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- Note: for proper reading off line this document should be in a monospaced
- font such as Monaco 9pt or Courier 10pt.
-
- The reason for this general data sheet is to consolidate and condense the
- information out there, so that people in both camps can be clear and accurate
- about what they are saying about their machines.
- Since computer technology is always changing there are always going to be
- points in which the sheet will be lacking or incorrect on information. So,
- please just don't say the sheet is incomplete or incorrect but also give me
- clear and concise information to make the needed corrections. To keep this
- data sheet accurate please provide article citations,if possible, for the
- information provided or corrected and keep opinions to a minimum. As this is
- a general data sheet, keep the info provided short and simple.
- Please note that all magazine dates are in mm/dd/yy formats.
- Finally, keep the information relevant to the section corrected.
- Thank you.
-
- Contents
- CPUs
- Hardware
- PowerPC information and rumors
- Monitor support
- Expansion
- Operating system
- Mac
- IBM
- PowerPC
- Networking & Printing
-
- The CPUs {Nov, 1994)
- Note: I am only showing Motorola & Intel CPUs used in Macs and most IBM/PC
- clone machines. Years indicate use of CPU chip in new machines.
- Cache is "where data can be stored to avoid having to read the data from a
- slower device such as a disk" (Dictionary of Computer Terms:61-DTC). Both
- IBM and Mac use caches external to CPUs which increase the speed of the CPU
- but are not a part of it. Since there are many different external caches,
- each having a different effect on CPU performance, with some built-in
- {present Macs}, other optional but installed {IBM}, and are machine, seller
- or expansion dependent, I have decided to leave them out of the list.
- Note: ALU is industry's de-facto standard for CPU bit classification.
-
- IBM ALU Registers External CPU Features/
- CPU data address cache Notes
- 8088(6) 16 16 8 (16) 20 none {1981-9} {197?-89}
- 80186 16 16 16 20 none {198?-9?} 8088(6) segmenting
- 80286 16 16 16 24 none segmenting + Protected Mode*
- 386sx 32 32 16 24 none 80386*
- 80386 32 32 32 32 none MMU & 32-bit Protected Mode
- 486sx 32 32 32 32 one 8K 80486 w/o FPU
- 80486 32 32 32 32 one 8K new CPU core {~386 + FPU}
- 486dx2 32 32 32 32 one 8K doubled internal clock rate**
- 486dx3 32 32 32 32 one 16K 80486 w/o FPU; IBM chip
- [Blue Lightning] between 486dx2 and Pentium 5
- lines in speed (BYTE 04/94:22)
- DX4 32 32 32 32 one 16K 80486; Intel's version of the
- 486dx3.
- Pentium 32 32 64 32 8K code, CRISC-like chip,
- [P5] 8K data, 2 instructions/cycle max
- Branch 2-issue superscalar, 386
- target Write-Back, 64-bit FPU,
- pipelining;
- 66 MHz-SPECint92: 66.3;
- SPECfp92: 62.5; 13-16 watts***
- P54c 3.3 volts with 6.5 watts.
- 203 chips/wafer
- 100 MHz-SPECint92: 100;
- SPECfp92: 80***
- P6 32 32 64 32 8K code CRISC; 133 MHz-SPECint92: 200
- 8K data {Estimated}
- 256K SRAM (BYTE 04/95:42)
- P7 RISC or VLIW with a hardware
- x86 code translator,
- 1997-1998****
-
- 386sl: low power (3.3V) 386sx with built-in power management. Laptop use.
- 386slc: IBM 5V 386sx with a 16k on-chip cache added (John H. Kim). As far as
- John H. Kim knows it is only used on IBM models.
- 486slc: Neither of two chips that have this name have a FPU. Cyrix: basically
- 486sx in 386sx socket with 1k cache and improved integer math speed. IBM:
- equivalent to 486sx with a 16k on-chip cache.
- 486slcs: IBM chip equivalent to 486dx2 - FPU with a 16-bit external data path
- and 16k on-chip cache.
- 486dlc2: IBM chip equivalent to 486dx2 - FPU and with 16k on-chip cache.
- P24T{Pentium}: 64 bit internally, 32 bit for system I/O.
- Pentium/150 .4 micron, mid-1995 (PC Week 05/30/94)
-
- *16 MB maximum RAM
- ** ex. for 486dx2/50, chip runs 50 MHz, rest of machine runs at 25 MHz.
- The chips are used in Apple's DOS compatible card for some Macs.
- *** (Len Schultz; PC Week 01/10/94; BYTE 6/94:265;). CRISC {media term}:
- CISC chip with RISC-like feature (Computer Reseller News, Oct 28, 1991 n445
- p140(2)). SPECmarks are with a Level 2 memory cache and a 66 MHz 128-bit
- {64-bit interleaved} bus. All Pentiums made before Dec 94 have a bug in the
- FPU and public presure has forced Intel to offer replacement chips to
- everyone who wants one. There is also a software solution that turns off the
- FPU. 386 and early 486 code runs slower on a Pentium then expected.
