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When the Rainbow™ Color Proofing System was first released for sale in February of 1992, the Rainbow™ software was Macintosh system compatible and the fastest computer available was the Macintosh IIfx. Speed was the number one concern of our customers. In less than four years, the speed of the computers used in the industry has increased more than ten fold as new computer models are announced almost monthly.

The Rainbow™ software development team continues to keep the Rainbow™ software "state of the art" and the software has evolved to take advantage of the speed capabilities offered by today's systems. At the same time, the Rainbow™ software has become increasingly complex and versatile to meet the growing needs of the industry and to maintain a leadership position in the digital desktop proofing business.

Recommended Computer Systems for Running the Rainbow™ Software

Note: Because of the fast-changing software and hardware technologies, model compatibility can change monthly. Use the recommendations in this Tech Bulletin as a guide.

Although there are many Macintosh computers that meet minimum requirements for running the Rainbow™ system (see below for systems that meet minimum requirements), today's customers are still looking for the best speed, and that can be found with the Power Macintosh™ series using 601 through 604 CPU chips with integrated FPU.

As of March, 1996, the following Power Macintosh models are available for sale from Apple™ Macintosh™ dealers, and will run Rainbow software v4.0 with the best speed. When considering the speed of a system, look at the CPU, Clock MHz and the maximum RAM the system allows.

Model  5200  6200  7200/75  7200/90  7500/100  8500/120  9500/120  9500/132

CPU  PPC  PPC  PPC  PPC  PPC  PPC  PPC  PPC

Clock  603  603  603  603  603  603  603  603

MHZ  75  75  75  90  100  120  120  132

RAM  2-  2-  4-  4-  8-  8-  16-  16-

Slots  72 pin SIMMs  72 pin SIMMs  168 pin DIMMs  168 pin DIMMs  168 pin DIMMs  168 pin DIMMs  168 pin DIMMs  168 pin DIMMs

Max RAM  64 MB  64 MB  256 MB  256 MB  512 MB  518 MB  768 MB  768 MB

Computer Systems Capable of Running the Rainbow™ Color Proofing System

In addition to the above list of recommended systems, there are many earlier Macintosh computer models that are discontinued sale items from the factory, but are capable of running the Rainbow™ software. These computers meet the minimum requirements-they have a 68040 CPU with a math co-processor and 20 MBs of RAM. Computers that have the minimum requirements to run the Rainbow™ software include the first generation of Power Macintosh computers and any Macintosh Quadra™ computer that has a math co-processor. They are listed below.

Model  IIfx  Quadra 610  Quadra 650  Quadra 660AV  Quadra 700  Quadra 800  Quadra 840AV  Quadra 900  Quadra 950  6100/60  6100/66  7100/66  7100/80  8100/80  8100/100

CPU  MC 68030  MC 68040  MC 68040  MC 68040  MC 68040  MC 68040  MC 68040  MC 68040  MC 68040  PPC 601  PPC 601  PPC 601  PPC 601  PPC 601  PPC 601

Clock MHz  40  25  33  25  25  33  40  33  33  60  66  66  80  80  100

RAM Slots  8-64 pin SIMMs  2-72 pin SIMMs  4-72 pin SIMMs  2-72 pin SIMMs  4-30 pin SIMMs  4-72 pin SIMMs  4-72 pin SIMMs  16-30 pin SIMMs  16-30 pin SIMMs  2-72 pin SIMMs  2-72 pin SIMMs  4-72 pin SIMMs  4-72 pin SIMMs  4-72 pin SIMMs  4-72 pin SIMMs

Max RAM  128 MB  64 MB  128 MB  64 MB  64 MB  128 MB  128 MB  256 MB  256 MB  128 MB  128 MB  256 MB  256 MB  256 MB  256 MB

Note: There are some laptop computers that could conceivably run the Rainbow™ software, but for most users this would be impractical.