Macintosh

   Abbreviated Mac. A range of personal computers first introduced in 1984 by Apple Computer, Inc., featuring a popular and easy-to-use graphical user interface. The computer was based on the Motorola 68000 series of microprocessors and used a proprietary operating system to simulate the user's desktop on the screen.

   The original Mac was a portable, selfcontained unit with a small monochrome screen, 128KB of memory, two serial ports, extended sound capabilities, and a single 400KB, 3.5-inch floppy disk. The computer was an instant success, and users quickly began to demand more power and additional features.

   Apple released many new models over the years, expanding the range to include Macs based on the 68020, 68030, and 68040 processors and adding color, more memory, a built-in SCSI interface, built-in networking, a 32-bit bus, and larger and faster hard disks.

   Introduced in 1991, the PowerBook series of notebook computers offered both power and convenience in a very small package, posing a real challenge to the MS-DOSbased laptops. During the 1990s, the Mac lost overall market share, but remained popular in the desktop-publishing,music,andgraphics-related fields.

   The iMac, introduced in 1998, was an instant success with its sleek new shape and bold color schemes; the one criticism was that it lacked a floppy disk drive.