Classic Systems Emulated : The Macintosh (Part 1)

To say that the Macintosh set the world on fire on January 1984 would have been an understatement. The release of the Macintosh was that epic shot heard around the computing world. 

Their was already rapidly growing anticipation for the Mac through 1983. This anticipation quickly swelled when Apple ran their Super-Bowl commercial directed by Ridley Scott of Alien/Bladerunner fame. People were hyped, and when Steve Jobs unveiled the Mac to the world, everybody went ecstatic.

The new computer would be defined by its new and innovative OS, the Macintosh System Software, which would go on and write the rules of what a GUI is suppose to be like (The System Software wasn't referred to MacOS until System 7.5). Based on the pioneering work done by Xerox and those at PARC (Palo Alto Research Center), Apple would take their work and run with it. The guidelines would influence countless environments like GEM, Windows, GeoWorks, the OS/2 Presentation Manager, X11/Motif, NextStep, Gnome, KDE, etc. The computer didn't have to be hostile with its command-line interface. With the Macintosh, computers can actually be very inviting and welcoming. 

The Macintosh also had a very landmark design. The computer was meant to fit the mold of an "information appliance". The Mac was designed to be very easy and quick to assemble, with it notion of it rowing off an assembly line like a Model T. The Macintosh was meant to look sleek and elegant while simultaneously providing that small footprint on the desk, giving more room for the user. The Macintosh could also be carried around, empowering those on the go. 

Powered by a 7MHz Motorola 68000, the Macintosh was the first general-purpose consumer computer to ship with one. Within a short time though, many more machines would follow suit with using the 68000 like the Atari ST, Commodore Amiga, and in Japan, the Sharp-Hudson x68k. All of these machines would also be defined by their respective graphical environments. The Motorola 68000 would go from elusive to universal in a few years.

The Macintosh was one of the first computers to ship with the new 3.5 inch floppy drive that was created by Sony. There were technical issues with the Twiggy drives that were used on the Lisa. These drives were originally destined for the Mac as well, and in fact, the early prototypes used them as well. However, due to reliability issues, they were replaced with the new 3.5 inch drives that was created by Sony. These drives were already used in the HP Model 150 business computer and the Sony SMC-70 as an optional peripheral. However, the inclusion of the drive in the Macintosh would make the 3.5 inch floppy drive mainstream in the computer landscape. The 3.5 inch floppy drives wouldn't find there way onto DOS PC's until IBM released the PS/2 family of computers in 1987. 

The Software

The Software, just as much as the hardware design, would define the Macintosh. Upon release, there was nothing like the System Software. With its desktop with icons and pull-down menus, the OS was very intuitive. It was very simple, yet powerful. However, the power didn't stop with the OS itself. What good is an OS without applications. Apple was well-ahead of the game though. 

At launch, the new Macintosh shipped with MacPaint. MacPaint was the brain-child of Bill Atkinson, who also wrote QuickDraw, the core API that the System Software ran on. MacPaint defined how a GUI-based paint program should look like and operate. This program would unleash the creative spirit of countless individuals and bring the Macintosh to the forefront of graphics design. 

Apple also released MacWrite. While it wasn't the first graphical word-processor, this program would rewrite the rules for others to follow. From the very beginning, MacWrite already made powerful use of the capabilities of the WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) paradigm. The Macintosh could make use of various typefaces which could greatly enhanced a document. One could now move beyond Courier and make expressive and rich documents full of life. Copy, Cut and Paste would become standard lexicon in the computing world because of  MacWrite.  

In the late 70's/early 80's, many industry pundits screamed about the paperless office and how computers were going to make paper obsolete. Yet, the Macintosh would transform paper into a computer medium itself that allowed for very elaborate documents to be produced. Not surprisingly, many who purchased the image-rich Mac also brought a printer to go along with it. Andy Hertzfeld, one of Apple's very prominent engineers who helped designed the Mac, details this on his website, Apple Folklore. The Macintosh would give birth to desktop publishing.

MinivMac

MinivMac emulates the various models of the classic Macintoshes, including the original 128k model that started shipping in January 1984. One of the recommendations when using this emulated 128k is to use the System Software that shipped with it. For the 128k Mac, this would have been System Software 1.0 (0.97), Finder 1.0. The Macintosh also shipped with the Guided Tour disk that ran the pre-release System 0.85 from December 1983. The 128k-compiled version of MinivMac has no issues running the original system software. In time, the 128k Mac would get a memory upgrade that bumped the system up to 512KB's of RAM. 


Conclusion

Since computers weren't still really widespread yet, especially those with the capabilities of a Mac, the new system shipped with a Guided Tour disk. This disk was in itself revolutionary in that Apple provided a very intuitive way of introducing new users to a GUI. The examples included were so simple, but yet, so powerful in the way it introduced new users to the mouse. Even a simple puzzle game where one moved the mouse sprite to the cheese icon would introduce the novel and soon-to-be universal concept of drag-and-drop onto the new users. Things that we take for granted today were first introduced to us in a new world that would quickly embrace mouse, icons, windows, and menus as second nature. Along with its innovative design, the Macintosh would have its defining look while its software set the standard for others to follow. Not a bad legacy at all if you ask me.

Macintosh 128K (Wikipedia) - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Macintosh_128K

Macintosh 512K (Wikipedia) - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Macintosh_512K

1984 (Folklore) - https://www.folklore.org/StoryView.py?project=Macintosh&story=1984.txt

The Times They Are A-Changin' (Folklore) - https://www.folklore.org/StoryView.py?project=Macintosh&story=The_Times_They_Are_A-Changin.txt






Motorola 68000 (Wikipedia) - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motorola_68000

1984 (advertisement) (Wikipedia) - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1984_(advertisement)

Classic Mac OS (Wikipedia) - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Classic_Mac_OS


Desktop Metaphor (Wikipedia) - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Desktop_metaphor

WIMP (computing) (Wikipedia) - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WIMP_(computing)



Bill Atkinson (Wikipedia) - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bill_Atkinson

Andy Hertzfeld (Wikipedia) - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andy_Hertzfeld




Desktop publishing (Wikipedia) - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Desktop_publishing


Quick, Hide In This Closet! (Folklore) - https://www.folklore.org/StoryView.py?project=Macintosh&story=Hide_Under_This_Desk.txt

Sony SMC-70 (Wikipedia) - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sony_SMC-70

History of the floppy disk (3+1⁄2-inch format ) (Wikipedia) - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_floppy_disk#3+1%E2%81%842-inch_format

HP-150 (Wikipedia) - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HP-150

MinivMac - https://www.gryphel.com/c/minivmac/







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