- **** Computergram International, 06/02/94; BYTE 4/95:54. VLIW (Very Long
- Instruction Word) is supposed to be faster and cheaper than RISC but it has
- a major problem in that VLIW binary code is _so_ CPU specific as to be
- TOTALLY incompatible with _any_ future VLIW CPUs {it would be as if 386 code
- would not run on 486 and 486 code would not run on a Pentium}
- (InfoWorld, 01/17/94 v16 n3 p29(2); Microprocessor Report, 02/14/94 v8 n2
- p18(4); BYTE 4/95:54)
-
- Mac ALU Registers External bus CPU Features/
- CPU data address cache Notes
- 68000 16 32 16 24 none {1984-93} 16 MB limit*
- 68020 32 32 32 32 256 code {1987-92} parallel processing
- 68030 32 32 32 32 two 256 {1988-94} 68020 + MMU, 16K
- burst mode.
- 68EC040 32 32 32 32 two 4K 68040 w/o FPU and MMU {~68020}
- 68LC040 32 32 32 32 two 4K 68040 w/o FPU {~68030}
- 68040V 32 32 32 32 two 4K 68040 w/o FPU, PowerBooks-1994
- 68040 32 32 32 32 two 4K MMU, FPU, pipelining, doubled
- internal clock rate**
- 68060 32 32 32 32 two 8k 68040 + better FPU, superscalar
- Branch pipelining, cache line bursts,
- target 3.3 V, self power management,
- equivalent capabilities &
- speeds to Pentium {P54c}***
-
- Note: the now defunct NeXT and Amiga machines used the 68030 and 68040.
- * Earlier 68000 Mac designs created a 4 MB limit.
- ** (Electronic Buyer's News Aug 20, 1993; pointed out by Bradley Lamont and
- Motorola 68040 data book in 92) Apple now markets 68040 Macs as 'clock
- doubled' though speed is NOT in the 486dx2's class {see CPUs Comparison
- List}
- *** Will be used in Macs _only_ via third party accelerators.
-
- The following PowerPCs are to be in both IBM and Mac machines. They are
- Motorola/IBM RISC CPU chips.
-
- PowerPC ALU Registers External bus CPU Features/
- CPU data address cache Notes
- MPC601 32 int 32 64 32 32K 3 instructions/cycle max,
- [.6] fp 64 combined 80 MHz-SPECint92: 77;
- I/D SPECfp92: 93. 9 {66}, and
- ~11 {80 MHz} watts*
- [.5] 100 MHz [.5] uses 5 W.
- (MacWeek 04/04/94)
- MCP601+ 100 MHz-SPECint92: 105;
- SPECfp92: 125; 2 W.
- 120 MHz-SPECint92: 125;
- SPECfp92: 150 {Projected}*
- MPC603 32/ two 8k 80 MHz-SPECint92: 75,
- 64 SPECfp92: 85; 3 W*
- MPC603e 32 int 32 32/ 32 two 16k 100 MHz-SPECint92: 120;
- fp 64 64 I/D SPECfp92* 105; 3.5 W*
- 133 MHz?-SPECint92: 160;
- SPECfp92: 140 {Projected}*
- MPC604 32 int 32 64 32 two 16k 4 instructions/cycle max
- fp 64 I/D 100 MHz-SPECint92: 160;
- SPECfp92: 165; 13 W,
- 150 MHz-SPECint92: 225;
- SPECfp92: 250 {Projected}
- Systems: 95.*
- MPC620 64 64 64/ 40 two 32k 133 MHz-SPECint92: 225;
- 128 64 e SPECfp92: 300; 30 W {simulated}
- 80 v Projected: SPECint92: 330;
- SPECfp92: 410;
- Systems: 2H 95.*
- (BYTE 11/94:113-20)
- MPC615 - x86 & MPC601 hybrid chip, May be used in future Macs.
- MPC630 - in development
-
- e - effective v - virtural
-
- *(http://www.mot.com/SPS/PowerPC/; MacUser 6/95:27).
- MPC601/80 SPECmarks are w/o a Level 2 memory cache. With 1 MB Level 2 memory
- cache the SPECmarks are SPECint92: 85; SPECfp92: 105 (Motorola) Both machines
- use 33 MHz 64-bit bus (BYTE 04/94).
- All MPC603 SPECmarks are with 1 MB Level 2 cache (Motorola).
-
- CPUs Comparison List
- As a general rule of thumb Motorola chips are faster than Intel chips at the
- same frequency {030/25 ~= 386/33; 040/33 ~= 486/50}, but Intel has chips at
- higher frequencies than Motorola, so this evens out. The Macintosh Bible
- 5th edition and IBM System User, 1/92 v13 n1 p43(1) support the comparisons
- made between Intel and Motorola chips below and statements made here.
-
- <=80186 ~ 68000 {16-bit vs 16/24/32-bit chip. The 4 MB limit on the 68000
- Macs brings the chip in them down to the 80186 and lower chips, otherwise
- the 68000 would compare to the 80286.}
-
- 286 ~ 68020 {hardware segmenting vs. 68020's 32-bit ALU and having no
- usable built-in MMU unlike their successors [80386, 68030]. The use of the
- hardware segmenting and the 16-bit nature put the 286 between the 60000 and
- 68030 in features and the LC's 16-bit data path strenghthens the 286 ~ 68020
- comparison.}
-
- 386 ~ 68030 {32-bit chips with MMUs, and protected memory. At present
- application protected memory is limited to A/UX 3.0. System 7.x uses this
- feature to protect a RAM disk created by the Memory control panel which is
- supported only on Powerbooks, Quadras and Power Macintoshes. 68030 Macs with
- 16-bit hardware paths are comparative to 386sxs}.
