Technology
 

Macintosh

From WikiMac, Everyone's Mac Knowledgebase

Macintosh (abbrev. Mac) is a family of personal computers manufactured by Apple Computer, Inc. of Cupertino, California, USA.

Named after the McIntosh, a type of apple, the Macintosh was launched in on January 24, 1984 with a famous Super Bowl commercial. It was the first computer to popularise the graphical user interface (GUI), at that time a revolutionary development in desktop computing.

Contents

[edit] Naming

[edit] History

[edit] Macintosh computers

[edit] Desktop

[edit] All-in-One Macs

[edit] Early All-in-One Macs
[edit] Macintosh TV
[edit] Macintosh Performa
[edit] iMac

[edit] Modular Macs

[edit] Macintosh II Series
[edit] Macintosh LC Series
[edit] Macintosh Quadra Series
[edit] Power Macintosh

[edit] Portable

[edit] Macintosh Portable computers

[edit] Macintosh PowerBook computers

[edit] PowerBook 100 Series
[edit] PowerBook 200 Series (Duos)
[edit] PowerBook 500 Series
[edit] Early PowerPC PowerBooks
[edit] PowerPC G3 PowerBooks
[edit] PowerPC G4 PowerBooks

[edit] Macintosh iBook computers

[edit] PowerPC G3 iBooks
[edit] PowerPC G4 iBooks

[edit] MacBook Pro computers

[edit] Miscellaneous

[edit] Acronym

If "Macintosh" were an acronym, some say it would stand for "Many Applications Crash, If Not, The Operating System Hangs". While this was true for pre Mac OS 9 systems, it is less true for Mac OS 9, and totally incorrect for Mac OS X, which has protected memory, so even if one application crashes, the system and other applications are unaffected.

[edit] Differences from Windows PCs

One difference between the early Windows PCs and the Macintosh was that the Windows PC was aimed and optimized for a single user. The primary use for the Windows PC was business. The "killer app" for the Windows PC was a spreadsheet.

The Macintosh had more emphasis on teamwork. So, even the early Macintosh computers were easy to network using AppleTalk. And several early groupware applications were written for the Mac. The Macintosh programs tended to be aimed at a younger audience and included many educational activities.

Another difference was that the early Macs had more support for graphic or visual design work. (See WYSIWYG.)

[edit] Sources and References