Yep. FreeBSD. Pretty highly modified, yet not so much so that you can’t run a lot of the standard FreeBSD software, if you’re so inclined.
> This is one of the reasons Apple does not allow users command prompt access like Microsoft’s operating systems have done.
Not at all true. The Terminal app, a utility tool supplied with MacOS since the very beginning, is a standard command prompt access program, using the Bash (or your choice) shell. In addition, SSH (Secure Shell) is also supplied, which permits command line access over the network.
In fact I use command line shell access, via Terminal or SSH, pretty much every day on my Mac systems. It’s like having a Unix server, in addition to the MacOS GUI desktop.
And for those (like me) who wish to runX11 based software such as xterm (another command line shell access program), there are third party X11 packages.
> Unfortunately, just because the average layman user cannot figure out how to get down to the Apple OS does not mean a knowledgeable user will be deterred. I’ve always thought this is why laymen are utterly convinced Apple products are more safe and secure than any of Microsoft’s; pure fallacy.
It’s not “pure fallacy”; for decades, MacOS was demonstrably more safe and secure than Windows. But in the last 5 years or so, Windows has caught up to MacOS in terms of security, at the operating system level. That’s why you don’t heard as much about autonomous viruses as you did say 10 years ago. As long as it’s still based on the NT kernel, Windows can never be as stable and straightforward as Unix or Linux, but it’s okay these days.
All OS software has flaws, mistakes, vulnerabilities. They have to get patched. Computer OSes are no different from any other complex system in that respect — nothing is perfect, and no software vendor claims their OS software is flawless in that regard.
Nowadays, the major unsafe, insecure element in any computer system is the operator. The USER is where most of the malware attacks strike. Depending on the OS to protect you is only part of a good defense against malware. Safe computer practices — on the part of the user — are more essential now than ever.
Absolutely true. . . Some are better than others due to good original design, trial by fire over a long period on the technical battle field, or the oversight of many critical eyes. Apple has had the benefit of all that. . . And that process continues. Each change introduces new opportunities for error which needs to have it all tested again.
Apple also doesn’t rely on third-party paste on security for protecting the user against himself. It’s built into the operating system at a very low level, not as an app that runs along with others, but part of the OS.