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Multiprocessing Services

component of Classic Mac OS

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General referenceInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionJul 20, 2024
Entity authorityQ112160978 ↗
Source-derived summary

In computing, Multiprocessing Services is a component of the Classic Mac OS and the retired Carbon API allowing programs to perform work across multiple preemptively scheduled threads of execution.

Release history

Multiprocessing Services was introduced in 1996 with the release of System 7.5.3.

Multiprocessing Services 2.0, introduced in Mac OS 8.6, is a backwards-compatible major release that increases the level of integration preemptive tasks have with the rest of the system.

Multiprocessing Services 2.1, introduced in Mac OS 9, adds support for devices with more than 1 GB of RAM.

In the Classic Mac OS

In the Classic Mac OS, Multiprocessing Services is not the only threading mechanism; cooperatively scheduled threads can be created with the Thread Manager. While applications using Multiprocessing Services have their threads preemptively scheduled, the application as a whole is still cooperatively scheduled with other running applications. Non-Multiprocessing Services tasks remain scheduled on a single processor, and tasks using the Macintosh Toolbox cannot be preemptively scheduled.

When a process uses Multiprocessing Services, in addition to the preemptive tasks it creates, an additional task exists, deth, which waits for other tasks created by the process to terminate and cleans up their resources when they do.

In macOS

In macOS, Multiprocessing Services is implemented using POSIX threads. Applications using Multiprocessing Services are preemptively scheduled with other tasks running on the system. Multiprocessing tasks are distinct from Mach tasks.

Editorial summary

Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Multiprocessing Services” is component of Classic Mac OS. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Multiprocessing, Services and component, not as a finished interpretation.

Editorial reviewA concise reference frame for defining the subject, testing terminology and identifying the institution closest to the evidence. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1996—that can be checked directly. The selected authority fields contribute no independent date. For this dossier, Multiprocessing, Services and component is the immediate research focus.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

The phrase “component of Classic Mac OS” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.

Evidence profile

Vocabulary and entity names are the principal evidence signals here, because they determine the precision of every later search. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jul 20, 2024. The linked authority identifier is Q112160978. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 1996.

Critical limits

Overview language is designed for orientation and should not be treated as a substitute for the evidence cited beneath it. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.

Best used for
  • Subject orientation
  • Search vocabulary
  • Locating named sources
Verify next

The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Multiprocessing Services”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Multiprocessing Services primary sources, Multiprocessing Services archive and Multiprocessing research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Multiprocessing Services”?
  2. What terminology or title could unlock a more precise catalogue search?
  3. Which cited source is closest to the event, object or claim?
Subject index

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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from “Multiprocessing Services” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.