1.
Apple Inc.
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Apple is an American multinational technology company headquartered in Cupertino, California that designs, develops, and sells consumer electronics, computer software, and online services. Apples consumer software includes the macOS and iOS operating systems, the media player, the Safari web browser. Its online services include the iTunes Store, the iOS App Store and Mac App Store, Apple Music, Apple was founded by Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak, and Ronald Wayne in April 1976 to develop and sell personal computers. It was incorporated as Apple Computer, Inc. in January 1977, Apple joined the Dow Jones Industrial Average in March 2015. In November 2014, Apple became the first U. S. company to be valued at over US$700 billion in addition to being the largest publicly traded corporation in the world by market capitalization. The company employs 115,000 full-time employees as of July 2015 and it operates the online Apple Store and iTunes Store, the latter of which is the worlds largest music retailer. Consumers use more than one billion Apple products worldwide as of March 2016, Apples worldwide annual revenue totaled $233 billion for the fiscal year ending in September 2015. This revenue accounts for approximately 1. 25% of the total United States GDP.1 billion, the corporation receives significant criticism regarding the labor practices of its contractors and its environmental and business practices, including the origins of source materials. Apple was founded on April 1,1976, by Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak, the Apple I kits were computers single-handedly designed and hand-built by Wozniak and first shown to the public at the Homebrew Computer Club. The Apple I was sold as a motherboard, which was less than what is now considered a personal computer. The Apple I went on sale in July 1976 and was market-priced at $666.66, Apple was incorporated January 3,1977, without Wayne, who sold his share of the company back to Jobs and Wozniak for $800. Multimillionaire Mike Markkula provided essential business expertise and funding of $250,000 during the incorporation of Apple, during the first five years of operations revenues grew exponentially, doubling about every four months. Between September 1977 and September 1980 yearly sales grew from $775,000 to $118m, the Apple II, also invented by Wozniak, was introduced on April 16,1977, at the first West Coast Computer Faire. It differed from its rivals, the TRS-80 and Commodore PET, because of its character cell-based color graphics. While early Apple II models used ordinary cassette tapes as storage devices, they were superseded by the introduction of a 5 1/4 inch floppy disk drive and interface called the Disk II. The Apple II was chosen to be the platform for the first killer app of the business world, VisiCalc. VisiCalc created a market for the Apple II and gave home users an additional reason to buy an Apple II. Before VisiCalc, Apple had been a distant third place competitor to Commodore, by the end of the 1970s, Apple had a staff of computer designers and a production line
2.
Desktop computer
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A desktop computer is a personal computer designed for regular use at a single location on or near a desk or table due to its size and power requirements. The most common configuration has a case that houses the power supply, motherboard, disk storage, a keyboard and mouse for input, and a monitor, and, often. The case may be oriented horizontally or vertically and placed either underneath, beside, an all-in-one desktop computer typically combines the case and monitor in one unit. Early computers took up the space of a whole room, minicomputers generally fit into one or a few refrigerator-sized racks. The very first programmable calculator/computer was marketed in the half of the 1960s. More desktop models were introduced in 1971, leading to a model programmable in BASIC in 1972 and this one used a smaller version of a minicomputer design based on read-only memory and had small one-line LED alphanumeric displays. They could draw computer graphics with a plotter, over the course of the 1990s, desktop cases gradually became less common than the more-accessible tower cases that may be located on the floor under or beside a desk rather than on a desk. Not only do these tower cases had more room for expansion, Desktop cases, particularly the compact form factors, remain popular for corporate computing environments and kiosks. Some computer cases can be positioned either horizontally or upright. While desktops have long been the most common configuration for PCs, notably, while desktops were mainly produced in the United States, laptops had long been produced by contract manufacturers based in Asia, such as Foxconn. This shift led to the closure of the many desktop assembly plants in the United States by 2010, battery-powered portable computers had just 2% worldwide market share in 1986. However, laptops have become popular, both for business and personal use. Around 109 million notebook PCs shipped worldwide in 2007, a growth of 33% compared to 2006, in 2008, it was estimated that 145.9 million notebooks were sold, and that the number would grow in 2009 to 177.7 million. The third quarter of 2008 was the first time when worldwide notebook PC shipments exceeded desktops, the change in sales of form factors is due to the desktop iMac moving from affordable to upscale and subsequent releases are considered premium all-in-ones. The decades of development means that most people already own desktop computers that meet their needs and have no need of buying a new one merely to keep pace with advancing technology. Recently, some analysts have suggested that Windows 8 has actually hurt sales of PCs in 2012, the post-PC trend has seen a decline in the sales of desktop and laptop PCs. The decline has been attributed to increased power and applications of computing devices, namely smartphones. Among PC form factors, desktops remain a staple in the market but have lost popularity among home buyers
3.
Operating system
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An operating system is system software that manages computer hardware and software resources and provides common services for computer programs. All computer programs, excluding firmware, require a system to function. Operating systems are found on many devices that contain a computer – from cellular phones, the dominant desktop operating system is Microsoft Windows with a market share of around 83. 3%. MacOS by Apple Inc. is in place, and the varieties of Linux is in third position. Linux distributions are dominant in the server and supercomputing sectors, other specialized classes of operating systems, such as embedded and real-time systems, exist for many applications. A single-tasking system can run one program at a time. Multi-tasking may be characterized in preemptive and co-operative types, in preemptive multitasking, the operating system slices the CPU time and dedicates a slot to each of the programs. Unix-like operating systems, e. g. Solaris, Linux, cooperative multitasking is achieved by relying on each process to provide time to the other processes in a defined manner. 16-bit versions of Microsoft Windows used cooperative multi-tasking, 32-bit versions of both Windows NT and Win9x, used preemptive multi-tasking. Single-user operating systems have no facilities to distinguish users, but may allow multiple programs to run in tandem, a distributed operating system manages a group of distinct computers and makes them appear to be a single computer. The development of networked computers that could be linked and communicate with each other gave rise to distributed computing, distributed computations are carried out on more than one machine. When computers in a work in cooperation, they form a distributed system. The technique is used both in virtualization and cloud computing management, and is common in large server warehouses, embedded operating systems are designed to be used in embedded computer systems. They are designed to operate on small machines like PDAs with less autonomy and they are able to operate with a limited number of resources. They are very compact and extremely efficient by design, Windows CE and Minix 3 are some examples of embedded operating systems. A real-time operating system is a system that guarantees to process events or data by a specific moment in time. A real-time operating system may be single- or multi-tasking, but when multitasking, early computers were built to perform a series of single tasks, like a calculator. Basic operating system features were developed in the 1950s, such as resident monitor functions that could run different programs in succession to speed up processing
4.
Classic Mac OS
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This is a list of macOS components, features that are included in the current Mac operating system. Latest version 2.7 Automator is a developed by Apple Inc. Automator enables the repetition of tasks across a variety of programs, including Finder, Safari, Calendar, Contacts. It can also work with third-party applications such as Microsoft Office, the icon features a robot holding a pipe, a reference to pipelines, a computer science term for connected data workflows. Automator was first released with Mac OS X Tiger, Automator provides a graphical user interface for automating tasks without knowledge of programming or scripting languages. Tasks can be recorded as they are performed by the user or can be selected from a list, the output of the previous action can become the input to the next action. Automator comes with a library of Actions that act as individual steps in a Workflow document, a Workflow document is used to carry out repetitive tasks. Workflows can be saved and reused, unix command line scripts and AppleScripts can also be invoked as Actions. The actions are linked together in a Workflow, the Workflow can be saved as an application, Workflow file or a contextual menu item. Options can be set when the Workflow is created or when the Workflow is run, a workflow file created in Automator is saved in /Users//Library/Services. Latest version 10.8 Calculator is a calculator application made by Apple Inc. It has three modes, basic, scientific, and programmer, Basic includes a number pad, buttons for adding, subtracting, multiplying, and dividing, as well as memory keys. Scientific mode supports exponents and trigonometric functions, and programmer mode gives the user access to more options related to computer programming, Apple currently ships a different application called Grapher. Calculator has Reverse Polish notation support, and can speak the buttons pressed. The Calculator appeared first as an accessory in first version of Macintosh System for the 1984 Macintosh 128k. Its design was maintained with the basic math operations until the final release of classic Mac OS in 2002. A Dashboard Calculator widget is included in all versions of macOS from Mac OS X Tiger onwards and it only has the basic mode of its desktop counterpart. Since the release of OS X Yosemite, there is also a simple calculator widget available in the notifications area, since the release of Mac OS X Leopard, simple arithmetic functions can be calculated from Spotlight feature
5.
