January 1, 2003: Want a Mac? You’re Getting X

Around midnight on December 31 Apple's manufacturing contractors went through a profound shift, much to the consternation of die-hard OS 9 fans. OS 9 fans were upset because every Apple Macintosh made once 2003 rolled around would only boot in OS X. The change meant that any native OS 9 applications would now only run in classic mode and solidified Apple's unwavering commitment to OS X as the operating system of the future.

The OS 9 crowd argued vociferously that Apple was deliberately hobbling the Macintosh functionality by taking away an option without a valid technical reason. The appeals fell on deaf ears not only at Apple but also among most of the Mac community. The lack of an outcry by the Mac community at large was understandable; OS 9 had not been updated for two years and the majority of Mac fans had long ago moved on.

And so it was that January 1, 2003, marks not only the day that OS 9 fans abandoned all hope but also the day that every new Mac was OS X only, straight out of the box.

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