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Revision as of 00:46, 17 January 2006 editC S (talk | contribs)Pending changes reviewers8,453 editsm revert last - 2nd sentence is already in article at beginning; 1st sentence is confusing: I don't think anyone thinks the company is Macintosh; anyway, I think consensus is rv this kind of sentence← Previous edit Revision as of 03:50, 17 January 2006 edit undo69.143.45.113 (talk)No edit summaryNext edit →
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Didn't MAC go out of business or something?
], introduced in 1984]]
{{portal}}
The '''Macintosh''', or '''Mac''', is a line of ] designed, developed, manufactured and marketed by ] that run the ] ("Mac OS"). Named after the ], the ] was released on ], ]. It was the first commercially successful personal computer to use a ] (“GUI”) and ] instead of the then-standard ].


MAC Sux doode!
Following the Macintosh's introduction, Apple continued production and development of its ], the company's original product line and main source of income at the time (the ] and ] lines failed, and consequently, were dropped early on). Despite soaring popularity and continued potential for technological advancement in the Apple II series, for years it was overshadowed and mostly ignored by Apple management while the company focused on the Macintosh, to the point the Apple II faded into obscurity and eventual discontinuation in 1993.

From then forward, the company's driving focus and only line of personal computers has been the Macintosh, although from time to time it has experimented with new products outside the personal computer market. The current range of Macintoshes varies from the "budget" ] desktop to the mid-range server ]. Macintosh systems are mainly targeted towards the home, education, and creative professional markets; more recently, the Xserve G5 server has enabled Apple to gain entry to the corporate market.

The ] underwent many major revisions. However, Mac OS 9.2.2, the last version, still lacked many modern operating system features. In 2001, Apple introduced the new ] ]-based ], featuring improved stability, multitasking and multi-user capability, while supporting older “Classic” applications by providing a ]. The current version of Mac OS X is ], which is sold preinstalled in all Macs (the Xserve comes with ]). To complement the Macintosh, Apple has developed a series of digital media applications (collectively the ] suite), two applications that are geared towards productivity (the ] suite), and software aimed at the creative professional market, including ], ], and ].

A significant difference between Macintosh computers and competitors' models (] or PCs that run on the ] OS), is that Apple oversees both the hardware and the OS; this is unique in the industry. Whereas the Windows OS is manufactured by ] and the hardware by dozens of other parties, Apple facilitates all aspects of its hardware, and creates its own OS.

==Current product line==
{| class="wikitable"
|- bgcolor="#ccccff"
|'''Image'''
|'''Name'''
|'''Type'''
|'''Market'''
|'''Description'''
|-
|style="text-align:center;background-color:white"| ]
|]
|Desktop
|Consumer
|The Mac mini is the cheapest Macintosh currently in production, and the only consumer Macintosh desktop that does not ship with a monitor. It uses a standard ] processor.
|-
|style="text-align:center;background-color:white"| ]
|]
|Desktop
|Consumer
|The iMac is Apple's current flagship consumer desktop computer; the current models are the first in the Macintosh's history to use an ] ] CPU. Apple is claiming 2-3x performance gains over the previous model, the iMac G5, which is still listed on .
|-
|style="text-align:center;background-color:white"| ]
|]
|Desktop
|Education
|The eMac is a low-end desktop model originally intended for the educational market. It was sold freely to all markets from June 4th, 2004<ref>, retrieved ], ]</ref> to October 12th, 2005<ref>, retrieved ], ]</ref>, but is now once again restricted to educational institutions only. It features a built-in CRT screen and a G4 processor.
|-
|style="text-align:center;background-color:white"| ]
|]
|Desktop
|Professional
|The Power Mac is Apple's most expensive, high-end workstation computer. The top-of-the-line model currently features two, dual-core ] 970MP processors, which Apple has dubbed the "Quad-Core," though this is a bit of a misnomer.
|-
|style="text-align:center;;background-color:white"| ]
|]
|Portable
|Consumer
|The iBook is Apple's consumer portable. It uses a PowerPC 7447A G4 processor at a lower clock rate than the more full-featured, professional PowerBook line. No word on when it will be converted to use Intel chips.
|-
|style="text-align:center;background-color:white"| ]
|]
|Portable
|Professional
|The PowerBook is a high-end portable workstation computer which topped-out with the PowerPC G4. The PowerBook never used the G5 processor, reportedly because power consumption and overheating issues of the G5 made it impractical for portable applications. It is scheduled to be replaced by the ] ]-powered ], shipping in ] ], which Apple is claiming to be 4x faster than the previous PowerBook G4s. However, the PowerBook is still from Apple.
|-
|style="text-align:center;background-color:white"| ]
|]
|Portable
|Professional
|The MacBook Pro is a high-end portable workstation computer which runs an ] ]-powered processor at either 1.67 or 1.83 GHz. The MacBook Pro also features a 15.4" TFT Screen, and a new innovation called ], which uses magnets to hold the power adapter in place. The model was announced in January 2006 and is shipping in ] ]. Apple is claiming it is 4x faster than the previous ]s.
|-
|style="text-align:center;background-color:white"| ]
|]
|Server
|Enterprise
|The Xserve G5 is an enterprise-grade 1U rack-mount server, specifically marketed towards mission critical data centers and enterprise client services. It uses the PowerPC 970FX version of the G5.
|}
The current iMac ships with the ], a distinctive white ], ] and ] cards, an internal ] camera, the ] for use with ], and a power cord. A Bluetooth wireless keyboard and mouse are available for additional cost. Although not all models currently come with all of these, it is possible that some of these accessories will come to be standard with other models. Like the Xserve, the iMac G5 uses the PowerPC 970FX G5; the new iMac uses the Intel Core Duo.

