BootX (Apple)
BootX is a software-based bootloader designed and developed by Apple Inc. for use on the company's Macintosh computer range. BootX is used to prepare the computer for use, by loading all required device drivers and then starting-up Mac OS X by booting the kernel on all PowerPC Macintoshes running the Mac OS X 10.2 operating system or later versions.
The BootX booting screen used on Macintoshes with Mac OS X 10.2 or later | |
| Developer(s) | Apple Inc. |
|---|---|
| Initial release | August 24, 2002 (with Mac OS X 10.2) |
| Operating system | Darwin & Mac OS X |
| Platform | PowerPC |
| Type | Boot loader |
| License | Apple Public Source License |
Using BootROM, a read-only memory (ROM) computer chip containing Open Firmware, a graphical bootsplash is shown briefly on all compatible Macintosh computers as a grey Apple logo with a spinning cursor that appears during the startup sequence.
The program is freely available as part of the Darwin operating system under the open-source Apple Public Source License.
BootX was superseded by another nearly identical bootloader named boot.efi and an Extensible Firmware Interface ROM on the release of the Intel-based Mac.