MacOS Catalina brought big changes to the Mac, including the ability to run iPad apps natively, opening the platform up to a much larger number of developers than ever before. Users could even have macOS slowly fade between the two background images over the course of the day. No more mountains! Mojave brought a new system-wide Dark Mode, and the OS shipped with two versions of its default wallpaper to match. Named after a breathtaking spot in Yosemite National Park, El Capitan was a clean-up year after 10.10. The wallpaper ushered in a new era based on … well … mountains. Yosemite brought another UI refresh to the Mac, making things flatter and more modern. The wave depicted looks as intimidating as the ones in the famous surfing location. Mavericks marked the beginning of Apple’s “California location” naming scheme for Mac releases. Just like Snow Leopard before it, with Mountain Lion, Apple opted to clean up and revise the existing theme as opposed to changing directions for what would be a less-impactful release of OS X.

The space nerd in me likes the idea, but the execution of this one leaves dead-last on my list of favorites. Lion kept up the space theme, this time showing off the Andromeda galaxy.

This starscape is still one of my favorites. The “no new features” mantra for Snow Leopard didn’t ban a new wallpaper, thankfully. The server version of Leopard server came with its own unique wallpaper that is a real treat: It ushered in the “space era” of OS X wallpapers, which was used heavily in the new Time Machine interface as well. As such, Leopard was the first version of OS X to break from the Aqua-themed wallpaper. While that may or may not be true, it is my favorite Aqua-inspired wallpaper.Ĭomplete with a revised, unified user interface and shiny new Dock, 10.5 broke the Aqua mold. Many consider Tiger to be the best “classic” version of Mac OS X. While Panther inflicted Macs everywhere with Brushed Metal, its wallpaper stayed on brand, refreshing the original 10.0 image. In my head, the trails streaking across the screen were from a set of comets. Jaguar took the same Aqua-inspired theme but added some depth and motion to things. The sweeping blue arcs and curves helped set the tone of the new Aqua interface. The first two releases of Mac OS X shared the same wallpaper. Visit our site to learn about all our great utilities and download free trials today. If you need to do anything with audio on your Mac, we’re to help. If you would ask me, I would definitely upgrade to the MacOS High Sierra not because I think it is great but for reasons of compatibility and security. Since the days of Mac OS X Jaguar, we’ve been making amazing macOS audio software. This year, Rogue Amoeba will celebrate 20 years in business. Rogue Amoeba is once again proud to sponsor the 512 Pixels macOS Screenshot Library. If you are looking for Mac OS 9 wallpapers, this page is for you. If you want to see detailed screenshots of every release of OS X, click here. While great in their day, the early wallpapers are now quite small in the world of 5K and 6K displays. As you can see, I have collected them all here. Every major version of Mac OS X macOS has come with a new default wallpaper.

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