North Korea's Newest Operating System Looks A Lot Like Mac OS X

Well, they weren't subtle about it.

Old versions of Red Star OS from 2009. Image via RT

North Korea is known for its locked down borders. This goes for its technology, as well.

The country's citizens are under strict surveillance, and though they are allowed to use cell phones and computers, their access is heavily censored. North Korea even has its own computer operating system for schools and libraries, called Red Star OS. This isn't news, there have been many iterations of it over the years that show it as a knock off of Microsoft's Windows OS, but what's different this time around is that their latest version of Red Star now looks a lot like Apple's OS X. 

Look familiar? While it looks very similar, one subtle but very telling difference is the year displayed. Instead of showing 2014, the year says 103—which is the number of years since former North Korean leader Kim Il-sung was born. 

No telling why North Korea decided to make the switch from copying Windows to copying OS X—perhaps they couldn't get the tiles right this time around? Who knows, maybe Microsoft's new CEO can get the company to be the apple of North Korea's eye once again.

[via BBC]

Latest in Pop Culture