-
- 486sx ~ 68LC040 {same as 486 and 68040 without the FPU; used as a low cost
- solution for people who do not need the FPU. Only in comparison with Windows
- programs does the 68LC040 approch 486SLC2 - chip cache speeds.}
-
- 486 ~ 68040 {32-bit microprocessors with built-in FPU, MMU, 8K internal
- cache (which is implemented as two 4K caches in the 68040 and one in the
- 486). The 486dx2 is in Macs with the DOS card installed. Please note that
- MHz for MHz a 486dx2 outperforms a 68040. For example a 68040/40 is ~95% the
- speed of a 486dx2/66 (Ingram 93 report)}
-
- Pentium ~ None {The 68060 will not be a standard CPU in Macs and PowerPC chips
- running native code are ~1.50 times as fast as a Pentium of the same MHz
- (Ingram 94 and 95 reports)
-
- PowerPC = PowerPC {This CPU line is planned to run programs from DOS, Windows,
- OS/2 and Mac OS through the CHRP platform. Insignia's Windows emulator
- for Mac produces 486sx/25 speeds on Power Macintosh 6100/60 and 486dx/33 on
- the Power Macintosh 8100/80. Native code runs two - four times those speeds}
-
- Hardware
- PowerPC machines
- IBM PowerPC: <$3,000 model delayed.
- Apple PowerPC {Power Macintosh} Configurations (MacUser 6/95:72)
- 6100/66 - $1,699 {base}: 8/350/256Kb Level 2 memory cache; 1 PDS;
- 8/350/CD: $2,029?; AV card: $479; Houdini II card: ~$700.
- 7100/80 - $2,749 {base}: 8/500/256Kb Level 2 memory cache/1 MB VRAM,
- 3 NuBus 90, 1 PDS; 8/500/CD: $2,899?; 8/700/CD: $3,049;
- 16/700/CD-ROM/AV: $3,599
- 8100/100 - $3,549 {base}: 8/700/256 Kb Level 2 memory cache, 3 NuBus 90,
- 1 PDS slot; 2 SCSI-2 ports; 16/1 GB/CD: $4,349; 16/1 GB/CD/AV: $4,599
- 8100/110 - $6,379: 16/2 GB/CD-ROM, Level 2 memory cache, 3 NuBus 90,
- 1 PDS slot; 2 SCSI-2 ports.
- 5200/75 LC - $1,699 {base}: 603/75 with 8/500/256 Kb Level 2 memory cache/CD
- AV cards caused a video speed decrease of ~25% while VRAM causes a increase
- of ~10% (MacUser 05/94:83).
- Ethernet and GeoPort are standard features
- Prices are averages and do not include color monitor and keyboard.
- (01/95 Apple PR announcement)
- Apple has developed an 68EC040 emulator that is twice the speed of the
- present one (MacWeek 06/13/94)
-
- Nitro {Q1 95}: replacement for Power Mac 8100; 3 PCI slots (MacWeek 06/13/94)
- Tsunami {Q1 95}: 6 PCI slots, no built-in video (MacWeek 06/13/94)
- TNT Macs {Q1 95}: MPC601/03/04 <=150 MHz; 6 PCI slots, DAV slot, better and
- faster video {32-bit in/out} (MacWeek 08/09/93; MacWeek 01/17/94; MacWeek
- 06/13/94)
- Alchemy {June 95}: entry level machine, modular design; 1 PCI slot
- Catalyst {June 95}: replacement for Power Mac 6100-7100; 3 PCI slots
-
- Mac Clones {projected prices and configurations} (MacUser 6/95:72)
- Power Computing {motherboard/daughterboard set up, low cost}
- Power 80 - $1,999 {base}: 601/80, 8/365, 1 PDS, 3 NuBus;
- 8/730/2 MB VRAM/4x CD: $2,599; 16/1 GB/2 MB VRAM/4x CD: $3,049;
- 16/2.1GB/2MB VRAM/4x CD: $3,699;
- Power 100 - $2,899 {base}: 601/100 8/730/2 MB VRAM/4x CD;
- 16/1 GB/2 MB VRAM/4x CD: $3,349; 16/2.1 GB/2 MB VRAM/4x CD: $3,999;
- 16/4 GB/2 MB VRAM/4x CD: $4,999.
-
- DayStar {Multiple CPUs options planned}
- Genesis MP - $5000-$10,000: 604/120, 32/2 GB/4x CD, PCI bus.
- Radius {Graphic workstations}
- Radius System 100 - <$10,000: 8100/110 with Thunder IV graphics card,
- 40 MB RAM, internal 500 MB drive, external FWB JackHammer 16 bit SCSI-2 2 GB
- drive, and Adobe Photoshop preinstalled.
