wesley Posted January 14, 2006 Share Posted January 14, 2006 It's intended to be pronounced as 'ten' so preferably it should be followed as such. But... as you can see the majority of the.. um.. people interested in OS X doesn't seem to realize this, likely because they haven't seen, used or cared for the PREVIOUS Mac OS release, called... you guessed it.. OS 9. As a natural progression of version number it would've been written as OS 10 but then that doesn't 'look cool', you know? So off they went with Roman numerals, but they expect you to pronounce it as if it's OS 10. The consequences of the Roman numerals go beyond just having multitude of people (incorrectly) pronouncing the name, but there are also some weird bunch who understand that X stands for '10', but makes the mistake of writing the version number as, for example, X.4.3. Perhaps if you're just SAYING out loud it might be okay to say 'oh ess ten dot four dot three' ('ten' dropped for redundancy) but it should be WRITTEN as 'OS X 10.4.3'. Yeah, it's pretty whacked. Oh, and then there are folks who write it as 'OSX' and/or 'OS-X' which, I'm sure, purist Mac zealots would gasp in horror upon seeing such blasphemy. Hehe. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arterion Posted January 17, 2006 Share Posted January 17, 2006 I am confused as to why the predecessor to OS X wasn't OS IX. But it wasn't, it was OS 9. And before that, it was OS 8, and not OS VIII. While people may say the X is a roman numeral, I see no evidence of that, based on the fact that none of the other versions have used roman numerals. In other words, it most certainly is OS ten (you can see the actual version NUMBER), but it's named OS X. If all the previous versions had used roman numerals, then it would make some sense to correct people saying "os 'ex'", but since none of them did, it seems like a rather normal assumption to think, "gee, if they wanted me saying 10, they'd put a one and a zero, and follow the paradigm set by all their previous versions. hmm, I guess version 10 is called os 'ex'." So, no, it's not "stupid" of people to call it os "ex", it's stupid of apple to, for no apparent reason, switch to roman numerals. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iMaurice Posted January 18, 2006 Share Posted January 18, 2006 I am confused as to why the predecessor to OS X wasn't OS IX. But it wasn't, it was OS 9. And before that, it was OS 8, and not OS VIII. While people may say the X is a roman numeral, I see no evidence of that, based on the fact that none of the other versions have used roman numerals. In other words, it most certainly is OS ten (you can see the actual version NUMBER), but it's named OS X. If all the previous versions had used roman numerals, then it would make some sense to correct people saying "os 'ex'", but since none of them did, it seems like a rather normal assumption to think, "gee, if they wanted me saying 10, they'd put a one and a zero, and follow the paradigm set by all their previous versions. hmm, I guess version 10 is called os 'ex'." So, no, it's not "stupid" of people to call it os "ex", it's stupid of apple to, for no apparent reason, switch to roman numerals. The X also comes from *nix Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bluedragon1971 Posted January 23, 2006 Share Posted January 23, 2006 I say it as "OS X". If jobs wanted people to say OS 10, he would have named it that! That's odd you think that way, since Steve Jobs says OS 10 every time he talks about it. Mac O S Ten dot Four dot three, build eight F one one one one, or it is eleven eleven? Personally, I would say eleven eleven, just as I would say the previous build as ten ninety-nine. The X also comes from *nix Exactly, they switched to Roman numerals with the switch to a Unix base. If you really want to get technical, it's really Darwin version 8.4 anyway (well, for 10.4.4 at least), which is where the initial 8 in the build numbers comes from. Here is a link that explains the relationship between OS X versions and Darwin versions: Apple Darwin Releases Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darktear Posted January 23, 2006 Share Posted January 23, 2006 Just to share my opinion on this I say X instead of ten and I say OS like a word not like O S Mac OS X ten.four.four Mac OS X Tiger That just sounds stylish Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
romey-rome Posted January 27, 2006 Share Posted January 27, 2006 I say OS pr0n Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doug the Impaler Posted January 28, 2006 Share Posted January 28, 2006 All you have to do is listen to Apple employees say it (or the iCEO) and you'll know it's X as in 10. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
-.- Posted January 29, 2006 Share Posted January 29, 2006 Here in the south we pronounce it McOx. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bilditup1 Posted February 2, 2006 Share Posted February 2, 2006 Always have and always will say 'ecks' for 'X'. It's just cooler. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
