What was the codename of the Mac OS X Public Beta?

What was the codename of the Mac OS X Public Beta? Kodiak. Apple used Kodiak as the codename for the Mac OS X Public Beta, released to the public on September 13, 2000.

The beta was a major milestone because it gave developers and early adopters their first broad look at Apple's new Aqua interface. Aqua introduced the Dock, translucent visual effects, distinctive buttons, and a new approach to menus and window controls. It previewed the future of Apple's operating-system design.

Kodiak was not a finished commercial release. It was a time-limited preview that helped Apple collect feedback and gave software developers time to prepare applications before Mac OS X 10.0 Cheetah arrived in 2001. The beta followed earlier developer releases and the exploratory Rhapsody project.

Kodiak is easy to confuse with Apple's later cat names. Cheetah and Puma were names for commercial Mac OS X releases, while Rhapsody was an earlier development lineage. Kodiak was also unusual because it was the only public Mac OS X release before Mavericks whose codename was not based on a big cat.