==History==
{{See also|History of Apple Computer}}
===1979–84: Development and introduction===
].<br /><small>Left to right: ], ], ], ], ], ]</small>]]
The Macintosh project started in early 1979 with ], an Apple employee, who envisioned an easy-to-use, low-cost computer for the average consumer. In September 1979, Raskin was given permission to start hiring for the project, and he began to look for an engineer who could put together a prototype. ], a member of the ] team—which was developing a similar but higher-end computer—introduced him to ], a service technician who had been hired earlier that year, as Apple employee #282. Over the years, Raskin hired a large development team that designed and built the original Macintosh ] and ]; besides Raskin, Atkinson and Smith, the team included ], ], ], ], ], and ].

Smith's first Macintosh board design was built to Raskin's specifications: it had 64 ] of ], used the Motorola 6809E ], and was capable of supporting a 256 × 256 ] ] ] display. ], a Macintosh programmer, was interested in running the Lisa's graphical programs on the Macintosh, and asked Smith whether he could incorporate the Lisa’s ] microprocessor into the Mac while still keeping the production cost down. By December 1980, Smith had succeeded in designing a board that not only used the 68000, but made it faster, bumping it from 5 to 8 ], a 60% clock speed increase; this board also had the capacity to support a 384 × 256 bitmap display. Smith’s design used fewer RAM chips than the Lisa, and because of this, production of the board was significantly more cost-efficient<ref>, retrieved ], ]</ref>. At this time in December 1980, Smith's Macintosh (personally wire-wrapped by hand by Smith himself) was the only one in existence, though Brian Howard and Dan Kottke had already begun wire-wrapping their own. By this time Tribble had already written a boot ROM which filled the screen with the proverbial "hello," a 32 pixel-wide bitmap which demonstrated the Macintosh's sharp video. The final Mac design was self-contained and had far more programming code in ] than most other computers; it had 128KB of RAM, in the form of sixteen, 64-] RAM chips soldered to the ]. Though there were no memory slots, it was expandable to 512KB of RAM by means of soldering sixteen 256-] RAM chips in place of the factory-installed chips. This was thanks to ] clever work- he routed a few extra lines on the PC board, making the 256-Kbit chips which were on the horizon useable in the Mac. This meant adventurous Mac users could upgrade their 128K Mac to 512K without buying a whole new machine. ] was utterly against this at the time (because he didn't want people "mucking around inside the Mac," and because he wanted them to buy the 512K Mac after it came out), but Burrell slipped it in quickly and no one told Jobs, to the benefit of Macintosh owners.

The innovative design caught the attention of ], the co-founder of Apple. Realizing that the Macintosh was more marketable than the Lisa, he began to focus his attention on the project. Raskin finally left the Macintosh project in 1981 over a personality conflict with Jobs, and the final Macintosh design is said to be closer to Jobs’ ideas than Raskin’s<ref>, retrieved ], ]</ref>. After hearing about the pioneering graphical user interface (GUI) technology being developed at Xerox PARC, Steve Jobs negotiated a visit to see the ] computer and ] development tools in exchange for Apple stock options. The Lisa and Macintosh user interfaces were clearly influenced by the one designed at Xerox. Jobs also commissioned industrial designer ] to work on the Macintosh line, resulting in the ]; although it came too late for the earliest Macs, it was implemented in most other mid- to late-1980s Apple computers<ref>, retrieved ], ]</ref>. However, Jobs’ leadership at the Macintosh project was short lived; after an internal power struggle with Apple’s new CEO ], Jobs resigned from Apple in 1985, went on to found ], another computer company, and did not return until 1997. Sculley completely undermined what the Mac team had been trying to do with the price of the Macintosh, when he artificially inflated the Mac's price from $1,995 to $2,495. The Mac team had been working incredibly hard to keep down the price in every aspect of its design, but neither Jobs nor anyone else was able to convince him otherwise, and the Mac launched at $2,495- twenty-five percent higher than intended.