advid Posted February 8, 2006 Share Posted February 8, 2006 it's Os "X" because it would be OS 10 86 otherwise Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phor2zero Posted February 12, 2006 Share Posted February 12, 2006 I was surprised to see twice as many people are saying "ex" versus "ten". I know it's "officially" OS ten, but I think OS ex is MUCH cooler sounding and indicates it's unix roots as well. So I just say "OS 'ex'". besides, i'm only saying it in my head. If I were to say either "os ten" or "os ex" to anyone I know in RL, they'd have no clue what I was referring to anyways. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gt500 Posted February 12, 2006 Share Posted February 12, 2006 I guess I just feel cooler saying "X" - that's what I'm sticking with! True that Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bluedragon1971 Posted February 13, 2006 Share Posted February 13, 2006 It's a sad commentary on the state of the world when "sounding cool" is more important than being correct. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jbjonas Posted February 13, 2006 Share Posted February 13, 2006 I don't care! Maybe I don't say it the "official" way or the way that Apple intended, but I agree with Mashugly, and I pronounce it 'Ehks'. I don't know why, I just always did -> and it shouldn't matter anyway: I use the operating system OS X (however you say it), and I don't use it on "official" hardware, or the way that Apple intended it to be used. So what! I'll hack it how I want, and I'll say it how I want. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. Bond Posted February 25, 2006 Share Posted February 25, 2006 Seconded....and as to Wesley's point, it would sound rather weird saying "OS 10 10.4.4". Flame me all you want...I'll just reject your reality, and substitue my own. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yehweh Posted February 26, 2006 Share Posted February 26, 2006 it's Os "X" because it would be OS 10 86 otherwise yep! OS 10 86 sounds retarded Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
warmcola Posted February 27, 2006 Share Posted February 27, 2006 well... if im saying "osx" it simply depends on context i only use "x" if im talking about osx86 because 10-86 doesnt make sense, you would have to say os"10"-x86 if i am talking about the operating system itself i use os"10" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
-.- Posted March 1, 2006 Share Posted March 1, 2006 If they don't want us calling it X they shouldn't be putting a giant X on the box. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maq Posted March 6, 2006 Share Posted March 6, 2006 its X as in the roman numeral 10, pronounced ten, successor to os9 True, 'X' stands for '10', but 'OS' stands for 'Operating System', and I don't say that. I'm not disputing the 'official' pronunciation, but the fact that so many people say 'ex' makes it legit. It's a sad commentary on the state of the world when "sounding cool" is more important than being correct. Well, that's one way language evolves - what's 'correct' changes (unless you live in France, maybe). If enough people say 'oh ess ex', then it's ok. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A Nonny Moose Posted March 10, 2006 Share Posted March 10, 2006 Seconded....and as to Wesley's point, it would sound rather weird saying "OS 10 10.4.4". Flame me all you want...I'll just reject your reality, and substitue my own. No, because the Mac OS has always been pronounced Mac OS (version number). For example, the last Classic OS is Mac OS 9.2.2. The current Mac OS is Mac OS 10.4.5. Before OS 8, it was done by System (number), i.e. System 6.2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dponmac Posted March 10, 2006 Share Posted March 10, 2006 the proper way is supposed to be "ten", but then again i did pronounce this last super bowl as super bowl "ex" "ell", i cant wait for next years super bowl. XXL is gonna rock!!! about time they changed it to shirt sizes!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
macgirl Posted March 10, 2006 Share Posted March 10, 2006 So if Mac OS arrives to 30 it wil be Mac OS XXX Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darwinian Dude Posted March 26, 2006 Share Posted March 26, 2006 The Final answer! Fire up Textedit, type 'os x' and choose 'Start Speaking' from the menu Edit|Speech. When you mac talks, it says OS TEN, even though there is a space between OS and X. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sabr Posted March 26, 2006 Share Posted March 26, 2006 The Final answer! Fire up Textedit, type 'os x' and choose 'Start Speaking' from the menu Edit|Speech. When you mac talks, it says OS TEN, even though there is a space between OS and X. Hahaha, yeah!! I'm still going to call it OS 'eks' though... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toleman Posted March 26, 2006 Share Posted March 26, 2006 So if Mac OS arrives to 30 it wil be Mac OS XXX lol you are very smart , you think quickly Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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