) and later, the [iPad Pro](/source/IPad_Pro) family, the fourth generation and later [Apple TVs](/source/Apple_TV_(device)), the [HomePod](/source/HomePod) family, and [Macs](/source/Mac_(computer)) with [Apple silicon](/source/Apple_silicon) such as the 2020 [Apple M1](/source/Apple_M1) Macs, as well as the Raspberry Pi 3B.[22][23] An open-source port of the [XNU](/source/XNU) kernel exists that supports Darwin on Intel and [AMD](/source/AMD) x86 platforms not officially supported by Apple, though it does not appear to have been updated since 2009.[24] An open-source port of the [XNU](/source/XNU) kernel also exists for ARM platforms, though it has not been updated since 2016.[25] Older versions supported some or all of 32-bit [PowerPC](/source/PowerPC), 64-bit PowerPC, 32-bit x86, and 32-bit ARM.

It supports the [POSIX](/source/POSIX) API by way of its [BSD](/source/Berkeley_Software_Distribution) lineage (largely [FreeBSD](/source/FreeBSD) [userland](/source/User_space)), so a large number of programs written for various other [UNIX-like](/source/UNIX-like) systems can be [compiled](/source/Compiler) on Darwin with no changes to the [source code](/source/Source_code).

Darwin does not include many of the defining elements of macOS, such as the [Carbon](/source/Carbon_(API)) and [Cocoa](/source/Cocoa_(API)) APIs or the [Quartz Compositor](/source/Quartz_Compositor) and [Aqua user interface](/source/Aqua_(user_interface)), and thus cannot run Mac applications. It does, however, support a number of lesser-known features of macOS, such as mDNSResponder, which is the [multicast](/source/Multicast) [DNS](/source/Domain_name_system) responder and a core component of the [Bonjour](/source/Bonjour_(software)) networking technology, and [launchd](/source/Launchd), an advanced [service management](/source/Operating_system_service_management) [framework](/source/Software_framework).

## License

In July 2003, Apple released Darwin under version 2.0 of the [Apple Public Source License](/source/Apple_Public_Source_License) (APSL), which the [Free Software Foundation](/source/Free_Software_Foundation) (FSF) qualifies as a [free software license](/source/Free_software_license).[26] The APSL is similar to [AGPL](/source/GNU_Affero_General_Public_License), including in being incompatible with the [GNU General Public License](/source/GNU_General_Public_License).[26]

Previous versions of the APSL license did not meet the FSF definition of free software, although they did meet the requirements of the [Open Source Definition](/source/Open_Source_Definition).[27]

## Release history

The following is a table of major Darwin releases with their dates of release and their derivative operating system releases.[28] Note that the corresponding releases may have been released on a different date.

### Darwin 0–8 and corresponding Mac OS X releases

Version Date Corresponding releases Notes 0.1 March 16, 1999 Mac OS X Server 1.0 releases Initial release 0.1 is contrived (for sorting and identification) as this identified itself simply as Rhapsody 5.3 0.2 April 14, 1999 Mac OS X Server 1.0.1 0.3 August 5, 1999 Based on Rhapsody 5.5 ISO image is available on archive.org After this point the kernel changed from the NeXTSTEP/OPENSTEP/Rhapsody to the newer XNU for Mac OS X 1.0 April 12, 2000 Developer preview 3 ISO image is available on archive.org 1.1 April 5, 2000 Developer preview 4 1.2.1 November 15, 2000 Mac OS X Public Beta (code-named "Kodiak") 1.3.1 April 13, 2001 Mac OS X v10.0 (code-named "Cheetah") First commercial release of Darwin All releases of Cheetah (v10.0.0–4) had the same version of Darwin. 1.4.1 October 2, 2001 Mac OS X v10.1 (code-named "Puma") Performance improvements to "boot time, real-time threads, thread management, cache flushing, and preemption handling" Support for SMB network file system Wget replaced with cURL.[29] 5.1 November 12, 2001 Mac OS X v10.1.1 Change in numbering scheme to match the Mac OS X build numbering scheme 5.5 June 5, 2002 Mac OS X v10.1.5 6.0.1 September 23, 2002 Mac OS X v10.2 (code-named "Jaguar") GCC upgraded from 2 to 3.1 IPv6 and IPSec support mDNSResponder service discovery daemon (Rendezvous) Addition of CUPS, Ruby, and Python Journaling support in HFS+ (Darwin 6.2) Application profiles ("pre-heat files") for faster program launching.[30] 6.8 October 3, 2003 Mac OS X v10.2.8 7.0 October 24, 2003 Mac OS X Panther Mac OS X v10.3.0 BSD layer synchronized with FreeBSD 5 Automatic file defragmentation, hot-file clustering and optional case sensitivity in HFS+ Bash instead of tcsh as default shell Read-only NTFS support (Darwin 7.9)[31] 7.9 April 15, 2005 Mac OS X v10.3.9 8.0 April 29, 2005 Mac OS X Tiger Mac OS X for Apple TV Mac OS X v10.4.0 Download for Darwin 8.0.1 can be found here Mac OS X for Apple TV in Darwin 8.8.2 Stable kernel programming interface, finer-grained kernel locking, 64-bit BSD layer launchd service management framework Extended file attributes, access control lists Commands such as cp and mv updated to preserve extended attributes and resource forks[32] 8.11 November 14, 2007 Mac OS X v10.4.11

The jump in version numbers from Darwin 1.4.1 to 5.1 with the release of Mac OS X v10.1.1 was designed to tie Darwin to the Mac OS X version and build numbering system, which in turn is inherited from NeXTSTEP. In the build numbering system of macOS, every version has a unique beginning build number, which identifies what whole version of macOS it is part of. Mac OS X v10.0 had build numbers starting with 4, 10.1 had build numbers starting with 5, and so forth (earlier build numbers represented developer releases).[33]