] wielding a ]]]
The Macintosh was hinted at on ], ], with the now-famous ] directed by Ridley Scott. The Mac itself was officially introduced and went on sale on ], ] for a retail price of $2,495, bundled with two useful programs designed to show off its interface: ] and ]. Although the Mac garnered an immediate, enthusiastic following, it was too radical for some. Because the machine was entirely designed around the GUI, existing text-mode and ]s had to be redesigned and rewritten; this was a challenging undertaking that many ]s shied away from, and resulted in an initial lack of ] for the new system. Many users, accustomed to the arcane world of command lines, labeled the Mac a mere "toy." In 2004, twenty years later, Apple annoyed some long-time Mac users by rerunning the 1984 commercial on their website, with an Apple ] digitally inserted, worn by the woman.

===1985–89: The desktop publishing era===
In 1985, the combination of the Mac, Apple’s ] printer, and Mac-specific software like Boston Software's MacPublisher and ] enabled users to design, preview, and print page layouts complete with text and graphics, an activity known as ]. Desktop publishing was unique to the Macintosh, but eventually became available for PC users as well. Later, programs such as ], ] and ] strengthened the Mac's position as a graphics computer and helped to expand the emerging desktop publishing market.

The limitations of the first Mac soon became clear: it had very little memory, even compared with other personal computers in 1984, and could not be expanded easily; and it lacked a ] and the means to attach one easily. Although by 1985 the Mac’s base memory had increased to 512KB, and it was possible, although inconvenient and difficult, to expand the memory of a 128KB Mac, Apple realized that the Mac needed improvement in these areas. The result was the ], released in 1986. It offered one megabyte of ], expandable to four, and a then-revolutionary ] parallel interface, allowing up to seven peripherals—such as hard drives and scanners—to be attached to the machine. Its ] was increased to 800-kilobyte capacity. The Plus was an immediate success and remained in production for four years.

], the first expandable Macintosh]]
Other issues remained, particularly the low processor speed and limited graphics ability, which had hobbled the Mac’s ability to make inroads into the business computing market. Updated ] ] made a faster machine possible, and in 1987 Apple took advantage of the new Motorola technology and introduced the ], which used a 16MHz ] processor. This marked the start of a new direction for the Macintosh, as now, for the first time, it had open architecture with several expansion slots, support for color graphics and a modular break out design similar to that of the IBM PC and inspired by Apple's other line, the expandable ] series. Alongside the Macintosh II, the ] was released, the first compact Mac with an internal expansion slot (SE aptly stood for System Expansion). The SE shared the Macintosh II’s ], as well as the new ] mouse and keyboard that had first appeared on the ] some months earlier.

With the new ] processor came the ] in 1988, which had benefited from internal improvements, including an on-board ]. It was followed in 1989 by a more compact version with fewer slots (the ]) and a version of the Mac SE powered by the 16MHz 68030 (the ]). Later that year, the ], running at 25MHz, was the first Mac to be “32-bit clean”, allowing it to natively support more than 8MB of RAM, unlike its predecessors, which had "32-bit dirty" ROMs. ] was the first Macintosh operating system to support 32-bit addressing. Apple also introduced the ], a 16MHz 68000 machine with an ] ]. The following year the 40MHz ], costing $13,000, was unveiled. Apart from its fast processor, it had significant internal architectural improvements, including faster memory and a pair of dedicated ] (input/output) coprocessors.

===1990–98: Growth and decline===
], Apple’s early 1990s budget model]]
The release of ], widely seen as the first version of Windows to challenge the Mac<!--in terms of performance and ...? —just a short phrase to specify?-->, was released in May 1990, and created a usable and cheaper alternative to the Macintosh platform. Apple’s response was to introduce a range of relatively inexpensive Macs October 1990. The ], essentially a cheaper version of the Macintosh SE, sold for $999, making it the cheapest Mac until the re-release (and subsequent price cut) of the 400MHz ] in February 2001. The 68020-powered ], in its distinctive "pizza box" case, was available for $1800; it offered color graphics and was accompanied by a new, low-cost 512 × 384-pixel monitor. The ], essentially a 20MHz IIci with only one expansion slot, cost $2500. All three machines sold well, although Apple’s profit margin was considerably lower than on earlier machines.

1991 saw the much-anticipated release of ], a 32-bit rewrite of the ] that improved its handling of color graphics, memory addressing, networking, and ], and introduced ]. Later that year, Apple introduced the ] 700 and 900, the first Macs to employ the faster ] processor. They were joined by improved versions of the previous year’s hits, the ] and ]. The latter was upgraded to use a 16MHz 68030.

