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H A R D W A R E
On January 24, 1984, Apple Computer Inc. introduced the first Macintosh computer, the Apple 128k. It was the first truly affordable computer that uses a graphical user interface. When the original Macintosh was introduced, there wasn't a proper model name for it. It was just simply called "The Macintosh". Perhaps this was because at that time, Apple still wasn't sure whether they were going to expand this line of computers, following the failure of the Lisa. At that time, there wasn't really a standard platform at Apple. There were IBM-compatible PCs and there were the Apple II, Apple III, Lisa and the Macintosh. In my opinion, the reason why the IBM-compatible PC got a head start and saturated the market before Apple did was mainly because Apple did not have a standard "platform" to start off with. All the computers Apple manufactured up to this point were not compatible with each other at all. But having said that, there is also an advantage of doing this - they could freshly develop a true GUI system, instead of like Windows, which was (and still is) essentially a "graphical front-end" which runs under DOS. By abandoning command line operating system, the Macintosh had less limitations to work with (for example the RAM limitation in DOS) and therefore they could develop a lean and truly user-friendly graphical user interface. Despite its relatively low price (US$2500) compared with the Lisa and its excellent, intuitive interface, the original Macintosh was not very well received. Most people didn't take it seriously, as it did not have a hard drive (there is no SCSI connector on the 128k Mac, although you can use a serial hard drive with it, if you don't mind it being slow) and there were no business software that could run on it. The only software that were available when it was first introduced was MacWrite and MacPaint. It was also criticised for its small 9" monitor. I was considered a toy by most people. Enough of the bad press. Although the built-in monitor of the original Macintosh is small, it was actually a breakthrough in the personal computers industry - it can display black text on a white background. Most other PCs at that time had green or amber text on a black background. It also came with a mouse, no other computers came with a mouse at that time. System 0.0 was the operating system that came with the 128k Macintosh. Today's MacOS system is essentially based on this first operating system, and if you are familiar with the "modern" MacOs you would have no trouble using this 1984 computer. Even a Windows user would have no problems in using it and he might find that System 0.0 is easier to use and understand than Windows! You might wonder how such a technically sophisticated operating system can fit in a 400k floppy disk and still have room for MacWrite and MacPaint. The trick is that a lot of the basic GUI routines are built-in and it's saved in ROM. Without this ROM other manufacturers cannot build a Macintosh. The original 128k Macintosh was updated nine months after its introduction, with the Macintosh 512k. It was basically identical to the 128k except with more RAM (512k).
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