### Darwin 9; iPhone OS introduced

Version Date Corresponding releases Notes 9.0 October 26, 2007 Mac OS X Leopard iPhone OS 1 Mac OS X v10.5.0 iPhone OS 1 support in Darwin 9.0.0d1 Full POSIX compliance, improved hierarchical process scheduling model, dynamically allocated swap files, dynamic resource limits (for files and processes), process sandboxing, address space layout randomization, DTrace tracing framework, file system events daemon, directory hard links Apache 1.3 and PHP 4 updated to Apache 2.2 and PHP 5, read-only ZFS support.[34] First Darwin core used for iPhone devices. 9.8 August 5, 2009 Mac OS X v.10.5.8

### Darwin 10-11; iPhone OS rebranded to iOS

Version Date Corresponding releases Notes 10.0 August 28, 2009 Mac OS X Snow Leopard iPhone OS 3 Mac OS X v10.6.0 End of official support for PPC architecture (although several fat binaries, such as Kernel, still contain PPC images) 64-bit kernel and drivers libdispatch task parallelization framework OpenCL heterogeneous computing framework Initial support for Automatic Reference Counting Support for blocks in C Transparent file compression in HFS+.[35] 10.8 June 23, 2011 Mac OS X v10.6.8 11.0.0 July 20, 2011 Mac OS X Lion iOS 4.3[36] Mac OS X v10.7.0 XNU no longer supports PPC binaries (fat binary only for i386, x86_64). XNU requires an x86_64 processor, except for iOS which is ARM based. Improved sandboxing of applications Complete support for Automatic Reference Counting 11.4.2 October 4, 2012 Mac OS X v10.7.5 (supplemental)

### Darwin 12–15; Mac OS X rebranded into OS X

Version Date Corresponding releases Notes 12.0.0 February 16, 2012 OS X Mountain Lion OS X v10.8.0 Mac OS X was rebranded into OS X. Objective-C garbage collection was deprecated in favor of Automatic Reference Counting 12.6.0 January 27, 2015 OS X v10.8.5 (with Security Update 2015-001) 13.0.0 June 11, 2013 OS X Mavericks iOS 6 OS X v10.9.0 Virtual memory compression Timer coalescing OpenGL 4.1 and OpenCL 1.2 Server Message Block version 2 (SMB2) is now the default protocol for sharing files instead of AFP. This is to increase performance and cross-platform compatibility. IPoTB (Internet Protocol over Thunderbolt Bridge). The Open Transport API has been removed 13.4.0 September 17, 2014 OS X v10.9.5 14.0.0 September 18, 2014 OS X Yosemite iOS 7, iOS 8 watchOS 1 OS X v10.10.0 14.5.0 August 13, 2015 OS X v10.10.5 15.0.0 September 16, 2015 OS X El Capitan iOS 9 watchOS 2 tvOS 9 OS X v10.11.0 and iOS 9.0 System Integrity Protection. Protects certain system parts from being modified or tampered with by a process even if run by root or by a user with root privileges. sudo is configured with the "tty_tickets" flag by default, restricting the session timeout to the terminal session (such as a window or tab) in which the user authenticated the program. LibreSSL replaces OpenSSL 15.6.0 July 18, 2016 OS X v10.11.6 and iOS 9.3.3

### Darwin 16–19; OS X rebranded into macOS

Version Date Corresponding releases Notes 16.0.0 September 13, 2016 macOS Sierra iOS 10 watchOS 3 tvOS 10 bridgeOS 1 macOS v10.12.0 and iOS 10.0.1 (initial release version) OS X was rebranded into macOS. Writing to /Volumes directory is now restricted to root user or any user with root privileges System Integrity Protection now covers /Library/Application Support/com.apple.TCC directory that contains a list of applications that are allowed to "control the computer" Objective-C garbage collector removed and replaced by Automatic Reference Counting that was introduced with Darwin v12.0 (OS X v10.8). Objective-C applications that use garbage collection will no longer work. Native support for PPTP was removed. 16.5.0 March 27, 2017 macOS v10.12.4 and iOS 10.3 Changed filesystem from HFS+ to APFS on iOS devices. APFS is already available on macOS since 10.12.0 but can't be used on boot partition. 16.6.0 July 19, 2017 macOS v10.12.6 and iOS 10.3.3 17.0.0 September 19, 2017 macOS High Sierra iOS 11 watchOS 4 tvOS 11 bridgeOS 2 APFS replaces HFS+ as the default filesystem for boot partition in macOS on Macs with flash storage. On Macs with HDDs, the boot partition must be reformatted to use APFS. ntpd replaced by timed as a time synchronization service FTP and telnet commands are removed. Kernel extensions ("kexts") will require explicit approval by the user before being able to run. 17.5.0 March 29, 2018 macOS 10.13.4 Support for external graphics processors using Thunderbolt 3, and removes support for external graphics processors using Thunderbolt 1 and 2. 17.6.0 June 1, 2018 macOS v10.13.5 17.7.0 July 9, 2018 macOS v10.13.6 and iOS 11.4.1 18.0.0 September 24, 2018 macOS Mojave iOS 12 watchOS 5 tvOS 12 bridgeOS 3 18.2.0 October 30, 2018 macOS v10.14.1 and iOS 12.1 Added support for the new Radeon Vega 20 GPUs in the new MacBooks 19.0.0 September 19, 2019 macOS Catalina iOS 13 watchOS 6 tvOS 13 bridgeOS 4 19.2.0 December 10, 2019 macOS 10.15.2 and iOS 13.3 19.3.0 January 28, 2020 macOS 10.15.3 and iOS 13.3.1 System Extensions replace Kexts and runs in userspace, outside of the kernel.[37] DriverKit replaces I/O Kit. It Introduces "Dexts" (Driver Extensions) which are built using DriverKit. Driverkit is a new SDK with all new frameworks based on IOKit, but is updated and modernized. Device Drivers run in userspace, outside of the kernel.[38][39][40] 19.4.0 March 24, 2020 19.5.0 April 30, 2020 macOS 10.15.5 and iOS 13.5 19.6.0 June 1, 2020 macOS 10.15.6 beta 2 and iOS 13.6.0 beta 2