] 150, the smallest of the second generation of PowerBooks]]
At the same time, the first three models in Apple's enduring ] range were introduced—the PowerBook 100, a miniaturized ] built by Sony; the 16MHz 68030 PowerBook 140; and the 25MHz 68030 PowerBook 170. They were the first portable computers with the keyboard behind a palm rest, and with a built-in pointing device (a ]) in front of the keyboard.

In 1992, Apple started to sell a low-end Mac, the ], through nontraditional dealers. At Apple dealers, a mid-range version of the Quadra series called the ] was offered, only to be quickly renamed Quadra when buyers became confused by the range of Classics, LCs, IIs, Quadras, Performas, and Centrises. As well as releasing several new Macintosh products, Apple unveiled the miniaturized ] range. This was intended to be docked to a base station for desktop-like functionality in the workplace. The PowerBook Duo was dropped from the Apple product line in early 1997.

The next evolutionary step in Macintosh CPUs was a switch to the ] ] architecture developed by the ] of Apple Computer, IBM, and Motorola. Since its introduction, the ] line proved to be highly successful, with over a million units sold by late 1994, three months ahead of Apple’s one-year goal. In the same year, Apple released the second-generation PowerBook models, the ] series, which introduced the novel ].

By 1995<!--'By'? It's unclear—would 'During' be more precise? When were these introduced, as opposed to eroding the market share? Check whether it's OK now ...-->, Microsoft and Intel were rapidly eroding Apple’s market share with their ] and ] processors, both of which significantly enhanced the multimedia capability of the PC. In response, Apple started the ] program to regain its foothold in the desktop computer market. This program lasted until August 1997, when negotiations between Apple and the clone makers to extend the licensing agreement broke down.

===1999 to the present: new beginnings===
] introducing the original ] computer in 1998]]
In 1998, a year after ] had returned to the company, Apple introduced an all-in-one Macintosh that was similar to the original ]: the ], a new design that did away with most Apple standard connections, such as ] and ], in favor of two ] ports. While technically not impressive<!--so people won't accuse you of POV, just a few words specifying the areas?-->, it featured an innovative new design—its translucent plastic case, originally ] and ], and later many other colors, is considered an industrial design hallmark of the late 1990s. The iMac proved to be phenomenally successful, with 800,000 units sold in 1998, making the company an annual profit of $309 million— Apple’s first profitable year since ] took over as CEO in 1995. At MacWorld 2000, San Francisco, Steve Jobs bragged that they had sold over 1.35 million iMacs the previous quarter; one every six seconds. The Power Macintosh was redesigned along similar lines.

In 1999, Apple introduced a new operating system, ] (codenamed Rhapsody), with a new GUI and powerful Unix underpinnings. Its ]-like GUI left many Mac users disappointed, and wondering what the next generation of the Mac OS GUI would look like. Mac OS X was based on ], the operating system developed by Steve Jobs’ post-Apple company ]. Mac OS X was not released to the public until September 2000, as the ], with an Aqua interface, much different from Mac OS Server. It cost $29.99, and allowed adventurous Mac users to sample Apple's new operating system, and provide feedback to the company on what they wanted to see in the actual release.

] is the first portable Macintosh to use Intel chips intended to be marketed to consumers. Shipping is scheduled to commence in ] 2006.]]
In mid-1999, Apple introduced the ], a new consumer-level, portable Macintosh that was designed to be similar in appearance to the iMac that had been introduced a year earlier. Six weeks after the iBook’s unveiling, more than 140,000 orders had been placed, and by October the computer was as much a sales hit as the iMac. Apple continued to add new products to their lineup, such as the ] and ], as well make two major upgrades of the iMac. On ], ], Apple announced the release of the ] priced at $499, the cheapest Mac to date.

In recent years, Apple has seen a significant boost in sales of Macs. Many claim that this is due, in part, to the success of the iPod. The term ] has been coined to indicate the effect of satisfied iPod owners, who purchase more Apple merchandise, on the overall sales made by Apple. The iPod ]s have recaptured a brand awareness of the Macintosh line that had not been seen since its original release in 1984. From 2001 to 2005, Macintosh sales increased continuously on an annual basis. On ], ], Apple released its fourth quarter results, reporting shipment of 1,236,000 Macintoshes— a 48% increase from the same quarter the previous year<ref>, retrieved ], ]</ref>. Starting with the introduction of the ] and the ] on ] ], Apple will gradually ] from ] ] to microprocessors manufactured by ]<ref>, retrieved ], ]</ref>. The transition of the rest of the Macintosh line is planned to be completed by the end of the year<ref>]'s of Steve Jobs' keynote at the ] ]</ref>. It is possible that sales will temporarily decline as consumers wait to purchase future Macintosh products.