-
- Mac->PowerPC upgrades
- Apple - 68040 PDS Upgrade Card: $699; 63x MPC601/68040 card - $599;
- logic-board upgrades range between $1000 - $2,000. In general every
- Macintosh that had a CD-ROM configuration has {or will have} a logic-board
- upgrade option.
-
- DayStar Digital Inc. - 66 MHz and 80 MHz processor upgrade cards for the
- Centris/Quadra 650, and the Quadra 700, 800, 900 and 950. Have PowerMac ROMs
- on the cards and allow 60ns 72-pin SIMM expansion. Has trade in for owners of
- old cards. Value range of old cards: from 15% to 50%.
- Price: $1,200 to $1,700 dependent on speed. (MacUser 05/94:36)
-
- Reply Corp. - MPC603 logic boards.
-
- Other PowerPCs: Canon-NeXT (NB 05/11/93), and Sun {rumored}. Other potential
- sources: Radius Inc., MicroNet Technology Inc., SuperMac Technology Inc,
- Acer America Corp, Dell Computer Corp and 11 other companies (MacWeek
- 9/27/93). Spacifics vague.
-
- ~500 native Power Macintosh programs out (Apple Announcement April 3, 1994)
-
- Color Support/Display
- Both Mac and IBM have graphic accelerators. In Macs VRAM can act like a
- graphic accelerator but only boosts things by <=10%. IBM graphic accelerators
- include Matrox MGA-3D, ATI Mach64, S3-968, and #9's newest chip.
- Mac
- The best PC description of present Mac video is "local bus" video.
- From Mar 1987 to late 1988 32-bit color cards resembled the chaotic mess that
- SVGA would be for IBM {see SVGA}. In 1989 Apple created 32-bit QuickDraw
- which totally standardized 32-bit color and drove all non-QuickDraw graphic
- cards out of the market. All present Macs support the use of 32-bit color
- through 32-bit color QuickDraw {ROM} and most have a 32-bit path to video.
- 32-bit color QuickDraw allows the editing of X-bit images in Y-bit color in a
- wide range of monitors regardless of screan dpi and autosynchronous VGA, MCGA
- and SVGA monitors with 66.7 hz vertically and 35 kHz horizontally advalible
- via a hardware video adaptor (MacUser Aug 1992: 158-176)} The SE/30, II,
- IIx, and IIcx had only 8-bit color in ROM and needed a software patch to use
- 32-bit color under system 6.x (MacUser Special 1993:28-29). B&W QD could
- support 8 colors.
- To keep costs down and speed up most Macs have 8 to 16-bit display capability
- built-in, with a 24-bit expansion option. QuickDraw QX is supposed remove
- the 72 dpi display optimization.
- In Macs with NuBus slots or the Power Macintoshes with VRAM QuickDraw allows
- multiple monitor use, from several monitors showing the same thing to
- multiple monitors acting as one large large monitor with any degree of
- overlap of the pictures.
-
- VRAM: Video RAM. Standard for present non-PowerBook Mac's handling of built-
- in video {24-bit color palette}. Base standard was 640x480x8 with 640x480x16
- rapidly becoming more common. Expansion to 640x480x24, 832x624x24, and
- 1,152x870x16 is possible for most of the Quadra and Power Macintosh models.
-
- IBM
- {In an effort to remove the 'reconfiguring the system almost every time you
- add something' requirement for add-in cards, drivers, video, and operating
- systems in the IBM world, Intel, Microsoft, and 12 other hardware and software
- developers are working out 'plug and play' standards (PC Week 03/08/93).}
-
- Even though PCs have ROM BIOS definitions of how OSes interacts with the
- video hardware (Nan Zou), the use of drivers bypassing BIOS, video hareware
- inconsitancies {see Super VGA below} and nonstanderzation of clone BIOS have
- left resolution of video display hardware/OS/program interaction up to the OS
- and video hardware in question (Faisal Nameer Jawdat). In addition, IBM and
- clone makers never bothered to provide a standard hardware mechanism for
- software to determine what display mode is actually present (Matt Healy) nor
- a standardized screen-drawing toolbox {like Mac's QD}. As a result detecting
- some modes and/or use them consistantly is a challange, especially with some
- third party cards. Things were so dependent on the interaction of the
- program, OS, print driver and monitor card that editing 32-bit pictures
- regardless of color mode, program, and monitor type/card combination as one
- can do on the Mac was near impossible (Fortune 10/04/93:112). DOS has the
- biggest problem, Windows is better, and NT-OS/2 are the best but this is a OS
- feature, not hardware and so is inconsitant from OS to OS and even from
- program to program {see OS section for details}. IBM machines are starting
- have integrated graphics accelerators, faster processors, and modular
- upgradeability and may have built-in sound cards, CD ROM, and Ethernet
- (PC Week 12/14/92).
-
- MDA: Monocrome Display Adapter
- original character-mapped video mode, no graphics, 80x25 text.
- CGA: Color Graphics Array
- 320x200x2 or 640x200 b/w with text-mode support of 80x24 color or
- 40x24 color, 16 color palette, bad for the eyes.
- EGA: Enhanced Graphics Array
- Resolutions are 640x350x4, 640x200x4 and all CGA modes {from 64 color
- palette}. Additional text-modes of 80x43 color and 40x43 color. Some
- versions could run at 256 colors, bearable on the eyes.