### Darwin 20 onwards

Version Date Corresponding releases Notes 20.0.0 June 22, 2020 macOS Big Sur iOS 14 watchOS 7 tvOS 14 bridgeOS 5 macOS 11.0 beta 1 and iOS 14.0 beta 1 20.1.0 September 3, 2020 macOS 11.0 and iOS 14.0 20.2.0 November 12, 2020 macOS 11.1 and iOS 14.3 20.3.0 February 1, 2021 macOS 11.2, iOS 14.4, iPadOS 14.4, watchOS 7.3 and tvOS 14.4. 20.4.0 April 20, 2021 macOS 11.3, iOS 14.5, iPadOS 14.5, watchOS 7.4 and tvOS 14.5. 20.5.0 May 24, 2021 macOS 11.4 and iOS 14.6 20.6.0 June 2, 2021 macOS 11.5 beta 2 and iOS 14.7 beta 2 21.0.0 June 7, 2021 macOS Monterey iOS 15 watchOS 8 tvOS 15 bridgeOS 6 macOS 12.0 beta 1 and iOS 15.0 beta 1 21.0.1 October 25, 2021 macOS 12.0 21.1.0 October 25, 2021 macOS 12.0.1 and iOS 15.0 21.2.0 December 7, 2021 macOS 12.1 and iOS 15.2 21.3.0 January 26, 2022 macOS 12.2 and iOS 15.3 21.4.0 March 14, 2022 macOS 12.3 and iOS 15.4 21.5.0 June 24, 2022 macOS 12.4 and iOS 15.5 21.6.0 July 20, 2022 macOS 12.5 and iOS 15.6 22.0 June 6, 2022 macOS Ventura iOS 16 iPadOS 16 watchOS 9 tvOS 16 bridgeOS 7 macOS 13.0 beta 1, iOS 16.0, watchOS 9.0 and tvOS 16.0 22.1.0 October 24, 2022 macOS 13.0, iOS 16.1, iPadOS 16.1, watchOS 9.1 and tvOS 16.1 22.2.0 December 13, 2022 macOS 13.1, iOS 16.2, iPadOS 16.2, watchOS 9.2 and tvOS 16.2 22.3.0 January 23, 2023 macOS 13.2, iOS 16.3, iPadOS 16.3, watchOS 9.3 and tvOS 16.3 22.4.0 March 27, 2023 macOS 13.3, iOS 16.4, iPadOS 16.4, watchOS 9.4 and tvOS 16.4 22.5.0 May 18, 2023 macOS 13.4, iOS 16.5, iPadOS 16.5, watchOS 9.5 and tvOS 16.5 22.6.0 July 24, 2023 macOS 13.5, iOS 16.6, iPadOS 16.6, watchOS 9.6 and tvOS 16.6 23.0.0 September 18, 2023 macOS Sonoma iOS 17 iPadOS 17 watchOS 10 tvOS 17 bridgeOS 8 macOS 14.0, iOS 17.0, iPadOS 17.0, watchOS 10.0 and tvOS 17.0 23.1.0 October 25, 2023 macOS 14.1, iOS 17.1, iPadOS 17.1, watchOS 10.1 and tvOS 17.1 23.2.0 November 15, 2023 macOS 14.2, iOS 17.2, iPadOS 17.2, watchOS 10.2 and tvOS 17.2 23.3.0 January 22, 2024 macOS 14.3, iOS 17.3, iPadOS 17.3, watchOS 10.3 and tvOS 17.3 23.4.0 March 5, 2024 macOS 14.4, iOS 17.4, iPadOS 17.4, watchOS 10.4 and tvOS 17.4 23.5.0 May 13, 2024 macOS 14.5, iOS 17.5, iPadOS 17.5, watchOS 10.5 and tvOS 17.5 23.6.0 July 5, 2024 macOS 14.6 24.0.0 September 16, 2024 macOS Sequoia iOS 18 iPadOS 18 watchOS 11 tvOS 18 bridgeOS 9 macOS 15.0, iOS 18.0, iPadOS 18.0, watchOS 11.0, and tvOS 18.0 25.0.0 September 15, 2025 macOS Tahoe iOS 26 iPadOS 26 watchOS 26 tvOS 26 bridgeOS 10 macOS, iOS, iPadOS, watchOS, and tvOS 26.0

*Note: the tables above contain the release dates of the corresponding OS releases. Build dates for Darwin versions are not publicly available; the commands below only give the build date for the XNU kernel.*

The command [uname](/source/Uname) -r in [Terminal](/source/Terminal_(macOS)) will show the Darwin version number ("20.3.0"), and the command uname -v will show the [XNU](/source/XNU) build version string, which includes the Darwin version number. The command sw_vers will show the corresponding ProductName ("macOS"), the ProductVersion number ("11.2.3") and the BuildVersion string ("20D91").

## Derived projects

Due to the free software nature of Darwin, there have been projects that aim to modify the operating system or take Darwin’s parts for their own purpose.

Among these, DarwinBSD, OpenDarwin, and PureDarwin can be termed "alternative Darwin distributions" in a sense analogous to [Linux distributions](/source/Linux_distributions).

### OpenDarwin

[GNOME](/source/GNOME) running on GNU-Darwin

OpenDarwin was a project to develop a community-led operating system based on the Darwin system. It was founded in April 2002 by [Apple](/source/Apple_Inc.) and [Internet Systems Consortium](/source/Internet_Systems_Consortium). Its goal was to increase collaboration between Apple developers and the [free software community](/source/Free_software_community). Apple benefited from the project because improvements to OpenDarwin would be incorporated into Darwin releases; and the free/open-source community benefited from being given complete control over its own operating system, which could then be used in free software distributions such as GNU-Darwin.[41]

On July 25, 2006, the OpenDarwin team announced that the project was shutting down, as they felt OpenDarwin had "become a mere hosting facility for Mac OS X related projects", and that the efforts to create a standalone Darwin operating system had failed.[42] They also state: "Availability of sources, interaction with Apple representatives, difficulty building and tracking sources, and a lack of interest from the community have all contributed to this."[43] The last stable release was version 7.2.1, released on July 16, 2004.[44]