{{Timeline of Macintosh models}}

==Hardware==
The current Macintosh product family uses many ] components; among these are ] processors, which were co-developed by Apple, ], and ], and are currently produced by IBM and ], a former division of Motorola. As of January 2006, ] ] processors are in Macs as well. All Macintosh models ship with 512MB ] as standard, and as of ], ], the ] ships with the ], a two-button mouse produced by Apple. Current Macintosh computers use the ] or ] series chips for graphics and include either a ], a DVD player and CD burner all in one; or the ], a dual-function DVD and CD burner. Macintoshes include two standard data transfer ports: ], standardized in 1998 with the ]; and ], a less popular standard developed by Apple to support higher-performance devices.

===Processor Architecture===
The original MC68000 was a 16/32-bit (32-bit internal) ] processor that ran at 8MHz in desktop systems, although the ] and PowerBook 100 both used a 16MHz version. The Macintosh II featured a full 32-bit ] processor, but the Macs at the time supported only 24-bit memory addressing, therefore using only a fraction of the chip's memory addressing capabilities. Macs with this limitation were referred to as “32-bit dirty”. The successor Macintosh IIx introduced the ] processor, which added a ]. The 68030 did not have a built-in ]; thus, '030-based Macintoshes incorporated a separate unit—either the ] or ]. Lower-cost models did without, although they incorporated an FPU socket, should the user decide to add one as an option. The first “32-bit clean” Macintosh that could use 32-bit memory addressing was the IIci. Later, Apple released the Macintosh IIfx, which not only contained a 40MHz 68030, but two ] processors (the primary CPU in the older ] line) as auxiliary controllers. In 1991 Apple released the first computers containing the ] processor, which contained the floating point unit in the main processor. Again, lower-cost models did not have FPUs, being based on the cut-down ] instead.

Since 1994 Apple has been using the PowerPC line of processors, starting with the ], which were later upgraded to the ] and ]. In 1997, Apple introduced its first computer based on the significantly upgraded ] processor; this was followed in 1999 with the ]. The latest generation of processor in use is the 64-bit ], introduced in 2003. During the transition to the PowerPC, Apple's "Cognac" team wrote a 68030-to-PowerPC translation routine that booted very early in OS loading. Initially they were having terrible problems with emulation speed; emulation is hardly ever speedy. However, they realized that they could exploit what was dubbed the "90/10 rule," which simply meant if you write a large program, you were running just 10% of the code 90% of the time. This freed up resources and clockcycles. The first version of the OS to ship with the earliest PowerPC systems was estimated to run 95% emulated. Later versions of the operating system increased the percentage of PowerPC native code until OS X brought it to 100% native.

On ], ], Apple CEO Steve Jobs announced that the company would begin ] from ] to ] microprocessors, expected to be completed by the end of 2006, and demonstrated a version of Mac OS X running on a computer powered by an Intel ] CPU. Intel-powered Macs will be able to run Macintosh software compiled for ] processors using a ] system known as ]. The reason for this switch concerns problems with the power consumption of the IBM ] processors, coupled with IBM’s inability to deliver on the promised roadmap. The first Macintoshes with Intel processors were the ] and the ], both announced at the ] in January 2006 and using the ] processor.

===Expandability and connectivity===
] (“USB”) Type A cable; the USB has become standard on modern Macintosh computers.]]
The earliest form of Macintosh expandability was the ] (PDS), present from the ] onwards. It was basically a shortcut to the ], not a bus—which also meant that parts for the PDS slot were tied to a specific Macintosh model, with the notable exception of the ] PDS slot, which was standardized across the entire LC line. The PDS slot could be used for processor upgrades, the ], or video cards. The last line of Macintoshes to have PDS slots was the first generation of the PowerMacs. The first Macintosh to feature a bus for expansion was the ], in the form of six ] (parallel 32-bit bus) slots. The NuBus was abandoned in favor of ] in the second-generation ]es, and the G4 added an ] slot for video cards. The latest G5s use ] for graphics and expansion. For memory, Apple has used standard ]s (30 and 72-pin) and later ]s, with the notable exception of the ], which used special and very rare 64-pin SIMMs. Currently, the top-of-the-line G5 PowerMacs use 240-pin ] DIMMs.

The earliest Macintoshes used a special proprietary serial port for external floppy or hard drives, until ] was introduced with the ]. SCSI remained the Macintosh drive connection of choice until the PowerMac G3, when cheaper ] drives became standard. Current PowerMacs use ] for internal hard drives, ] for internal optical drives and ] for external drives. For peripherals, the ] was introduced with the ]. It was the standard input connector until the ] was introduced with the ]. The last Macintosh to have ADB was the blue and white PowerMac G3 though the PCI-based G4 (the Yikes! board) had the circuitry for it. Other legacy Macintosh peripheral connectors include the serial ] and the ] port for networking. For external video signals, Apple used a ] connector on all models prior to the blue and white G3, which uses a ]; the VGA was in turn dropped in favor of the ] in the PowerMac G4. On the most recent Macintoshes, Apple has used a standard or dual-link ] connector.

