Mac OS X Tiger

Mac OS X Tiger (10.4) was released on 29 April 2005. It introduced 64-bit support for Unix binaries (but not for the Mac OS X API) and was the first version of Mac OS X to support x86 (Intel) and x86-64 processors. It was the last version to support PowerPC G3 processors and below (603/604 only via kernel patching).

The original RTM build of Tiger (and several versions after) only supported PowerPC processors, including all boxed retail releases. Support for Intel processors was not added until build 8B1025 internally, and 8G1165 (10.4.4) publicly. The Intel version of the Tiger client was only included with Mac hardware that required it, no boxed retail versions of Tiger clients for Intel exist. The Universal Server Edition (which did have a boxed release) was compatible with Intel and PowerPC, however.

Mac OS X Tiger exists in both a Client and Server SKU, the Server SKU ships with additional applications that are part of Mac OS X Server, and requires activation.

Differences from Mac OS X Panther

 * Sherlock has become replaced with Spotlight, a search feature included in the Mac OS X toolbar.
 * A new feature comparable with Windows Media Center, Front Row, debuted with Mac OS X Tiger.
 * The Dashboard, a collection of widgets for the Desktop, has been introduced. It can be compared with the gadgets of Windows Sidebar and Desktop Gadget Gallery. Removed with macOS 10.15 Catalina.