- VGA: Video Graphics Array*
- Resolutions are 320x200x8, 640x480x4 and all EGA modes. Additional text
- modes of 80x50 color, 40x50 color, and emulation of all MDA text modes. Can
- be programmed for many non-standard resolutions. All modes have 256 colors,
- from a 18-bit {IBM} to 24-bit {IBM/Mac} color palette. 25.175 MHz Pixel
- Clock (Mel Martinez). Monitors use analog input, incompatible with TTL
- signals from EGA/CGA etc.
- MCGA: Multi-Color Graphics Array*
- subset of VGA that provides all the features of MDA & CGA, but lacks some
- EGA and VGA modes, like VGA 640x480x4 (DCT). Common on the initial PS/1
- implementation from IBM and some PS/2 Models.
- SVGA: Super VGA {Quality of 99% of color Mac video monitors}*
- This is not a standard in the way the others were, but instead was a 'catch
- all' category for a group of video cards. In an effort to clean up the chaos
- resulting from each manufacturer using their own implementation scheme VESA
- was established and is used in the newer units, but things are still a mess
- with some people still debating as to what is SVGA and what is not. Video is
- either 512K [~1990], 1MB [1992], or 2MB [today], resolution of 800x600 and
- 1024x768 at 256 and 32,768 colors are common with most 24b at 640x480.
- Speedwise, too much variation and change. Most old limiting factors
- overcome by 40 MHz VL Bus & 386's linear address.
- Other non-SVGA standards:
- 8514/a
- IBM's own standard, graphics accelerator with graphics functions like
- linedraw, polygon fill, etc. in hardware. IBM version interlaced.
- TMS34010/34020: high end graphics co-processors, usually >$1000, some
- do 24-bit, speeds up vector-oriented graphics like CAD.
- XGA: eXtended Graphics Array {May be used in IBM PowerPC}
- newer and faster than 8514/a, only available for MCA bus-based PS/2s, clones
- are coming out soon. Emulates VGA, EGA, and CGA (DCT). Max resolution:
- 1024x768x8, also some 16 bpp modes.
- XGA-2
- Accelerates graphics functions up to 20 times faster than standard VGA in
- Windows and OS/2, including line draws, bit and pixel-block transfers, area
- fills, masking and X/Y addressing. Has an intelligent way to detect and co-
- exist with other XGA-2 cards, so multiple desktops like on the Mac may not be
- far away. Since this is an architecture, its resolution and color depth
- isn't fixed {IBM implements only 16-bit [65,536] color, while other
- companies can have 24-bit color through IBM technical licenses}. Refresh
- rates up to 75 Hz, ensures flicker free, rock solid images to reduce visual
- discomfort, and is VGA compatible. Up to 1280x1024 on OS/2.
- *some monitor types usable by Mac. See Mac section above for specific details.
-
- Expansion
- {Speeds are baced on: throughput = (bus_clock_speed x byte_width) /
- transaction_overhead (Mel Martinez)}
- Both Mac & IBM {and maybe PowerPC} {July 25, 1994}
- IDE: Integrated Device Electronics
- Asynchronous {~5 MB/s max} and synchronous {8.3 MB/s max} transfer.
- Currently the most common standard which makes its drives ~10% cheaper than
- SCSI. Outperforms SCSI in single-tasking OSes while underperforms SCSI in
- multitasking enviroments {it is not clear if this also applies to
- co-operative multitasking}. (BYTE 08/94:116) Limited to two drives per
- controler and 528 MB. Apple uses IDE internal drives that support logical
- block addressing in the Macintosh 630 series though many 3rd party hard drive
- formaters need to be updated (TidBITS#235, MacUser 09/94:77).
- Enhanced IDE: supports larger hard drive sizes and non-hard drive devices.
- SCSI: only external device expansion interface common to both Mac and IBM.
- Allows the use of any device: hard drive, printer, scanner, Nubus 87 card
- expansion {Mac Plus only}, some monitors, and CD-ROM. Normal {asynchronous}
- SCSI is 5 Mhz; fast {synchronous} SCSI is 10 Mhz {software drivers}.
- SCSI is limited to a total of 8 devices and an _ideal_ total cable length of
- 6 m {which cheap cables, terminators, connectors, and device impedance can
- shorten substantially} (BYTE 8/94:112).
- Main problems: Since SCSI is supposed to be terminated ONLY at the begining
- and end of the SCSI chain, internal terminated external devices are the
- biggest bane of SCSI. This along with other problems are planned to be fixed
- with SCSI-3.
- SCSI-1: 8-bit asynchronous {~1.5 MB/s ave} and synchronous {5 MB/s max}
- transfers. Asynchronous 8-bit SCSI-2 is often mistaken for synchronous
- SCSI-1 {see SCSI-2 for details}.
- SCSI-2: fully SCSI-1 compliant. Since asynchronous 8-bit SCSI-2 runs at
- synchronous SCSI-1 speeds using SCSI-1 hardware/software drivers, it is
- sometimes mistakenly consitered part of SCSI-1. 16 and 32-bit SCSI-2 require
- different ports, electronics, and SCSI software drivers from SCSI-1. Ports
- are 68-pin {16-bit} and two 68-pin/one 104-pin {32-bit}. Transfer speeds are
- 4-6 MB/s with 10 MB/s burst {8-bit}, 8-12 MB/s with 20 MB/s burst {16-bit},
- and 15-20 MB/s with 40 MB/s burst {32-bit} (BYTE 08/94:114).