### PureDarwin

Operating system

PureDarwin OS family Unix-like Working state Current Source model Open-source Latest release 17.4 Repository github.com/PureDarwin/PureDarwin Userland unix shell (FreeBSD) License Mostly Apple Public Source License (APSL) Official website www.puredarwin.org

PureDarwin is a project to create a bootable operating system image from Apple's released source code for Darwin.[45] Since the halt of OpenDarwin and the release of bootable images since Darwin 8.x, it has been increasingly difficult to create a full operating system as many components became closed source. In 2015 the project created a preview release based on Darwin 9 with an X11 GUI,[46] followed by a command-line only 17.4 Beta based on Darwin 17 in 2019.[47]

### ravynOS

Operating system

ravynOS OS family Unix-like Working state Current Source model Open-source Latest release 0.6.1 Repository github.com/ravynsoft/ravynos Userland unix shell (FreeBSD) License Mostly Apple Public Source License (APSL), MIT License (MIT), and BSD License (2-Clause BSD License) Official website ravynos.com

ravynOS is a project to develop a [Free and Open Source](/source/Free_and_open-source_software) operating system that aims to be both [source-compatible](/source/Source-code_compatibility) and eventually [binary-compatible](/source/Binary-code_compatibility) with [Apple's](/source/Apple_Inc.) [macOS](/source/MacOS) operating system. Although originally building upon a [FreeBSD](/source/FreeBSD) and [NextBSD](/source/NextBSD) foundation, the lead dev, Zoë Knox, announced[48] on October 28, 2025, that the operating system would be moving to a Darwin base. Since this change, work has been done on getting the legacy Darwin sources to build[49], as well as modernizing the build system and parts of the operating system.

### Other derived projects

"Darwin distributions" (see also the other package managers below):

- GNU-Darwin was a project that ports packages of free software to Darwin. They package OS images in a way similar to a [Linux distribution](/source/Linux_distribution).

- DarwinBSD Project was a Darwin distribution using NetBSD's pkgsrc package management.[50]

Other types of derivatives:

- The Darbat project was an experimental port of Darwin to the [L4 microkernel family](/source/L4_microkernel_family). It aims to be [binary compatible](/source/Binary_compatible) with existing Darwin binaries.[51]

- The [Darling](/source/Darling_(software)) project is a compatibility layer for running macOS binaries on Linux systems. It uses some Darwin source code.[52]

## Related open-source projects

### Projects intended to work with Darwin

Window Maker in [XDarwin](/source/XDarwin)

The following are not Darwin derivatives, at least not beyond the extent that any program written for an operating system is partly derived from its [application programming interface](/source/Application_programming_interface) and other constraints.

- [XQuartz](/source/XQuartz) is a component of the [X Window System](/source/X_Window_System) that runs on [macOS](/source/MacOS) (Darwin). [XDarwin](/source/XDarwin), before the introduction of Apple's X11.app.

- [WebKit](/source/WebKit) is a [browser engine](/source/Browser_engine) primarily used in [Apple's](/source/Apple_Inc.) [Safari](/source/Safari_(web_browser)) web browser, as well as all web browsers on [iOS](/source/IOS) and [iPadOS](/source/IPadOS).

- [MacPorts](/source/MacPorts) (formerly DarwinPorts), [Fink](/source/Fink_(software)), and [Homebrew](/source/Homebrew_(package_management_software)) are projects to port UNIX programs to the Darwin operating system and provide [package management](/source/Package_management). In addition, several standard UNIX package managers—such as [RPM](/source/RPM_Package_Manager), [pkgsrc](/source/Pkgsrc), and [Portage](/source/Portage_(software))—have Darwin ports. Some of these operate in their own namespace so as not to interfere with the base system.

- The [Darwine](/source/Darwine) project was a [port](/source/Porting) of [Wine](/source/Wine_(software)) that allows one to run [Microsoft Windows](/source/Microsoft_Windows) software on Darwin.

- SEDarwin was a port of [TrustedBSD](/source/TrustedBSD) [mandatory access control](/source/Mandatory_access_control) framework and portions of the [SELinux](/source/SELinux) framework to Darwin.[53] It was incorporated into Mac OS X 10.5.[54]

- There are various projects that focus on driver support: e.g., wireless drivers,[55][56] wired [NIC](/source/Network_interface_card) drivers[57][58][59] modem drivers,[60] card readers,[61] and the [ext2](/source/Ext2) and [ext3](/source/Ext3) file systems.[62][63]

### Neither substantially based on Darwin nor mainly intended to work on it

The following projects re-implements parts of macOS API that are above the level of Darwin.

- [GNUstep](/source/GNUstep) is a [free software](/source/Free_software) implementation of the [Cocoa](/source/Cocoa_(API)) (formerly [OpenStep](/source/OpenStep)) [Objective-C](/source/Objective-C) [frameworks](/source/Software_framework), [widget toolkit](/source/Widget_toolkit), and application development tools for [Unix-like](/source/Unix-like) [operating systems](/source/Operating_system). - [Window Maker](/source/Window_Maker), a window manager designed to emulate the [NeXT](/source/NeXTSTEP) GUI as part of the wider GNUstep project.

## See also

- [Free and open-source software portal](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portal:Free_and_open-source_software)

- [A/UX](/source/A%2FUX)

- [mkLinux](/source/MkLinux)

- [OSF/1](/source/OSF%2F1)

## References

1. **[^](#cite_ref-1)** ["Kernel Architecture Overview"](https://developer.apple.com/library/archive/documentation/Darwin/Conceptual/KernelProgramming/Architecture/Architecture.html). *Kernel Programming Guide*. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20190509231018/https://developer.apple.com/library/archive/documentation/Darwin/Conceptual/KernelProgramming/Architecture/Architecture.html) from the original on May 9, 2019. Retrieved May 27, 2019.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-2)** ["darwin-xnu/README.md at master"](https://github.com/apple/darwin-xnu/blob/master/README.md). *[GitHub](/source/GitHub)*. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20190331153214/https://github.com/apple/darwin-xnu/blob/master/README.md) from the original on March 31, 2019. Retrieved November 21, 2019.