==Software==
===Operating system===
{{seemain|Mac OS history}}
] desktop with the radically new ].]]
] was the first major upgrade of the Macintosh operating system. Note that the display is in 8-bit color.]]
] “Tiger” desktop. Although it has undergone many changes, some aspects remain, such as the ] at the top of the screen.]]

The Macintosh operating system was originally known as the ''System Software'' or more simply ''System''. With the release of ], the official name became ]. From 2001, the “classic” Mac OS was phased out in favor of the new ] ]-based ]. Apple had offered another UNIX system, ], for its Macintosh servers earlier, but without much success. The Mac OS operating system is widely considered one of the main selling points of the Macintosh platform, and Apple heavily touts its releases with large special events and release-day events. Apple has generally chosen to stick with some loose user-interface elements in all of its releases, and many similarities can be seen between the legacy ] and the modern Mac OS X. Non-Apple operating systems for today’s Macintoshes include ] and free ] variants.

Mac OS was the first widely used operating system with a graphical interface. No versions of the “classic” Mac OS featured a ]. It was originally a single-tasking OS, but optional ] was introduced in System 5. The next major upgrade was ] in 1991, which featured a new full-color design, built-in multitasking, ], and more user configuration options. Mac OS continued to evolve up to version 9.2.2, but its dated architecture—such as using cooperative multitasking instead of the more modern ]—made a replacement necessary.

In March 2001, Apple introduced ], a modern and more secure ]-based successor, using ], ] and ] as foundations. Mac OS X is directly derived from ], the operating system developed by Steve Jobs’ company ] before Apple bought it. Older Mac OS programs can still run under Mac OS X in a special ] called ], but this is only possible on Macintoshes using PowerPC processors, not on Macintoshes using Intel processors. A similar program to Classic, called ], will allow PowerPC programs to run on Intel machines. Even though Mac OS X was never certified as an UNIX implementation by ], it is now the most common Unix-based desktop operating system. Mac OS X is currently at version ] (released on ] ]), code-named ''Tiger''. The next version, ], code-named ''Leopard'', is scheduled to be released at the end of 2006.

===Software history===
Since its introduction, the Mac has been criticized for the lack of software available for its operating system. In 1984 it was apparent that a wider range of software was available for the ], because it used the most popular operating system of the time, ]. Apple struggled to encourage software developers to port software titles to the Macintosh; however, ] at ] realized that the ] would become an industry standard, and that his software would sell in large quantity if it were available for the Macintosh. In 1984 ] and ] were available, and were a large selling point for the Mac. However, it lacked games and business software. In 1985, ] introduced ] after the success of ] for the IBM PC, although it was largely a flop.

In 1987, Apple spun off its software business as ]. It was given the code and rights to several programs that had been written within Apple, notably ], ] and ]. In the late 1980s, Claris released a number of revamped software titles; the result was the “Pro” series, including MacPaint Pro, MacDraw Pro, MacWrite Pro and FileMaker Pro. To provide a complete office suite, Claris purchased the rights to the ] ] on the Mac, renaming it ], and added the new presentation program ]. By the early 1990s, Claris programs were shipping with the majority of consumer-level Macintoshes and were extremely popular. In 1991, Claris released ], which soon became their second best-selling program.

Today, all Macs come prepackaged with a suite of consumer-level applications called “iLife.” The first iLife application was ], released in 1999 for use on the ]. Next came ], a digital jukebox designed to work with Apple’s ] digital music player, and on ], ], Apple released ], an easy-to-use, consumer-grade digital photo organizer. Finally, in 2004, Apple marketed these applications, as well as ] and ], into a $49 suite called iLife. Today, every Mac comes preinstalled with the iLife suite. It is intended to make the Mac versatile out of the box, by providing several high-value consumer media applications. The most popular tool in the suite is iTunes, now in a Windows version as well, and has spawned the most popular online music store, the ].

==Advertising==
]'' magazine.]]Ever since the introduction of the Macintosh in 1984 with the ], Apple has been recognized for its efforts towards effective advertising and marketing for the Macintosh. A "Macintosh Introduction" 20-page brochure was included with various magazines in December 1983, often remembered because ] was featured on page 11.<ref>, retrieved ], ]</ref> For a special post-election edition of '']'' in November 1984, Apple spent more than US $2.5 million to buy all of the advertising pages in the issue (a total of 39).<ref>, retrieved ], ] and http://www.macmothership.com/gallery/gallerytextindex.html, retrieved ] ]</ref> Apple also ran a "Test Drive a Macintosh" promotion that year, in which potential buyers with a credit card could trial a Macintosh for 24 hours and return it to a dealer afterwards. It began to look like a success with 200,000 participants, and ''Advertising Age'' magazine named this one of the 10 best promotions of 1984. However, dealers disliked the promotion and supply of computers was insufficient for demand, and many computers were returned in such a bad shape that they could no longer be sold.