- SCSI-3: In development, 1996. No internal terminated devices allowed, access
- more than 8 devices, and support for fiber-optic cables and Serial SCSI.
- Speed: 20 MB/s with Serial SCSI ranging between 51 Mb/s {~6.4 MB/s} to 1 Gb/s
- {128 MB/s}. Firewire {IEEE P1394} is one of the possible Serial SCSI options
- for SCSI-3 being considered (BYTE 08/94:114).
- FireWire [IEEE P1394; Serial Bus]: intended to replace ADB, RS-232, RS-422,
- parallel and SCSI (BYTE 07/93:90). Has six shielded wires with speeds of
- 100 Mb/s {12.5 MB/s}, 200 Mb/s {25 MB/s}, 400 Mb/s {50 MB/s]. Does not
- require terminators and ID numbers and has limits of 63 devices per port
- and up to 1022 buses being bridged together. FireWire cards for Mac planned
- by 1995 (MacUser, 03/94 v10 n3 p40(1); Microprocessor Report, Mar 07/94
- v8 n3 p18(4); Byte 07/94:37; Byte 08/94:120)
- Mac SCSI: asynchronous SCSI-1 built-in standard since the Plus. Even though
- Apple developed some specifications for SCSI controlers, the OS SCSI Manager
- needs to be rewritten to take full advantage of the features of all SCSI
- interfaces. As a result, present 8-bit SCSI-2 Macs are at synchronous
- SCSI-1 Speeds. Quadras and Power Macintoshes are only Macs with a SCSI-2
- controller chip built-in (BYTE 04/94:47) though they only support 8-bit.
- Due to a CPU-NuBus bottleneck on older Macs, 16-bit SCSI-2 cards are very
- rare. Since SCSI is built-in, overall cost is lower for Mac than for IBM and
- PC clone machines though the gap is decreasing.
- IBM SCSI: SCSI-1 is new pretty common but it is generally not bundled with
- systems, except as add-on with EISA and VESA Local Bus adapters avalable
- {See IDE information}. Like the Mac, 8-bit SCSI-2 is used as a very fast
- SCSI-1 by most controllers out there. Unlike the Mac, IBM had no exact SCSI
- controller specifications {until CorelSCSI} which resulted in added SCSI
- incompatibilities (Byte 10/92:254). In fact some PC SCSI are incompatible
- with Mac SCSI.
- PCI: Peripheral Component Interconnect
- Intel's version of Local Bus is designed with a PCI->ISA/EISA/MCA bridge
- in mind (PCI spec (rev 2.0)) and Apple will use it to replace Mac NuBus
- {PCI->NuBus 90 adaptor will be provided} (PC Week 5/31/93; MacWeek 5/31/93)].
- 32 bit {64-bit expandable}, combining EISA and VLB advantages; supports up to
- 10 slots {5 cards} (Jay C. Beavers; MacWeek 5/31/93).
- Burst mode: 132 MB/s {32-bit}; 264MB/s {64-bit}.
- QuickRing: Apple's 64-bit peer-to-peer local bus - "architecture is
- identical to that of the VL-Bus, since the high-speed PDS interconnect taps
- directly into the CPU's signal lines and bypasses the slower NuBus control
- logic." (Byte 10/92:128) Base through put: 350 MB/s (Byte 10/92:128);
- supported up to 16 nodes each at 200 MB/s for a total of 3.2 GB/s (InfoWorld,
- 3/15/93 v15 n11 p1(2)). Shelved in favor of PCI.
-
- Mac
- Memory expansion: Memory data width must match the CPU data bus (Noah Price).
- Until Feb 15, 1993 the Mac has used non-parity 30-pin 8-bit SIMM memory
- expansion. While 30-pin 9-bit parity SIMMs could be used in these Macs, only
- special IIcis could make use of the parity feature. IIfxs used 64-pin SIMMs
- with a parity option. Non-PowerBook Macs made after Feb 15, 1993 use 72-pin
- 32-bit SIMMs. The Mac does a complete memory check at startup by
- writing/reading every memory location; if something is seriously wrong with a
- SIMM the Mac will not boot and give a sound chord indicating what the problem
- is.
- Sound output: Standard in all Macs since 128K. Stereo 8-bit 22 kHz sound
- became standard with SE/30. 16-bit 44.1/48 kHz stereo became standard with
- Sound Manager 3.0 and av Macs.
- Printers, ADBs, and modems: built-in ports standard.
- Sound input: mono 8-bit 22 kHz since IIsi; stereo 16-bit 48 kHz in C660av,
- Q840av, and Power Macintoshes.
- Monitor interface: built-in on most present macs. Of at least SVGA quality.
- The best PC description of present Mac video is "local bus" video.
- CD-ROM: option for all Macs released after August 1993.
