System 7 (codenamed "Big Bang" and sometimes called Mac OS 7) is a single-user graphical user interface-based operating system for Macintosh computers. It was introduced on May 13, 1991 by Apple Computer. It succeeded System 6, and was the main Macintosh operating system until it was succeeded by Mac OS 8 in 1997. Features added with the System 7 release included virtual memory, personal file sharing, QuickTime, QuickDraw 3D, and an improved user interface.

"System 7" is often used generically to refer to all 7.x versions. With the release of version 7.6 in 1997, Apple officially renamed the operating system "Mac OS", a name which had first appeared on System 7.5.1's boot screen. System 7 was developed for Macs that used the Motorola 680x0 line of processors, but was ported to the PowerPC after Apple adopted the new processor.

Compared with System 6, System 7 offered:

System 7 was the first version of the Mac OS that required a hard drive as it was too large to work comfortably from a floppy disk. It was also the first Apple operating system to be available on CD although it shipped on floppy disks initially. System 7 itself did not come bundled with major software packages, but newly purchased Macintosh computers were often bundled with software such as HyperCard, ClarisWorks, At Ease, Mouse Practice and Power Pete. Internet software such as MacTCP, FreePPP and Netscape were not included at first, but was available on disk from internet service providers and bundled with books such as Adam C. Engst's Internet Starter Kit for Macintosh. PowerPC Macintoshes included Graphing Calculator. System 7 also included networking and file sharing software in the form of system extensions and control panels.

Steve Hillage (born Stephen Simpson Hillage, 2 August 1951, Chingford, London, England) is an English musician, best known as a guitarist. He is associated with the Canterbury scene and has worked in experimental domains since the late 1960s. Besides his solo recordings he has been a member of Gong, Khan and System 7.

Whilst still at school, he joined his first band, a blues rock band called Uriel, with Dave Stewart (the keyboardist), Mont Campbell and Clive Brooks. The band split up in 1968 with the other members going on to form Egg, but they briefly re-united under assumed names to record the album Arzachel in 1969. Hillage also guested on Egg's 1974 album The Civil Surface.

In 1969, Hillage began studies at the University of Kent in Canterbury, befriending local bands Caravan and Spirogyra and occasionally jamming with them. Meanwhile he wrote songs and, by late 1970, had accumulated enough material for an album. Caravan put him in touch with their manager Terry King, who got Hillage signed with Deram on the basis of a demo of his material recorded with the help of Dave Stewart of Egg. In early 1971, Hillage formed Khan with bassist/vocalist Nick Greenwood, formerly of Crazy World Of Arthur Brown. Although future Gong and Hatfield and the North drummer Pip Pyle was involved in the early stages, the line-up finally settled with the inclusion of organist Dick Heninghem and drummer Eric Peachey, both of whom had recently collaborated on Greenwood's solo project Cold Cuts, recorded in California in 1970 but belatedly released in 1972.

Miquette Giraudy is a keyboard player and vocalist, best known for her work in Gong and with her partner Steve Hillage. She and Hillage currently form the core of the ambient band System 7. In addition to her performances in music, she has also worked as an actress, film editor and writer. In each role, she has used different stage names.

In the late 60s Giraudy, under the name Monique Giraudy, became assistant to French film maker Jackie Raynal. She has script and assistant editing credits on the 1969 Barbet Schroeder film More. Getting in front of the camera she then appeared, under the name Marsiale Giraudy, in Jean-Pierre Prévost's 1971 film Jupiter, and, as Monique Giraudy, played the role of Monique in Schroeder's 1972 film La Vallée. Raynal herself appeared in Martial Raysse's 1972 film, Le grand départ and Monique Giraudy gets a full editing credit.

Already Hillage's girlfriend, Giraudy joined him in Gong as a vocalist in March 1974, replacing Diane Stewart-Bond, who had replaced Gilli Smyth the previous year. Smyth returned to Gong for part of 1974, with Giraudy coming back to the band in July. Hillage and Giraudy left the band together at the end of 1975.

Josef E. "Joe" Weider (born November 29, 1919) is co-founder of the International Federation of BodyBuilders (IFBB) along with brother Ben Weider and creator of the Mr. Olympia, the Ms. Olympia, and the now-defunct Masters Olympia bodybuilding contests. He is the publisher of several bodybuilding and fitness-related magazines, most notably Muscle & Fitness, Flex, Men's Fitness and Shape, and is the manufacturer of a line of fitness equipment and fitness supplements.

Weider was born in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, to Jewish parents. He published the first issue of Your Physique magazine in 1936 when he was 17 years old, and built a set of barbells out of car wheels and axles the same year. He designed numerous training courses beginning in the 1950s, including the Weider System of Bodybuilding.

In the 1950s he met Betty Brosmer, who was then the highest paid pin-up girl in the U.S. Betty was herself a leading pioneer in women's health and fitness. [3] In 1961 Joe and Betty married, and she began working alongside him as Betty Weider. Betty and Joe have together written books on bodybuilding. Joe, Betty and Ben are co-founders of the International Federation of BodyBuilders. In 1995, he appeared in the Charlton Heston and Peter Graves film, America: A Call to Greatness, directed by Warren Chaney.