X11 and OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion

As some of you may have already heard, X11 is not included with OS X version 10.8 aka Mountain Lion. However, X11 server and client libraries for OS X Mountain Lion are available from the XQuartz project. Apple encourages customers who need X11 to visit the xquartz.macosforge.org site and download XQuartz version 2.7.2 or later.

In a support document dedicated to the X11 user base, Apple explains a few things about the system that provides a basis for graphical user interfaces (GUIs) and rich input device capability on Mountain Lion.

“X11 is not included with Mountain Lion, but X11 server and client libraries for OS X Mountain Lion are available from the XQuartz project: http://xquartz.macosforge.org. You should use XQuartz version 2.7.2 or later,” says the Mac maker.

Apple continues with a bit of documentation for the curious, stating that it created the XQuartz project as a community effort to develop and support X11 on the Mac.

Originally based on the version of X11 that came with Mac OS X v10.5 aka Leopard, the XQuartz project has seen numerous releases with “fixes, support for new OS X features, and additional refinements to the X11 experience.”

“Many of these enhancements were included in X11 for Mac OS X v10.6 and OS X Lion,” says the company run by Tim Cook.

“Apple is a contributor to the XQuartz project and has worked to ensure that X11 works as expected in OS X Mountain Lion with XQuartz 2.7.2 or later,” the document adds.

Unfortunately, Mountain Lion doesn’t offer default support for the specification. However, those who visit xquartz.macosforge.org can download the latest X11 build and have it installed in minutes.

Users must log out and then log back into their Mac for the changes to take effect. Examples of applications that rely on X11 include Gimp, the powerful image manipulation program, AbiWord, Gnumeric, and others.

Via: X11 and OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion