In 1984, the first Macintosh personal computer was distributed by Apple Computer, Inc. The Macintosh, which had a memory capacity of 128KB, an integrated monitor, and a mouse was the first computer to legitimize the graphic interface. The Mac's interface was similar to a system explored by Xerox's PARC. Rather than use a command line interface which was the standard on other machines, the MacOS presented users with graphic "icons", over-lapping graphic windows, and pull-down menus.
The Macintosh was a significant risk for Apple in that the new system was incompatible with any other type of software, either their own Apple ][, or the IBM PC line. The machine was further plagued by limited memory and the lack of a hard drive. The machine soon became a standard for graphic artists and publishers. This allowed the machine to grow into a more established platform.
