System 7

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System 7

Version of the classic Mac OS operating system
Screenshot of Mac OS 7.6.1
Developer	Apple Computer
OS family	Macintosh
Working state	Historic
Source model	Closed source
Initial release	May 13, 1991; 32 years ago (1991-05-13)
Latest release	7.6.1 / April 7, 1997; 27 years ago (1997-04-07)
Platforms	Motorola 68k series, PowerPC (since 7.1.2)
Kernel type	Monolithic (68k), nanokernel (PowerPC)
License	Proprietary
Preceded by	System 6
Succeeded by	Mac OS 8
Official website	Mac OS Releases at the Wayback Machine (archived April 12, 1997)
Tagline	It's powerful, it's easy to use-it's the new operating system for your Macintosh.
Support status
Historical, unsupported as of May 2001

Part of a series on
Classic Mac OS
Versions System 1 System 2, 3, and 4 System 5 System 6 System 7 Mac OS 7 Mac OS 8 Mac OS 9
Applications Calculator Chooser Drive Setup DVD Player Finder Graphing Calculator Keychain Access PictureViewer PowerTalk QuickTime Player Network Browser Scrapbook Sherlock Software Update Stickies System Information SimpleText
Developer HyperCard MacsBug Macintosh Programmer's Workshop ResEdit
Technology Alias Appearance Manager Apple menu At Ease Balloon help Bomb error Command key (⌘) Control Panel Control Strip Creator code Dogcow Extensions Hierarchical File System HFS Plus Keychain Labels Macintosh File System Macintosh Toolbox Managers MultiFinder Option key (⌥) OSType PICT QuickDraw QuickTime Resource fork Sosumi sound Startup sequence System folder System suitcase Type code WorldScript
Related Memory management Old World ROM New World ROM Software
v t e

System 7 (later named Mac OS 7) is the seventh major release of the classic Mac OS operating system for Macintosh computers, made by Apple Computer. It was launched on May 13, 1991, to succeed System 6 with virtual memory, personal file sharing, QuickTime, TrueType fonts, the Force Quit dialog, and an improved user interface.^[1][2]

It was codenamed "Big Bang" in development and the initial release was named "The System" or "System" like all earlier versions. With version 7.5.1, the name "Mac OS" debuted on the boot screen, and the operating system was officially renamed to Mac OS in 1997 with version 7.6. The Mac OS 7 series was current for more than six years, the longest of classic Mac OS.