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-apple_bsd_overview_3-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-apple_bsd_overview_3-1) ["Apple BSD Overview"](https://developer.apple.com/library/archive/documentation/Darwin/Conceptual/KernelProgramming/BSD/BSD.html). Apple. 2002. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20181107021823/https://developer.apple.com/library/archive/documentation/Darwin/Conceptual/KernelProgramming/BSD/BSD.html) from the original on November 7, 2018. Retrieved January 1, 2002.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-4)** ["Apple - Public Source - Darwin FAQ"](https://web.archive.org/web/20041119063203/http://developer.apple.com/darwin/projects/darwin/faq.html). Archived from [the original](http://developer.apple.com/darwin/projects/darwin/faq.html) on November 19, 2004. Retrieved August 9, 2021.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-5)** [https://developer.apple.com/library/archive/documentation/Darwin/Conceptual/KernelProgramming/Architecture/Architecture.html](https://developer.apple.com/library/archive/documentation/Darwin/Conceptual/KernelProgramming/Architecture/Architecture.html)

1. **[^](#cite_ref-6)** ["Binary Drivers required for PureDarwin"](https://web.archive.org/web/20091118172944/http://www.puredarwin.org/legal/binarydrivers). Archived from [the original](http://www.puredarwin.org/legal/binarydrivers) on November 18, 2009. Retrieved July 20, 2009.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-7)** ["1. System Overview"](https://www.nextcomputers.org/NeXTfiles/Docs/NeXTStep/3.3/nd/Concepts/Pre3.0_Concepts/01_SysOver.htmld/index.html). *NeXTstep Concepts*. [NeXT](/source/NeXT). [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20211121155935/https://www.nextcomputers.org/NeXTfiles/Docs/NeXTStep/3.3/nd/Concepts/Pre3.0_Concepts/01_SysOver.htmld/index.html) from the original on November 21, 2021. Retrieved March 26, 2021.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-8)** ["Homepage of Hexley the DarwinOS Mascot"](http://www.hexley.com/).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-9)** ["Mac OS X Leopard - Technology - UNIX"](https://web.archive.org/web/20081227000710/http://www.apple.com/macosx/technology/unix.html). *Leopard Technology Overview*. [Apple](/source/Apple_Inc.). Archived from [the original](https://www.apple.com/macosx/leopard/technology/unix.html) 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.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-10)** The Open Group (May 18, 2007). ["Mac OS X Version 10.5 Leopard on Intel-based Macintosh computers certification"](http://www.opengroup.org/openbrand/register/brand3555.htm). [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20191025142525/https://www.opengroup.org/openbrand/register/brand3555.htm) from the original on October 25, 2019. Retrieved February 11, 2013.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-11)** ["macOS version 10.13 High Sierra on Intel-based Mac computers"](https://www.opengroup.org/openbrand/register/brand3632.htm). The Open Group. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20170928150433/https://www.opengroup.org/openbrand/register/brand3632.htm) from the original on September 28, 2017. Retrieved November 19, 2017.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-12)** Walsh, Jeff (March 22, 1999). ["Apple goes open source with key OS components"](https://books.google.com/books?id=G1AEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA40). *[InfoWorld](/source/InfoWorld)*. Vol. 21, no. 12. IDG InfoWorld. p. 40. Retrieved February 17, 2020.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-13)** Kahney, Leander. ["Apple Opens OS Code"](https://www.wired.com/1999/03/apple-opens-os-code/). *Wired*. Condé Nast. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20200217104333/https://www.wired.com/1999/03/apple-opens-os-code/) from the original on February 17, 2020. Retrieved February 17, 2020.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-14)** ["Kernel Architecture Overview"](https://developer.apple.com/library/archive/documentation/Darwin/Conceptual/KernelProgramming/Architecture/Architecture.html). *developer.apple.com*. Retrieved May 31, 2026.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-15)** ["Apple ISO download directory"](https://web.archive.org/web/20161007041552/https://opensource.apple.com/static/iso/). Archived from [the original](https://opensource.apple.com/static/iso/) on October 7, 2016.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-wwdc-2000-session-106_16-0)** Jim Magee. [*WWDC 2000 Session 106 - Mac OS X: Kernel*](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ggnFoDqzGMU). 14 minutes in. [Archived](https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211211/ggnFoDqzGMU) from the original on December 11, 2021.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-17)** ["Mac Technology Overview: Kernel and Device Drivers Layer"](https://developer.apple.com/library/mac/documentation/MacOSX/Conceptual/OSX_Technology_Overview/SystemTechnology/SystemTechnology.html#//apple_ref/doc/uid/TP40001067-CH207-BCICAIFJ). [Apple Developer Connection](/source/Apple_Developer). [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20140309084505/https://developer.apple.com/library/mac/documentation/MacOSX/Conceptual/OSX_Technology_Overview/SystemTechnology/SystemTechnology.html#//apple_ref/doc/uid/TP40001067-CH207-BCICAIFJ) from the original on March 9, 2014. Retrieved February 11, 2013.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-18)** Singh, Amit (January 7, 2004). ["XNU: The Kernel"](https://web.archive.org/web/20200602233536/http://osxbook.com/book/bonus/ancient/whatismacosx/arch_xnu.html). Archived from [the original](http://osxbook.com/book/bonus/ancient/whatismacosx/arch_xnu.html) on June 2, 2020. Retrieved February 11, 2013.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-19)** Roch, Benjamin. "Monolithic kernel vs. Microkernel". [CiteSeerX](/source/CiteSeerX_(identifier)) [10.1.1.89.9877](https://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.89.9877).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-20)** ["Additional Features"](https://developer.apple.com/library/content/documentation/Porting/Conceptual/PortingUnix/additionalfeatures/additionalfeatures.html). *Porting UNIX/Linux Applications to OS X*. [Apple](/source/Apple_Inc.). [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20171114093407/https://developer.apple.com/library/content/documentation/Porting/Conceptual/PortingUnix/additionalfeatures/additionalfeatures.html) from the original on November 14, 2017. Retrieved November 13, 2017.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-21)** ["Darwin 8.0.1 Release Notes"](https://opensource.apple.com/static/iso/release-notes-8.0.1.txt). April 29, 2005. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20231028121525/https://opensource.apple.com/static/iso/release-notes-8.0.1.txt) from the original on October 28, 2023. Retrieved August 16, 2023.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-22)** ["XNU board config for BCM2837"](https://github.com/apple/darwin-xnu/blob/2ff845c2e033bd0ff64b5b6aa6063a1f8f65aa32/pexpert/pexpert/arm64/board_config.h#L223). *[GitHub](/source/GitHub)*. December 16, 2021. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20211205110901/https://github.com/apple/darwin-xnu/blob/2ff845c2e033bd0ff64b5b6aa6063a1f8f65aa32/pexpert/pexpert/arm64/board_config.h#L223) from the original on December 5, 2021. Retrieved December 5, 2021.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-23)** ["Raspberry Pi 3 Model B"](https://www.raspberrypi.com/products/raspberry-pi-3-model-b). [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20211205212422/https://www.raspberrypi.com/products/raspberry-pi-3-model-b/) from the original on December 5, 2021. Retrieved December 5, 2021. Quad Core 1.2GHz Broadcom BCM2837