- GeoPort {AV Macs, Power Macintoshes}: built-in V.32 9,600 bps modem via
- software and adaptor{PhonePod}. 14,400 bps speed can be achieved presently
- (MacUser 10/93:89), but this speed will not be officially supported until
- later (MacWeek 08/02/93). Via software the GeoPort-PhonePod provides a
- 9600 bps FAX, answering machine, phone, and speakerphone. Later adaptors
- will allow PBX and ISDN use when the Telephone Tool comes out
- (MacUser 10/93:88-9). Supports normal serial devices.
- Composite and S-video in/out ports: standard on av Macs.
- PDS {SE & all present non-Powerbook Macs except Q840av}: 16-bit {SE, Portable,
- LC, LC II, Classic line} and 32-bit {QuickRing is 64-bit bus}. Operates at
- CPU's MHz. Maximum through put: data path * CPU's MHz. Standardized around
- LC, 040, and 601 bus designs. With an adapter one NuBus card can be used in
- IIsi, Q610 and Q660av. Problem: some cards have timing dependency which
- slows throughput down.
- NuBus 87 {Mac II, Built-in support - most Modular Macs}: 32-bit, 10 MHz bus
- clock, 1-to-1 transaction/bus cycle ratio, and contiguous, hand-shake
- transactions at ~10-20 MB/s; burst mode: 37.5 MB/s (Computer Design, 06/01/89
- v28 n11 p97(1); I&CS (Instrumentation & Control Systems), 07/92 v65 n7
- p23(2)). First Mac standard bus; cards 12". There was SE/30 adaptor and Mac
- Plus SCSI->NuBus. Limited to 8 {old Macs} through 24-bit video, accelerators
- {some with expansion to parallel processing}, CPU-ethernet task sharing, 8 to
- 16-bit SCSI-2, DSP, DMA cards {block transfers}, real time video input, PC
- compatible cards, and Ethernet.
- NuBus 90: NuBus 87 back compatible. avg throughput: ~30 MB/s (I&CS
- {Instrumentation & Control Systems} 07/92 v65 n7 p23(2)); burst mode: 20 MHz
- 70 MB/s (Noah Price). I/O bottleneck removed with Quadra 660av and 840av
- (MacWeek 08/02/93). 6" card standard is enforced in new machines.
- DAV {Digital Audio Video} connector {av machines}: provides YUV video and
- digital audio (Noah Price) as wall as full speed sound/video compression
- cards such as JPEG, MPEG, DVI and H.261.
- CPU expansion: handled either through PDS or NuBus. Unlike PDS, Nubus CPU
- cards can allow use of multiple processors at the same time {Like MCA;
- example-RocketShare} via parallel processing. Each NuBus card needs its own
- memory but most NuBus cards of this type come with 8 MB RAM of SIMMs on the
- card standard.
-
- IBM
- Memory expansion: parity SIMMs, non-parity SIMMs {some newer models do a Mac-
- like SIMM memory check}, or a dozen or so different types of memory boards.
- As with Macs SIMM expansion, memory data width must match the CPU data bus.
-
- HD Interfaces {limited to hard drives by design or lack of development}:
- MFM: Modified Frequency Modulation, RLL: Run Length Limited
- Obsolete interfaces only used with old small [≤ 60mb] hard drives.
- ESDI: Enhanced Small Device Interface
- ~1.25MB/s throughput. generally considered better interface than SCSI-1
- in many ways but not common enough for practical consideration. Device
- choices are very limited compared to SCSI-1.
-
- BUS interfaces {Plug and Play still in the works}
-
- PC-bus {used in ISA machines}: 8-bit
- ISA {equivalent to most of the Mac's built-in ports}
- 16-bit bus. Has 24-bit address path limit {produces 16 MB limit for which
- there are software workarounds} (PC Mag 4/27/93:105). 1.5 MB/s (Byte
- 3/92:132), 5.3 MB/s max. Uses edge-triggered interrupts, can't share them,
- hence comes the IRQ conflict. Busmastering capabilities provided by
- individial cards which tend to conflict with each other. Some cards aren't
- bandwidth limited {COM ports, LPT ports, game ports, MIDI card, etc.} while
- others are {video and disk controllers}. Dominant factor, but it's showing
- its age. All ISA motherboard designs must be 16-bit (PC World 02/93:144-5;
- David Charlap). Rumored to be part of IBM Power PC PReP specs.
- MCA: Micro Channel {NuBus 87 equivalent (Personal Computing, 09/88 v12 n9
- p115(1))}
- IBM's 16 and 32-bit bus; "allows use of more than one CPU in a computer"
- (DCT) with any two components 'talking' as fast as they can handle it, up
- to 20 MB/s (Computer Design, 06/01/89 v28 n11 p97(1)). Also has a
- 80 MB/s burst mode. Never took off because it was incompatible with ISA/EISA.
- Was planned to be IBM PowerPC 601's bus interface (Carl Jabido).
- EISA {compares to most of the Mac's built-in ports and NuBus 87}
- 32-bit, 8.33 MHz, burst mode: 33 MB/s. Back supports ISA cards. It also has
- the ability to self-configure cards like MCA and allows multiple bus masters,
- sharable interrupt and DMA channels and multiple CPU use.
