While most Apple iPhone users will be content with using the phone, others might like to delve into the development of the OX X operating system which power the phone.

There have not been official explanations about the differences between the desktop versions of OS X (pronounced “OS 10?) and the version that will run on the iPhone, but let’s take a look at the development of OS X for the desktop.

Mac OS X is a Unix-like operating system which had been earlier developed at NeXT and later acquired by Apple in early 1997.

Mac OS X has similarities to the NEXTSTEP object-oriented system developed at Steve Jobs’ NeXT company after he left Apple.

At Mac OS X core is Darwin, a free and open source software similar to Unix.

Apple developed a number of proprietory components, customizing Darwin to its specific requirements, such as the Aqua interface and the Finder, to create the graphical interface that is synonymous with the Mac OS X operating system.

Mac OS X’s technological breakthroughs include features like pre-emptive multitasking and memory protection, which allows the operating system to run multiple tasks simultaneously. This has given Apple the edge in faster processing speeds for applications dealing with graphics and video.

Over time Apple has gradually switched the choice of processor for its Mac computers from ones developed by Motorola and later IBM/Motorola to an Intel-based processor currently.

While not much is known about the version of Mac OS X that the iPhone will be running on, we know about it’s capabilities.

It is expected to occupy significantly less than the 500 megabytes of data space that desktop versions of OS X typically occupy.

It has provision for widgets which are small software programs which can be added on to an operating system to give it additional functions.

Key for video fans will be support for the Quicktime h264 codec, which will allow iPhone owners to watch videos from popular video web site YouTube. As of the last report, more than 10,000 YouTube videos had been converted to the Quicktime format and by autumn 2007, it is expected that YouTube’s entire video catalogue will be similarly converted.

At the Apple Worldwide Developer Conference in June 2007, it was announced that iPhone would support third party applications through the Safari web browser. This could open up the entire field for software developers around the world to create a range of innovative applications for the iPhone.

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