1. **[^](#cite_ref-24)** ["Voodoo XNU Kernel Source"](https://code.google.com/p/voodoo-kernel/source/checkout). [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20150930225819/https://code.google.com/p/voodoo-kernel/source/checkout) from the original on September 30, 2015. Retrieved April 25, 2014. Requires an Apache SVN client.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-25)** ["XNU on ARMv7"](https://github.com/winocm/xnu). *[GitHub](/source/GitHub)*. January 25, 2022.

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-:0_26-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-:0_26-1) ["FSF's Opinion of the Apple Public Source License (APSL) 2.0"](https://www.gnu.org/philosophy/apsl.html). [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20200504151500/http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/apsl.html) from the original on May 4, 2020. Retrieved July 22, 2016.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-27)** ["The Problems with older versions of the Apple Public Source License (APSL)"](https://www.gnu.org/philosophy/historical-apsl.html). [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20200419054305/http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/historical-apsl.html) from the original on April 19, 2020. Retrieved July 22, 2016.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-28)** ["Open Source Releases"](http://opensource.apple.com). [Apple Developer Connection](/source/Apple_Developer). Retrieved February 11, 2013.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-29)** ["Technical Note TN2029: Mac OS X v10.1"](https://web.archive.org/web/20011114205940/http://developer.apple.com/technotes/tn/tn2029.html). [Apple Developer Connection](/source/Apple_Developer). Archived from [the original](https://developer.apple.com/technotes/tn/tn2029.html) on November 14, 2001.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-30)** Siracusa, John (September 5, 2002). ["Mac OS X 10.2 Jaguar"](https://arstechnica.com/reviews/os/macosx-10-2.ars). *[Ars Technica](/source/Ars_Technica)*. Retrieved May 31, 2008.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-31)** Siracusa, John (November 9, 2003). ["Mac OS X 10.3 Panther"](https://arstechnica.com/reviews/os/macosx-10-3.ars). *[Ars Technica](/source/Ars_Technica)*. Retrieved May 31, 2008.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-32)** Siracusa, John (April 28, 2005). ["Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger"](https://arstechnica.com/reviews/os/macosx-10-4.ars). *[Ars Technica](/source/Ars_Technica)*. Retrieved May 30, 2008.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-33)** Prabhakar, Ernie (November 9, 2001). ["Darwin Version - New Scheme in Software Update 1"](https://web.archive.org/web/20090114195544/http://lists.apple.com/archives/darwin-development/2001/Nov/msg00189.html). *darwin-development* (Mailing list). Archived from [the original](http://lists.apple.com/archives/darwin-development/2001/Nov/msg00189.html) on January 14, 2009. Retrieved June 2, 2008.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-34)** Siracusa, John (October 28, 2007). ["Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard: the Ars Technica review"](https://arstechnica.com/reviews/os/mac-os-x-10-5.ars). *[Ars Technica](/source/Ars_Technica)*. Retrieved May 30, 2008.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-35)** Siracusa, John (August 31, 2009). ["Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard: the Ars Technica review"](https://arstechnica.com/apple/reviews/2009/08/mac-os-x-10-6.ars). *[Ars Technica](/source/Ars_Technica)*. Retrieved November 29, 2009.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-darwin-11-found-on-a-jailbroken-iphone-4s_36-0)** As found on a [jailbroken](/source/IOS_jailbreaking) [iPhone 4S](/source/IPhone_4S)

1. **[^](#cite_ref-37)** ["System Extensions and DriverKit - WWDC19 - Videos"](https://developer.apple.com/videos/play/wwdc2019/702/).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-38)** ["SystemExtensions"](https://developer.apple.com/documentation/systemextensions). *Apple Developer Documentation*.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-39)** ["DriverKit"](https://developer.apple.com/documentation/driverkit). *Apple Developer Documentation*.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-40)** [*System Extensions and DriverKit*](https://developer.apple.com/videos/play/wwdc2019/702/). *Apple Developer Documentation*.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-41)** ["OpenDarwin"](https://web.archive.org/web/20060106092328/http://www.opendarwin.org/). OpenDarwin Project. Archived from [the original](http://www.opendarwin.org/) on January 6, 2006.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-42)** Schofield, Jack (July 26, 2006). ["OpenDarwin Shutting Down"](https://www.theguardian.com/technology/blog/2006/jul/26/opendarwinshut). *[The Guardian](/source/The_Guardian)*. Retrieved March 18, 2023.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-43)** OpenDarwin Core Team and Administrators (July 25, 2006). ["OpenDarwin Shutting Down"](https://web.archive.org/web/20060804104416/http://opendarwin.org/). OpenDarwin Project. Archived from [the original](http://www.opendarwin.org/en/news/shutdown.html) on August 4, 2006.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-44)** ["OpenDarwin 7.2.1 Released"](https://web.archive.org/web/20040805095039/http://www.opendarwin.org/en/news/opendarwin721.html). August 5, 2004. Archived from [the original](http://www.opendarwin.org/en/news/opendarwin721.html) on August 5, 2004. Retrieved October 7, 2019.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-45)** ["PureDarwin"](https://www.puredarwin.org/). [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20240401234001/https://www.puredarwin.org/) from the original on April 1, 2024. Retrieved April 1, 2024.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-46)** [PureDarwin Xmas](https://github.com/PureDarwin/PureDarwin/wiki/Xmas) [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20191203095014/https://github.com/PureDarwin/PureDarwin/wiki/Xmas) December 3, 2019, at the [Wayback Machine](/source/Wayback_Machine) (2015)

