MACINTOSH

Macintosh, or for newer models, Mac, is a brand name which covers several lines of personal computers designed, developed, and marketed by Apple Inc. The original Macintosh was released on January 24, 1984; it was the first commercially successful personal computer to feature a mouse and a graphical user interface (GUI) rather than a command line interface. Current Mac systems are mainly targeted at the home, education, and creative professional markets. They range from the entry-level Mac mini and consumer-level iMac desktop models, the workstation-level Mac Pro tower, and the MacBook and MacBook Pro laptop computers.

Production of the Mac is based on a vertical integration model in that Apple facilitates all aspects of its hardware and creates its own operating system that is pre-installed on all Macs. Apple exclusively produces Mac hardware, choosing internal systems, designs, and prices. Apple does use third party components, however; current Macintosh CPUs use Intel's x86 architecture (formerly the AIM alliance's PowerPC and originally Motorola's 68k). Apple also designs the operating system for Macs, currently Mac OS X 10.5 "Leopard". This is in contrast to most IBM compatible PCs, where one vendor provides the operating system and multiple vendors create the hardware. The modern Mac, like other PCs, is capable of running operating systems such as Linux, FreeBSD, and Microsoft Windows, considered to be the Mac's biggest competitor.

Apple directly sub-contracts hardware production to Asian manufacturers, maintaining a high degree of control over the end product. By contrast, most other companies (including Microsoft) create software that can be run on a variety of third-party hardware. The current Mac product family uses Intel x86 processors. All Mac models ship with at least 1 GB RAM as standard. Current Mac computers use an ATI Radeon, nVidia GeForce or Intel GMA graphics cards and include either a Combo Drive, a DVD player and CD burner all-in-one; or the SuperDrive, a dual-function DVD and CD burner. Macs include two standard data transfer ports: USB and FireWire. USB was introduced in the 1998, iMac G3 and is ubiquitous today; FireWire is mainly reserved for high-performance devices such as hard drives or video cameras.

The majority of Mac computers have historically shipped with a single-button mouse, largely because surveys showed users (at the time) didn't know which button to use. Although Microsoft's IntelliMouse, featuring two buttons and a scroll wheel, was introduced in 1995 to great success, Macs did not support more than one mouse button until Mac OS X arrived in 2001. This changed in August 2005, when Apple released the four-button Mighty Mouse (a wireless version was made available on July 25, 2006) and began to ship it with new desktop Macs.

The original Macintosh was the first successful computer to use a graphical user interface devoid of a command line. Instead it used a desktop metaphor, depicting meatspace objects like documents and a trashcan as icons onscreen. The System Software, named Mac OS starting with version 7.6, continued to evolve until version 9.2.2. In 2001, Apple introduced Mac OS X, based on Darwin and NEXTSTEP; its new features included the Dock and the Aqua user interface. The most recent version is Mac OS X v10.5 "Leopard". In addition to Leopard, all new Macs are bundled with assorted Apple-produced applications, including iLife, a trial of iWork, the Safari web browser and the iTunes media player.

The Macintosh operating system enjoys a near-absence of the types of malware and spyware that affect Microsoft Windows users. This is due to both Mac OS X's UNIX roots and smaller user base. Both of these factors drive malware creators to develop for Windows. However, worms as well as potential vulnerabilities were noted in February 2006, which led some industry analysts and anti-virus companies to issue warnings that Apple's Mac OS X is not immune to viruses, as is commonly misconceived. Regardless, there has not been an outbreak of Mac malware, and Apple routinely issues security updates for its software.

Originally, the hardware architecture was so closely tied to Mac OS that it was impossible to boot an alternative operating system; the most common workaround, used even by Apple for A/UX, was to boot into Mac OS and then to give control to a boot loader program. This technique is not necessary on Open Firmware-based PCI Macs, though it was formerly used for convenience on many Old World ROM systems due to bugs in the firmware implementation. Now, Mac hardware boots directly from Open Firmware or EFI, and Macs are no longer limited to running just the Mac OS. Following the release of Intel-based Mac, third-party virtualization software such as Parallels Desktop, VMware Fusion, and Crossover Mac began to emerge, allowing users to run much of the previously Windows-only software on a Mac. Apple also released Boot Camp, which allows users to run Windows XP or Vista natively on any Intel-based Mac. Because Mac OS X is less common than Microsoft Windows, less third-party software is available, although popular applications such as Microsoft Office, are usually cross-platform and can run without emulation.

Macintosh’s user interface is far different from those of other personal computers. Strictly speaking, it is not all that new. The original concepts were pioneered at Xerox’s Palo Alto Research Center (PARC) several years ago. Apple used them heavily in the original Lisa machine, released a year before the Mac. The people who most needed the interface were those who could least afford it: small business people, students, etc. The Macintosh is still a bit expensive, but it’s within the reach of far more people than any of its predecessors.

The Macintosh is not without its problems. Resources are tight – it needs more memory and disk space – and software has been slow in coming to market. Many have criticized its price ($2495). In fact, there are indications that Apple considered a lower price ($1995) and then rejected it. It doesn’t seem to have hurt the Mac’s market – people are still buying them faster than Apple can make them – but there’s the potential for backlash if the machine doesn’t deliver on all its promises.

Whatever its problems and limitations, the Mac represents a breakthrough in adapting computers to work with people instead of vice versa.