Definition: macintosh

Source: WordNet (r) 1.7

macintosh
     n 1: a lightweight waterproof (usually rubberized) fabric [syn: mackintosh]
     2: (British) a waterproof raincoat made of rubberized fabric
        [syn: mackintosh, mac, mack]

Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Macintosh \Mac"in*tosh\, n.
   Same as Mackintosh.

Source: The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (2003-OCT-10)

Macintosh

   <computer> (Mac) A range of single user, 32-bit personal
   computers manufactured by Apple Computer, Inc., originally
   based on the Motorola 68000 microprocessor family and a
   proprietary operating system.  The Mac was Apple's successor
   to the Lisa.

   The project was proposed by Jef Raskin some time before
   Steve Jobs's famous visit to Xerox PARC.  Jobs tried to
   scuttle the Macintosh project and only joined it later because
   he wasn't trusted to manage the Lisa project.

   The Macintosh user interface was notable for popularising
   the graphical user interface, with its easy to learn and
   easy to use desktop metaphor.

   The Macintosh Operating System is now officially called
   Mac OS.

   The first Macintosh, introduced in January 1984, had a
   Motorola 68000 CPU, 128K of RAM, a small monochrome
   screen, and one built-in floppy disk drive with an external
   slot for one more, two serial ports and a four-voice sound
   generator.  This was all housed in one small plastic case,
   including the screen.  When more memory was available later in
   the year, a 512K Macintosh was nicknamed the "Fat Mac."

   The standard Macintosh screen resolution is 72 dpi (making
   one point = one pixel), exactly half the 144 dpi
   resolution of the ancient Apple Imagewriter dot matrix
   printer.

   The Mac Plus (January 1986) added expandability by providing
   an external SCSI port for connecting hard disks, magnetic
   tape, and other high-speed devices.

   The Mac SE (March 1987) had up to four megabytes of RAM, an
   optional built-in 20 megabyte hard disk and one internal
   expansion slot for connecting a third-party device.

   The Mac II (March 1987) used the faster Motorola 68020 CPU
   with a 32-bit bus.

   In 1994 PowerPC based Macs, PowerMacs, were launched, and
   in 1999, the iMac, updated on 2002-01-07.  PowerMacs clocked
   at over 1GHz were planned for 2002-01-22, to be followed by
   dual 1GHz processors and "Superdrive" (combined DVD-ROM,
   DVD-RW, CD-ROM, CD-RW).

   If "Macintosh" were an acronym, some say it would stand for
   "Many Applications Crash, If Not, The Operating System Hangs".
   While this was true for pre Mac OS 9 systems, it is less true
   for Mac OS 9, and totally incorrect for Mac OS X, which has
   protected memory, so even if one application crashes, the
   system and other applications are unaffected.

   See also Macintosh file system, Macintosh user interface.

   Brock Kyle's Macintosh Guide Book.

   (2002-06-21)