1. **[^](#cite_ref-47)** ["PureDarwin 17.4 Beta"](https://github.com/PureDarwin/PD-17.4-Beta). *GitHub*. PureDarwin. November 30, 2019. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20191213013037/https://github.com/PureDarwin/PD-17.4-Beta) from the original on December 13, 2019. Retrieved January 11, 2020.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-48)** ravynsoft. ["It's decision time. Please read. · ravynsoft ravynos · Discussion #529"](https://github.com/ravynsoft/ravynos/discussions/529). *GitHub*. Retrieved May 20, 2026.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-49)** ravynsoft. ["6 months in, we have a booting xnu kernel! · ravynsoft ravynos · Discussion #554"](https://github.com/ravynsoft/ravynos/discussions/554). *GitHub*. Retrieved May 20, 2026.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-50)** ["DarwinBSD"](https://web.archive.org/web/20230323004704/http://darwinbsd.tk/). *darwinbsd.tk*. Archived from [the original](http://darwinbsd.tk/) on March 23, 2023. Retrieved April 7, 2023.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-51)** ["L4/Darwin (aka Darbat)"](https://web.archive.org/web/20131219064814/http://www.ertos.nicta.com.au/software/darbat/). Ertos.nicta.com.au. May 9, 2007. Archived from [the original](http://www.ertos.nicta.com.au/software/darbat/) on December 19, 2013.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-52)** ["Darling: macOS translation layer for Linux"](https://www.darlinghq.org/). *www.darlinghq.org*. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20200421131450/https://www.darlinghq.org/) from the original on April 21, 2020. Retrieved January 11, 2020.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-53)** ["Security Enhanced Darwin"](https://web.archive.org/web/20111005174023/http://www.sedarwin.org/). SEDarwin. January 22, 2007. Archived from [the original](http://www.sedarwin.org/) on October 5, 2011.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-54)** ["What's New In Mac OS X: Mac OS X v10.5"](https://web.archive.org/web/20091208233045/http://developer.apple.com/Mac/library/releasenotes/MacOSX/WhatsNewInOSX/Articles/MacOSX10_5.html). *Mac OS X Reference Library*. Apple. November 13, 2009. Archived from [the original](https://developer.apple.com/mac/library/releasenotes/MacOSX/WhatsNewInOSX/Articles/MacOSX10_5.html) on December 8, 2009.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-55)** yuriwho (May 5, 2002). ["WirelessDriver Home Page"](https://wirelessdriver.sourceforge.net/). Wirelessdriver.sourceforge.net. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20200728200428/http://wirelessdriver.sourceforge.net/) from the original on July 28, 2020. Retrieved July 12, 2010.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-56)** ["iwi2200 Darwin"](https://sourceforge.net/projects/iwi2200/). [SourceForge](/source/SourceForge). March 27, 2009. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20090818023423/http://sourceforge.net/projects/iwi2200/) from the original on August 18, 2009. Retrieved June 13, 2010.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-57)** ["Port BSD tulip driver(s) to Darwin OS | Download Port BSD tulip driver(s) to Darwin OS software for free at"](https://sourceforge.net/projects/darwin-tulip/). SourceForge.net. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20100716175829/http://sourceforge.net/projects/darwin-tulip/) from the original on July 16, 2010. Retrieved July 12, 2010.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-58)** ["RealTek network driver for Mac OS X/Darwin"](https://sourceforge.net/projects/darwin-rtl8139). [SourceForge](/source/SourceForge). March 15, 2006. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20100724204411/http://sourceforge.net/projects/darwin-rtl8139/) from the original on July 24, 2010. Retrieved June 3, 2010. *Project inactive since March 15, 2006.*

1. **[^](#cite_ref-59)** fansui; et al. (August 1, 2007). ["RTL8150LMEthernet"](https://sourceforge.net/projects/rtl8150lm). SourceForge. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20080907032303/http://sourceforge.net/projects/rtl8150lm) from the original on September 7, 2008. Retrieved June 13, 2010.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-60)** ["ZyXEL Modem Drivers for OS X/Darwin | Download ZyXEL Modem Drivers for OS X/Darwin software for free at"](https://sourceforge.net/projects/darwinmodems). SourceForge.net. May 14, 2002. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20090107024501/http://sourceforge.net/projects/darwinmodems/) from the original on January 7, 2009. Retrieved July 12, 2010.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-61)** ["Mac OS X PC Card ATA Driver"](http://pccardata.sourceforge.net/). Pccardata.sourceforge.net. December 20, 2001. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20200805235201/http://pccardata.sourceforge.net/) from the original on August 5, 2020. Retrieved July 12, 2010.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-62)** ["Mac OS X Ext2 Filesystem | Download Mac OS X Ext2 Filesystem software for free at"](https://sourceforge.net/projects/ext2fsx/). SourceForge.net. October 14, 2002. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20100722030450/http://sourceforge.net/projects/ext2fsx/) from the original on July 22, 2010. Retrieved July 12, 2010.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-63)** ["ext2 filesystem in user space"](https://sourceforge.net/projects/ext2fuse). [SourceForge](/source/SourceForge). July 14, 2008. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20100726001114/http://sourceforge.net/projects/ext2fuse/) from the original on July 26, 2010. Retrieved June 13, 2010.