In 1985 the "Lemmings" commercial aired at the ]; Apple went as far as to create a newspaper advertisement stating "If you go to the bathroom during the fourth quarter, you'll be sorry". It was a large failure and did not capture nearly as much attention as the 1984 commercial did. Many more brochures for new models like the ] and the ] followed. In the 1990s Apple started the "What's on your PowerBook?" campaign, with print ads and television commercials featuring persons describing how the PowerBook helps them in their businesses and everyday lives. These included ], ], ], ], ], ], ], and ]. In 1995 Apple responded to the introduction of ] with both several print ads and a television commercial demonstrating its disadvantages and lack of innovation. In 1997 the ] campaign introduced Apple's new slogan, and in 2002 the ] followed.

Today, Apple focuses much of its advertising efforts around heavily hyped "special events," and ] at conferences like the ] and the ]. The events typically draw a large gathering of media representatives and spectators. In the past, special events have been used to unveil the ], the redesigned ], and many other Macintosh products.

==Effects on the technology industry==
Apple has introduced a number of innovations in direct relation to the ] that were later adopted by the rest of industry as a standard for the design of computers. Possibly Apple's number-one effect on the industry was the first large-scale use of a graphical user interface in operating system software. Today, almost every mainstream operating system relies on a graphical user interface, and many operating systems still echo the design of the original Macintosh graphical user interface, such as the use of the "double click," "drag and drop," and the mouse used for them. The Macintosh 128k also introduced software which allowed ] (what you see is what you get) text and graphics editing, alongside significant technical improvements such as long file names permitting ] and not requiring a ], ] as a standard component, 8-bit mono ] including built-in speakers, and an output jack as a standard feature.

The Macintosh platform has introduced many innovations and ideas that had significant effects on the computer industry, especially in the area of communications standards. One of the first was the ], which successfully introduced the ] interface in 1986. The ] and the ] introduced standard audio in and out ports in 1990—today these ports are standard on the large majority of computers. Beginning with the ] in 1998, Apple made the ] a standard and introduced ], a high-speed data transfer bus now popular in media-editing computers and almost all digital video cameras. Apple also innovated in the area of networking, with heavy marketing and early implementation of the existing standard ] (]) in the Macintosh portable lines in 1999. Additionally, the Macintosh platform introduced many of the storage devices that are now standard: In 1992, the ] was the first computer to feature the ] drive as a standard feature. The ], debuting in 1998, was one of the first computers to have no floppy disk drive; today, almost no new computers come with one. Finally, the ] with its ''SuperDrive'' introduced the first relatively affordable ] drive in 2001.

Apple has also contributed heavily to the field of mobile computing, and many features of their mobile computers have become the norm. The ] 100, 140, and 170 set the ergonomic standard for the placement of the keyboard in 1991 by moving the keyboard behind a palm rest, rather than right at the bottom of the laptop. In 1991 the ] 100 series featured the first built-in pointing device on a laptop: a ]. The ] also introduced the idea of a dock/port replicate in 1992. One of the most important features ever added to the Macintosh PowerBook lineup was the first true ] as a pointing device on the ] in 1994; today, most laptops rely on it as their pointing device. More recently, the ] became the first full-size laptop computer to feature a widescreen display, in 2003 it became the first laptop computer with a 17-inch display, and in 2004 it became the first laptop computer to provide dual-link ].

There is much speculation as to why so many Macintosh features have been adopted by competitors. And although they have a history of including some of the best technology available to the consumer market, Macs- and their components- are often much more expensive than Windows PCs; as such, one could argue that Macintoshes brought what was to become standard earlier at a higher cost, and it is certainly true that it costs far more to develop something than to copy it — both in terms of actual resources, and "man-hours." Another view is that competitors were forced to copy the Macintosh for reasons of competition and business, and whether such innovations were superior is irrelevant. Mac advocates argue that their products are simply better.

==Market share and demographics==
Since the introduction of the Macintosh 128K in 1984, Apple has struggled to gain a significant share of the personal computer market. At first, the Macintosh lacked software, resulting in disappointing sales in 1985, when consumers realized that more software was available for the ]. By 1985, only 500,000 Macs had been sold. Jobs had originally predicted that five million units would be sold within two years; sales eventually crossed the two million mark in 1988, and three years later, the installed base finally reached five million. By 1997, there were more than 20 million Mac users.<ref></ref> By late 2003, Apple had 2.06% of the desktop share in the United States, which had increased to 2.88% by Q4 2004.<ref>Jim Dalrymple, ] (], 2005): </ref>

