Apple Releases Darwin 1.0 Open Source

Apple has announced the release of Darwin 1.0, the
operating system core at the heart of Mac OS X, and the release of an updated
Darwin Streaming Server.

Darwin’s open source model allows registered Darwin developers to modify,
customize and extend Apple (AAPL) software, including the modern mach kernel and BSD
layers found in Apple’s next generation operating system, Mac OS X.

“The core of Mac OS X is the only mainstream operating system following an
open source model,” said Philip Schiller, Apple’s vice president of Worldwide
Product Marketing. “The new Darwin 1.0 posting includes some of the most
advanced operating system technology available, and it’s open to our
customers and developers so that we may collaborate on the future of the Mac
OS.”

The new Darwin kernel is based on FreeBSD and Mach 3.0 technologies and
supports the Kernel Extension Developer Kit (KDK) for developing drivers and
loadable modules. Darwin 1.0 gives developers access to essential Mac OS X
source code. This allows developers to enhance the feature set, performance
and quality of Mac OS X products in partnership with Apple engineers. Darwin
1.0 is processor-independent and is built for PowerPC and Intel platforms,
enabling Open Source developers to work on Darwin projects on a choice of
computer systems.

In addition to Darwin 1.0, Apple also announced an update to the Darwin
Streaming Server, the open source version of Apple’s QuickTime Streaming
Server software, which is used to stream audio and video. This update makes
the Darwin Streaming Server available for Windows NT-based systems, expanding
support for developers creating streaming server products based on five
different operating systems — Mac OS X, FreeBSD, Linux, Solaris and now
Windows NT.