Macintosh

Macintosh - A personal computer manufactured by Apple Computer.

Not to be confused with McIntosh - A variety of red eating apple, grown commercially in the northern United States, named after John McIntosh (fl. 1796), its first cultivator. Also, Mackintosh, Macintosh - (chiefly British) 1. A raincoat. 2. A lightweight, waterproof fabric that was originally of rubberized cotton. After Charles Macintosh (1766-1843), its inventor.
PowerMac G4

Macintosh Computers are fairly high-end personal computers, largely chosen for design and publishing work. Although not as widely in use as IBM Compatible computers (PC's), they are on the cutting edge of the market, providing a fast, stable platform.

I have used Macintosh computers since 1984, starting with the Mac Plus, the first personal computer to have a full megabyte of RAM! Things have come a long way since then, with more speed, power, and complexity, but essentially achieving the same end.

Personally, I like the "feel" of the Macintosh better than other personal computers. While PC's now function much more like the original Macintosh, I think the Mac still has an edge when it comes to design and operation. The only downside to the Macintosh is that there is not as large a body of software available for it, since it is not as widely used. It is also more difficult to share some items with others, most of whom will be using PC's.

I have found that programs are available to perform any task that I wish, but often must be obtained using an overnight mailorder source, since most retailers do not carry a large variety of Mac programs. While I don't use much game software, I understand that some game applications are not available, although many high-powered games are made for the Mac.

The latest Macintosh, the Power Mac G4, is being touted as a supercomputer, due to its incredible sustained processing speed of over one gigaflop. This means that it can execute at least one billion floating-point operations per second. This is nearly three times the speed of the fastest 600mHz Pentium III computers. These speeds are particularly useful with highly demanding applications like "Photoshop". Also known as the PowerPC G4, it was designed by Apple Computer, Motorola, and IBM. You can find more about this computer and other Macs on the Apple Computer website.

Macintosh Related Web Site Links