The actual ] of Macintosh computers is extremely hard to determine, with numbers ranging from a conservative 3%<ref></ref> to a very optimistic 16%.<ref>] (June 2005): </ref>

Market research indicates that Apple draws its customer base from an unusually artistic, creative, and well-educated population, which may explain the platform's visibility within certain youthful, avant-garde subcultures.<ref>http://news.com.com/2100-1040-943519.html, http://www.metafacts.com/pages/tup_profile_reports/tup_profile_report_apple.htm</ref> Furthermore, ] holds that the platform appeals especially to the politically ]-minded; even Steve Jobs speculates that “maybe a little less” than half of Apple's customers are ]s, “maybe more ] than ours.” <ref>http://www.google.com/search?q=liberal+conservative+mac+user, http://www.alwayson-network.com/comments.php?id=5090_0_1_0_C</ref> This particular stereotype is reinforced, surely, by the company's pattern of political donations, by ]’s membership on its board, and not least by Jobs’ personal history (most recently in his role as advisor to Democratic presidential candidate ]).<ref>http://www.buyblue.org/node/251/view/summary
</ref> Nevertheless, well-known Mac users include the likes of conservative talk radio host ], an outspoken ], and even ].

==Advantages, disadvantages and criticisms==
] shows many hallmarks of Macintosh design quality; the compact housing (note the absence of a ]) follows the tradition of the original Mac.]]

The Macintosh differs in several ways from personal computers which run ]. Both the hardware and bundled software, including the operating system, are manufactured by ], whereas ] supplies any ]s including ], ] and ] with the software, who make the hardware using a wider range of components. This results in a limited choice of Mac models compared to a huge variety of Windows-based PCs; however, it reduces conflict between software and hardware and has helped Apple's reputation for stability and reliability. The Unix-based operating system performs multi-user networking as standard. This less common operating system means that a much smaller range of third-party software is available, although suitable applications, such as ], are available in most areas; it has contributed to the current absence of the ] and ] that plagues Microsoft Windows users.

Apple has a history of innovation and making bold changes that is met by strong uptake of software upgrades. The ] allows users to run "old" (]) applications on OS X computers, often as well as they ran natively on Mac OS 9, though without the advantages of a native OS X application. The ] starting in 2006 will not support ''Classic'' on new Intel Macs, and purchasers of these computers who are still using Classic applications will have to replace or upgrade this software. The transition will involve the recompilation of most OS X software to maximize performance; in the interim, unmodified OS X applications can run on the Intel chip under the emulation software '']''.

==Notable litigation==
] 1.1 desktop was a modified illegal copy of the Mac OS; Apple sued on charges of "look and feel", and eventually won.]]
{{Main|Notable litigation of Apple Computer}}

There have been many lawsuits centered around the Macintosh. These generally involve ] of the computer's ]. Apple successfully sued ], whose ] too closely resembled the then-new iMac. Apple also forced ] to alter basic components in its ] ("GEM"), almost a direct copy of the Macintosh's.

The most important case involving the Macintosh—and some argue in all of computing—is ] In 1988, Apple sued Microsoft and ] on the grounds that they were infringing upon Apple's copyrighted GUI design. Cited, among other things, was the use of rectangular, overlapping, and resizable windows. Apple lost the case after four years. Some say that Apple was at fault because they were hoarding a superior input system that would put all competitors out of business. Others say Microsoft was stealing Apple's idea, and it would be possible to create a GUI that would not infringe on their copyright.
<br/><br/>

==See also==
{{commons|Apple Macintosh}}
*The current Macintosh models:
:*] (G4; education market only)
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==Further reading==
*] (2004), ''Revolution in the Valley'', ] ISBN 0596007191
*Kahney , Leander (2004), ''The Cult of Mac'', No Starch Press ISBN 1886411832
*] (1989), ''The Macintosh Way'', Scott Foresman Trade ISBN 0673461750
*Kelby, Scott (2002), ''Macintosh... The Naked Truth'', New Riders Press ISBN 0735712840
*Levy, Steven (2000), ''Insanely Great: The Life and Times of Macintosh, the Computer That Changed Everything'', Penguin Books ISBN 0140291776
*Linzmayer, Owen (2004), ''Apple Confidential 2.0'', No Starch Press ISBN 1593270100

==Notes==

<references />

==References==
*, retrieved ], ]
*, retrieved ], ]
*Guterl, Fred (December 1984): "Design case history: Apple's Macintosh". '']''. http://www.cs.ucla.edu/~klinger/mac.html
*Glen Sanford (2005): .
*Amit Singh (2005): .
*Dan Knight (2005): .
*Linzmayer, Owen (2004): Apple Confidential 2.0, No Starch Press ISBN 1593270100
*Daring Fireball (] 2003):
*News.com:

==External links==
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Revision as of 03:50, 17 January 2006

Didn't MAC go out of business or something?

MAC Sux doode!