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The NYTimes uses both "on Mac OS X" and "in Mac OS X". Can someone explain which one seems more appropriate if there is no difference?

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Can you be more specific? The preposition choice highly depends on the sentence and, more specifically, on the verb used. If you ask for a certain verb, it'd be easier to answer. Related (not sure if they are dupes yet): “on a project” vs “in a project”, “in orbit” vs. “on orbit” – Alenanno Jan 31 '12 at 9:54

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To me, at least, "on Mac OS X" refers to things that run on top of Mac OS X, while "in Mac OSX" refers to things that are part of Mac OS X.

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+1. On Mac OS, MS Word does such-and-such. In Mac OS, memory is managed by thus-and-such. – Monica Cellio Jan 31 '12 at 15:36

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