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The Macintosh project started in late 1979 with Jef Raskin, who envisioned an easy-to-use, low-cost computer for the average consumer. In September 1979, Raskin began looking for an engineer who could put together a prototype. Bill Atkinson, a member of the Apple Lisa team, introduced Raskin to Burrell Smith, a service technician who had been hired earlier that year.

In January 1981, Steve Jobs completely took over the Macintosh project. Jobs and a number of Apple engineers visited Xerox PARC in December 1979, three months after the Lisa and Macintosh projects had begun. 

On January 24, 1984, Apple Computer Inc. (now Apple Inc.) introduced the Macintosh personal computer.  

Read more: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Mac_OS