Apple changes Mac OS names from cats to California locations

It was a sad day for cat lovers on Monday. No, Grumpy Cat and Princess Monster Truck are safe and sound.
I’m referring to Apple’s decision to stop naming its Mac OS X releases after big cats.
Starting with the next release, the computer software updates will be named after locations in California.
“Our latest release, Mountain Lion, is the ninth of our big cat-named releases in just over a decade,” Craig Federighi, Apple’s senior vice president of software engineering, said Monday at the company’s Worldwide Developers Conference. “As we turn our attention now toward the 10th, we’ve hit a real issue. We do not want to be the first software in history to be delayed due to a dwindling supply of cats.”
Before announcing the new naming convention for Mac OS releases, he joked that the next release would be “Mac OS X Sea Lion.”

Apple chose California locations to honor its home state and to provide a source of inspirational names for at least the next decade, Federighi said. Apple’s next release will be called “Mavericks” after the dangerous surfing spot in Northern California.
Slate joked that future releases could be named after other perilous Golden State spots like “La Brea” and “Alcatraz.” I’d suggest “South Central” and “Emerald Triangle.”
I disagree with the thinking that there are no more cat names. Sure, wild cats are few and far between, but Apple never used “Mac OS X Ocelot.”

Also, as I’ve written about before, there’s a vast supply of cat names from popular culture.
What follows are several that creative folks on the Internet have come up with.

Maru, the Internet’s favorite box-loving feline.

Japanese icon Hello Kitty.

The aforementioned Grumpy Cat.

Nyan Cat, the Internet meme featuring a flying cat with the body of a toaster pastry that streams rainbows.

Meowingtons, a cat companion to progressive-house music producer and performer Deadmau5.

Rapper Snoop Lion.

Celebrity cougar Courteney Cox.

Celebrity cougar Demi Moore.

Related articles:

Top 10 cat names Apple hasn’t used yet for its Mac software (Aug. 26, 2009)

More suggested Mac OS X names for Apple (Aug. 28, 2009)

Top 10 Mac OS X names Apple hasn’t used yet (Oct. 20, 2010)

More cat names for Apple to consider for the next Mac OS X release (July 21, 2011)