[PatsPalace24]

Just a quick question... I am sorry, I am new to the Mac scene, but I am somewhat confused. A small question, but what is the difference between Apple and Mac? I am sorry if this is a retarted question and please don't "flame" me, I was just wondering. thanks

[Maflynn]

Apple is the company
Mac is the computer. At one time apple had a number of computer lines; the Apple I/II/III, Lisa and of course the Mac.

Currently Macintoshs are its only computer line and of course within that there's the Powerbook - professional laptop, iBook the consumer laptop
eMac and iMac educational & consumer desktops and the venerable Powermac which includes the G5.

Mike

[kafoochy]

Originally posted by Maflynn:
Apple is the company
Mac is the computer. At one time apple had a number of computer lines; the Apple I/II/III, Lisa and of course the Mac.

Currently Macintoshs are its only computer line and of course within that there's the Powerbook - professional laptop, iBook the consumer laptop
eMac and iMac educational & consumer desktops and the venerable Powermac which includes the G5.

Mike

Everything that Malflynn said is correct. At one time there were multiple computer lines made by Apple. What I think should be mentioned is that Macintosh was the first computer with a graphical user interface (GUI) (ok, I'm not going to argue with anyone who was actually first, let's just assume). This is extremely important. I'm assuming that since you're new to Apple, you're familiar with Microsoft. The difference between Macintosh and pre-Macintosh is the same difference between Windows and DOS. The Macintosh GUI was revolutionary as was the mouse, the "new" human-interface-device, whereas previously people typed in commands via a keyboard.

All Macs have a startup screen the says "Welcome to Macintosh" I think of three things when I think of Macintosh, firstly is the hardware, secondly is the operating system and thirdly is the experience of the seemless intergration of hardware and software (usually).

[mrgaskell]

Macintosh is the operating system. Mac OS X = Macintosh Operating System 10. When the Mac was introduced in 1984, it was the operating system, not so much the hardware that was revolutionary.

[kafoochy]

Originally posted by mrgaskell:
Macintosh is the operating system. Mac OS X = Macintosh Operating System 10. When the Mac was introduced in 1984, it was the operating system, not so much the hardware that was revolutionary.

I suppose it is up to debate. As I said in my post, it was the GUI that was revolutionary; the OS. However the startup screen not only said "Welcome to Macintosh" but Macintosh was the name on the front of the box/computer. It didn't say Macintosh 128k, it was simply "Macintosh." Just as iTunes is seamlessly integrated with iMovie, iDVD and Keynote which you run on your iMac which needs only a power cable, keyboard and mouse to run. Even if the technology behind the original Macintosh computer wasn't revolutionary, its implementation was. Although the Apple IIGS was a step in the right direction, the Apple II, although popular, required as many additional cards, chips, cables and as almost as much technical know-how to run as any PC-compatible DOS system. As much as it was the GUI of the MacOS that was extraordinary, the simplicity of the solution including hardware was what was just as amazing if not more so. All of the original Macintosh ads had the Macintosh computer in them.
"Integration" has been a buzzword in the technology world, but the Macintosh was really the first integrated solution. Maybe I've been using Macs too long, although I'm too young to remember too much before them, but the Macintosh was always a philosophy to me. It was more than the software and the hardware; it was what you could express with it. The "Mac OS" was only a part of this, a huge part, but in my mind the OS was designed for, or to add to: the Macintosh. My family had a number of the original all-in-one Macintoshes. I can remember as far back as having a Mac 512k, a 512k upgraded to a Mac Plus, Mac Plus, the Mac SE (my favorite), andSE/30 (boy did we think that one was powerful!) Macintosh was more than the operating system. Running Mac OS on a PC box wouldn't be a Macintosh in my estimation.

[madmacgames]

gotta love Google.

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&l...fine:Macintosh

[kafoochy]

Originally posted by madmacgames:
gotta love Google.

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&l...fine:Macintosh

The perfect synopsis. The Macintosh competes with both Dell and Microsoft really. Also, the title "Mac OS" suggests that the GUI is the operating system for Macintosh. Excellent stuff!!!

[Maflynn]

Macintosh is both, the hardware and the OS, not just the OS. The mac was not the first graphical OS though. Apple had released Lisa which was a little expensive and failed to sell. They in turned got the GUI from Xerox who failed to see the value in the gui, personal computer or the mouse.

One (out many) advantage is the complete package, that is apple produces both the hardware and the software and they can intergrate both to a greater level then MS or has to make the drivers a little generic. Apple's designs is also top notch, they are definitly a market leader in designing computers and GUIs

Mike

[ryju]

Originally posted by Maflynn:
Macintosh is both, the hardware and the OS, not just the OS. The mac was not the first graphical OS though. Apple had released Lisa which was a little expensive and failed to sell. They in turned got the GUI from Xerox who failed to see the value in the gui, personal computer or the mouse.

One (out many) advantage is the complete package, that is apple produces both the hardware and the software and they can intergrate both to a greater level then MS or has to make the drivers a little generic. Apple's designs is also top notch, they are definitly a market leader in designing computers and GUIs

Mike

This guy knows his stuff