System 7
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System 7 is a single-user graphical user interface-based operating system for Macintosh computers and was part of the classic Mac OS line of operating systems. It was introduced on May 13,1991, by Apple Computer and it succeeded System 6, and was the main Macintosh operating system until it was succeeded by Mac OS8 in 1997. Features added with the System 7 release included virtual memory, personal file sharing, QuickTime, QuickDraw 3D, System 7 is often used generically to refer to all 7. x versions. With the release of version 7.6 in 1997, Apple officially renamed the operating system Mac OS, System 7 was developed for Macs that used the Motorola 680x0 line of processors, but was ported to the PowerPC after Apple adopted the new processor. The development of the Macintosh Systems up to System 6 followed a smooth progression with the addition of new features. Major additions were fairly limited, notably adding Color QuickDraw and MultiFinder in System 6, some perspective on the scope of the changes can be seen by examining the official system documentation, Inside Macintosh. This initially shipped in three volumes, adding another to describe the changes introduced with the Mac Plus, and another for the Mac II and these limited changes meant that the original Mac system remained largely as it was when initially introduced. That is, the machine was geared towards a single user, however, many of the assumptions of this model were no longer appropriate. Most notable among these was the model, the replacement of which had first been examined in 1986s Switcher. Running MultiFinder normally required larger amount of RAM and a hard drive, while additions had been relatively limited, so had fixes to some of the underlying oddities of the system architecture. If the system were able to support tasks, this one-off solution would no longer be needed - desk accessories could simply be small programs. Yet, as MultiFinder was still optional, such a step had not been taken, numerous examples of this sort of problem could be found throughout the system. Finally, the adoption of hard drives and local area networks led to any number of new features being requested from users and developers. By the late 1980s, the list of new upgrades and suggested changes to the model was considerable. In March 1988, shortly after the release of System 6, development of the ideas contained on the blue and pink cards was to proceed in parallel, and at first the two projects were known simply as blue and pink. Apple intended to have the team release an updated version of the existing Macintosh operating system in the 1990–1991 timeframe. As Blue was aimed at relatively simple upgrades, the feature list reads to some degree as a sort of System 6, a new Sound Manager API, version 2.0, replaced the older ad hoc APIs. The new APIs featured significantly improved hardware abstraction, as well as higher-quality playback, although technically not a new feature for System 7, Sound Manager 2.0 was the first widespread implementation of this technology to make it to most Mac users
6.
Central processing unit
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The computer industry has used the term central processing unit at least since the early 1960s. The form, design and implementation of CPUs have changed over the course of their history, most modern CPUs are microprocessors, meaning they are contained on a single integrated circuit chip. An IC that contains a CPU may also contain memory, peripheral interfaces, some computers employ a multi-core processor, which is a single chip containing two or more CPUs called cores, in that context, one can speak of such single chips as sockets. Array processors or vector processors have multiple processors that operate in parallel, there also exists the concept of virtual CPUs which are an abstraction of dynamical aggregated computational resources. Early computers such as the ENIAC had to be rewired to perform different tasks. Since the term CPU is generally defined as a device for software execution, the idea of a stored-program computer was already present in the design of J. Presper Eckert and John William Mauchlys ENIAC, but was initially omitted so that it could be finished sooner. On June 30,1945, before ENIAC was made, mathematician John von Neumann distributed the paper entitled First Draft of a Report on the EDVAC and it was the outline of a stored-program computer that would eventually be completed in August 1949. EDVAC was designed to perform a number of instructions of various types. Significantly, the programs written for EDVAC were to be stored in high-speed computer memory rather than specified by the wiring of the computer. This overcame a severe limitation of ENIAC, which was the considerable time, with von Neumanns design, the program that EDVAC ran could be changed simply by changing the contents of the memory. Early CPUs were custom designs used as part of a larger, however, this method of designing custom CPUs for a particular application has largely given way to the development of multi-purpose processors produced in large quantities. This standardization began in the era of discrete transistor mainframes and minicomputers and has accelerated with the popularization of the integrated circuit. The IC has allowed increasingly complex CPUs to be designed and manufactured to tolerances on the order of nanometers, both the miniaturization and standardization of CPUs have increased the presence of digital devices in modern life far beyond the limited application of dedicated computing machines. Modern microprocessors appear in electronic devices ranging from automobiles to cellphones, the so-called Harvard architecture of the Harvard Mark I, which was completed before EDVAC, also utilized a stored-program design using punched paper tape rather than electronic memory. Relays and vacuum tubes were used as switching elements, a useful computer requires thousands or tens of thousands of switching devices. The overall speed of a system is dependent on the speed of the switches, tube computers like EDVAC tended to average eight hours between failures, whereas relay computers like the Harvard Mark I failed very rarely. In the end, tube-based CPUs became dominant because the significant speed advantages afforded generally outweighed the reliability problems, most of these early synchronous CPUs ran at low clock rates compared to modern microelectronic designs. Clock signal frequencies ranging from 100 kHz to 4 MHz were very common at this time, the design complexity of CPUs increased as various technologies facilitated building smaller and more reliable electronic devices
7.