## External links

- [Darwin Releases](https://opensource.apple.com/releases/) at [Apple Developer Connection](/source/Apple_Developer)

- [source code of individual packages](https://opensource.apple.com/tarballs/)

- [Hexley, the Darwin mascot](http://www.hexley.com/)

- [PureDarwin.org](http://www.puredarwin.org)

- [*The Apple Museum* "MacOS X Build Numbers"](https://web.archive.org/web/20111225233653/http://www.theapplemuseum.com:80/index.php?id=33) at the [Wayback Machine](/source/Wayback_Machine) (archived December 25, 2011)

v t e Darwin-derived operating systems History Unix BSD Mach NeXTSTEP OpenStep GNUstep Rhapsody Classic Mac OS macOS Mac OS X Public Beta 10.0 (Cheetah) 10.1 (Puma) 10.2 Jaguar 10.3 Panther 10.4 Tiger 10.5 Leopard 10.6 Snow Leopard 10.7 Lion OS X OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion 10.9 Mavericks 10.10 Yosemite 10.11 El Capitan macOS macOS 10.12 Sierra 10.13 High Sierra 10.14 Mojave 10.15 Catalina 11 Big Sur 12 Monterey 13 Ventura 14 Sonoma 15 Sequoia 26 Tahoe 27 Golden Gate Mac OS X Server 1.0 (Hera) Rhapsody 10.0 (Cheetah) 10.1 (Puma) 10.2 (Jaguar) 10.3 (Panther) 10.4 (Tiger) 10.5 Leopard Server 10.6 Snow Leopard Server TV Software 1 2 3 Forks from iOS with 4 iOS iPhone OS 1 2 3 iOS 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 26 27 tvOS TV Software 4 5 6 7 tvOS 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 26 27 audioOS 13.4 14 15 16 17 18 26 27 watchOS 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 26 27 bridgeOS 1 2 26 27 audioOS 11 12 13 Forks from tvOS with 13.4 iPadOS 13 14 15 16 17 18 26 27 visionOS 1 2 26 27 Non-Apple distributions OpenDarwin PureDarwin macOS version history Mac OS X Server version history tvOS version history iOS version history iPadOS version history watchOS version history audioOS version history Italics denote upcoming products

v t e macOS History Architecture Built-in apps Server Software Versions Mac OS X Server 1.0 Public Beta 10.0 Cheetah 10.1 Puma 10.2 Jaguar 10.3 Panther 10.4 Tiger 10.5 Leopard 10.6 Snow Leopard OS X 10.7 Lion 10.8 Mountain Lion 10.9 Mavericks 10.10 Yosemite 10.11 El Capitan macOS 10.12 Sierra 10.13 High Sierra 10.14 Mojave 10.15 Catalina 11 Big Sur 12 Monterey 13 Ventura 14 Sonoma 15 Sequoia 26 Tahoe 27 Golden Gate Predecessors Classic Mac OS NeXTSTEP Rhapsody Applications Core applications App Store Automator Calculator Calendar Contacts Control Center Dictionary FaceTime Finder Game Center Grapher Home Mail Messages News Music Notes Notification Center Podcasts Photo Booth Photos Preview QuickTime Player Reminders Safari Shortcuts Siri Stickies TextEdit Time Machine Developer Tools Xcode Instruments Former Interface Builder Dashcode Quartz Composer Utilities Boot Camp (deprecated) ColorSync Configurator Disk Utility Font Book Keychain Access Script Editor System Settings Terminal VoiceOver Former Dashboard Front Row iChat iPhoto iSync iTunes history Sherlock Technologies, user interface AirDrop AppKit Apple File System Apple menu Apple Push Notification service AppleScript Aqua Audio Units AVFoundation Bonjour Bundle CloudKit Cocoa ColorSync Command key Core Animation Core Audio Core Data Core Foundation Core Image Core OpenGL Core Text Core Video Cover Flow CUPS Darwin Dock FileVault Fonts Foundation Gatekeeper Grand Central Dispatch icns iCloud Kernel panic Keychain launchd Liquid Glass Mach-O Menu extra Metal Mission Control Night Shift OpenCL Option key Preference Pane Property list Quartz Quick Look Rosetta Smart Folders Speakable items Spotlight Stacks System Integrity Protection Uniform Type Identifier Universal binary WebKit XNU XQuartz Deprecated HFS+ Discontinued ATSUI BootX Brushed metal Carbon Classic Environment Inkwell QuickTime Spaces Xgrid Category

v t e Operating systems by Apple Apple II, III, Lisa Apple II Apple DOS ProDOS GS/OS Apple III SOS Lisa Lisa OS MacWorks Mac Classic Mac OS System 1 Systems 2, 3, and 4 System 5 System 6 System 7 Mac OS 8 Mac OS 9 macOS History NeXTSTEP OpenStep Rhapsody Public Beta Core Darwin XNU Desktop Mac OS X Public Beta 10.0 (Cheetah) 10.1 (Puma) 10.2 Jaguar 10.3 Panther 10.4 Tiger 10.5 Leopard 10.6 Snow Leopard 10.7 Lion OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion 10.9 Mavericks 10.10 Yosemite 10.11 El Capitan macOS 10.12 Sierra 10.13 High Sierra 10.14 Mojave 10.15 Catalina 11 Big Sur 12 Monterey 13 Ventura 14 Sonoma 15 Sequoia 26 Tahoe 27 Golden Gate Server Mac OS X Server 1.0 Other projects Shipped A/ROSE A/UX AIX for Apple Network Servers MAE MkLinux PowerOpen Environment Cancelled Star Trek Taligent Copland Nukernel Vanguard iOS derivatives iOS iPhone OS 1 2 3 iOS 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 26 27 iPadOS 13 14 15 16 17 18 26 27 Others tvOS visionOS watchOS audioOS bridgeOS Others Newton OS iPod software List • Category

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Darwin (operating system)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darwin_(operating_system)) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darwin_(operating_system)?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.