Copland

Copland was the codename for an unreleased Mac OS-based operating system that was intended to be the modernized successor to Mac OS 7. The Copland project would start in March 1994 and eventually was cancelled in August 1996. This version would aim to port majority of the Mac OS features to a nanokernel in attempt to increase kernel stability and improve multitasking functions while retaining compatibility with classic Mac OS applications.

Following the cancellation of Copland, most of the features that could be ported to the classic operating systems would be added in Mac OS 8. Apple would seek a new operating system to continue where Copland was left off, and after the acquisition of NeXTSTEP, would build from that foundation to start a new generation of Mac operating systems known as Mac OS X.

As of currently, only three builds of Copland has been found. No emulators are known to boot any of the Copland builds.