Motorola 68000
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The Motorola 68000 is a 32-bit CISC microprocessor with a 16-bit external data bus, designed and marketed by Motorola Semiconductor Products Sector. After 38 years in production, the 68000 architecture is still in use, the 68000 grew out of the MACSS project, begun in 1976 to develop an entirely new architecture without backward compatibility. It would be a higher-power sibling complementing the existing 8-bit 6800 line rather than a compatible successor, in the end, the 68000 did retain a bus protocol compatibility mode for existing 6800 peripheral devices, and a version with an 8-bit data bus was produced. However, the designers focused on the future, or forward compatibility. For instance, the CPU registers are 32 bits wide, though few self-contained structures in the processor itself operate on 32 bits at a time. The MACSS team drew heavily on the influence of minicomputer processor design, such as the PDP-11 and VAX systems, in the mid 1970s, the 8-bit microprocessor manufacturers raced to introduce the 16-bit generation. National Semiconductor had been first with its IMP-16 and PACE processors in 1973–1975, Intel had worked on their advanced 16/32-bit Intel iAPX432 since 1975 and their Intel 8086 since 1976. Arriving late to the 16-bit arena afforded the new processor more transistors, 32-bit macroinstructions, the original MC68000 was fabricated using an HMOS process with a 3.5 µm feature size. Formally introduced in September 1979, Initial samples were released in February 1980, Initial speed grades were 4,6, and 8 MHz.10 MHz chips became available during 1981, and 12.5 MHz chips by June 1982. The 16.67 MHz 12F version of the MC68000, the fastest version of the original HMOS chip, was not produced until the late 1980s, tom Gunter, retired Corporate Vice President at Motorola, is known as the Father of the 68000. The 68000 was used in Microsoft Xenix systems as well as an early NetWare Unix-based Server, the 68000 was used in the first generation of desktop laser printers including the original Apple Inc. In 1982, the 68000 received an update to its ISA allowing it to virtual memory and to conform to the Popek. The updated chip was called the 68010, a further extended version which exposed 31 bits of the address bus was also produced, in small quantities, as the 68012. To support lower-cost systems and control applications with smaller sizes, Motorola introduced the 8-bit compatible MC68008. This was a 68000 with an 8-bit data bus and an address bus. After 1982, Motorola devoted more attention to the 68020 and 88000 projects, several other companies were second-source manufacturers of the HMOS68000. These included Hitachi, who shrank the size to 2.7 µm for their 12.5 MHz version, Mostek, Rockwell, Signetics, Thomson/SGS-Thomson. Toshiba was also a maker of the CMOS 68HC000
8.
SIMM
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A SIMM, or single in-line memory module, is a type of memory module containing random-access memory used in computers from the early 1980s to the late 1990s. It differs from a dual in-line memory module, the most predominant form of memory module today, SIMMs were standardised under the JEDEC JESD-21C standard. Most early PC motherboards used socketed DIP chips for DRAM, as computer memory capacities grew, memory modules were used to save motherboard space and ease memory expansion. Instead of plugging in eight or nine single DIP chips, only one memory module was needed to increase the memory of the computer. SIMMs were invented in 1982 by James J. Parker at Zenith Microcircuits, Wang Laboratories tried to patent it and were granted a patent in April 1987. That patent was later voided when Wang Laboratories sued multiple companies for infringement, the lawsuit was then dropped and the patent was vacated. The original memory modules were built upon ceramic substrates with 64K Hitachi flip chip parts and had pins, later the modules were built on ceramic substrates with Fujitsu plastic J-lead chips and still later, they were made on standard PCB material. SIMMs using pins are usually called SIP or SIPP memory modules to distinguish them from the common modules using edge connectors. The first variant of SIMMs has 30 pins and provides 8 bits of data and they were used in AT-compatible, 386-based, 486-based, Macintosh Plus, Macintosh II, Quadra and Atari STE microcomputers, and Wang VS minicomputers. The second variant of SIMMs has 72 pins and provides 32 bits of data and these appeared first in the early 1990s in the IBM PS/2, and later in systems based on the 486, Pentium, Pentium Pro, early Pentium II, and contemporary/competing chips of other brands. By the mid 90s, 72-pin SIMMs had replaced 30-pin SIMMs in new-build computers, non-IBM PC computers such as UNIX workstations may use proprietary non-standard SIMMs. The Macintosh IIfx uses proprietary non-standard SIMMs with 64 pins, DRAM technologies used in SIMMs include FPM, and the higher-performance EDO DRAM. Due to the data bus widths of the memory modules and some processors. The rule of thumb is a 286, 386SX,68000 or low-end 68020 /68030 system would require two 30-pin SIMMs for a memory bank. On 386DX,486, and full-spec 68020 through 68060 systems, on Pentium systems, two 72-pin SIMMs are required. However, some Pentium systems have support for a half bank mode, conversely, some 386 and 486 systems use what is known as memory interleaving, which requires twice as many SIMMs and effectively doubles the bandwidth. The earliest SIMM sockets were conventional push-type sockets and these were soon replaced by ZIF sockets in which the SIMM was inserted at an angle, then tilted into an upright position. To remove one, the two metal or plastic clips at each end must be pulled to the side, then the SIMM must be tilted back, the earlier sockets used plastic retainer clips which were found to break, so steel clips replaced them