- VESA Local Bus: VLB {PDS equivalent}
- Local Bus standard. Runs at CPU clock rate, up to 40 Mhz (BYTE 07/93:84),
- Burst modes: ~130 MB/s {32-bit} 250 MB/s {64-bit} (Byte 10/92:128).
- Heavily tied to the 486 CPU line (BYTE 07/93:84).
- Limited to three slots but allows bus mastering and will coexist with either
- ISA or EISA. Consitered ideal for video and disk I/O. DELL has filled a
- claim that this violates one of their patents (Mel Martinez).
-
- OSes {assumes full installation [print drivers, fonts, Multifinder, etc.]
- and multiple application use.}
- PowerPC OSes
- IBM OS based {see IBM OS section for details}:
- AIX PowerOpen, NeXTStep, Solaris OS, Expose and Novell DOS 7.0
- Mac AIX [UNIX] {1995}: This OS is planned to replace A/UX.
- MAE {Macintosh Application Enviroment}: Apple's Mac-on-Unix 680x0 emulator.
- (http://www.mae.apple.com/)
- MAS {Macintosh Application Services}: Apple's Mac-on-Unix 680x0 emulator that
- also runs PowerPC Mac programs on PowerOpen versions of UNIX.
- Pink [Taligent OS]: Alpha version is out (MacWeek 07/18/94}, final version
- expected in 1995. PowerOpen version of OSes will likely contain parts of
- this OS (MacWeek 01/25/93).
- System 7.1.2: first OS for the PowerPC Mac.
- Windows NT: Possible port (MacWeek 04/05/93). See IBM OS section for details.
- WorkPlace OS: OS/2 for the PowerPC with Pink features. Will run Mac, Windows,
- and AIX programs and may have parts of the Mac OS (PC Week 09/20/93) and may
- even run Mac programs (MacWeek 09/27/93). It will run first on PowerPCs then
- on the x86/Pentium line (PC Week 09/20/93).
-
- Mac {July 18, 1994}
- Apple puts 512K to 4 MB of API and OS internals in its ROMS, and urges
- programmers NOT to call the hardware directly {This includes floating point
- numbers}. These two factors allow programmers to write smaller programs
- since commands are consistant regardless of the internal hardware. This also
- allows Apple to write a smaller disk OS and have a lower RAM requirement then
- a totally disk based OS. Macs use 'Masked ROM' which is as fast as DRAM
- (Jon Wtte).
- 6.0.7: Single program usage base requirements: 1 MB and DD floppy,
- cooperatively-multitasking base requirements: 2 MB and HD floppy.
- Features: a GUI, cooperative-multitasker [MultiFinder], standard program
- interface, & standard stereo sound support [snd], and Network receiving part
- of AppleShare software. This 24-bit OS has a 8 MB RAM barrier. Some third
- party products allow 14 MB of Virtual Memory as long as real RAM is below
- 8 MB.
- 6.0.8: 6.0.7 with 7.0.0 print drivers.
- 6.0.8L: System 6 for some Macs that required System 7.0.X. Rarely used.
- 7.0.X: Base requirements: 2 MB, 40 MB hard drive, and 68000; De-facto standard
- to run all features well: 4 MB, 80 MB hard drive, and 68030. Using up to
- 10.08 MB of hard disk space this 24 and 32-bit OS has 6.0.7 features plus
- program linking within and between computers [IAC], built-in server
- capabilities {Filesharing can be used by older OSes using AppleShare Client
- software and can be accessed by 10 Macs max; 4-5 is more speed practical,
- IAC requires 7.X}, Virtual Memory in machines with MMU, drag and drop,
- QuickTime, wildcard search/selection & built-in TrueType support. Supports
- sound input [AIFF and snd] for most present machines. Can access up to 1 GB
- of true RAM and 4 GB of virtual memory. To use real RAM beyond 8 MB it must
- be in 32-bit mode; older machines require 'Mode 32' extension. Apple's last
- 'free' OS. More useable than MS-DOS or Windows (Consumer Reports)
- 7.1.0: 7.0.1 with WorldScript support, speedier {10% faster on Quadra line
- (sys71_vs_70_speed.txt)}, and less RAM usage than 7.0.X (MacWeek 9/14/92;
- PC Week 9/7/92). To run in 32-bit mode on older machines this requires the
- 'Mode 32' or '32-Bit Enabler' extension. Marks the start of Apple selling
- its Mac OS: Bundled with new machines, $49 for 7.0.X upgrades, $99 otherwise.
- Programs take up about the same hard disk space as comparitive DOS programs
- and about one-half less disk space than their x86/Pentium Windows
- counterparts (Byte April 93:102; Ingram Report 10/93).
- Thread Manager {prototype-7.1.0 extension} allows preemtive multitasking
- for programs written for it.
- 7.1.2: 7.1.0 rewritten for PPC chips with PC Exchange. 32-bit OS. On Mac
- without Power Macintosh ROMs this adds 4 MB to RAM requirements. (PC Week
- 02/28/94). Native code programs are 10 - 30% larger {i.e these programs
- are only 57% - 65% the size of comparitive x86/Pentium Windows programs}
- (calculations from Motorola & Apple announcements; Byte 04/93:102;
- Ingram Report 10/93) Rumor-best speed is with VM set at 1 MB above
- real RAM.
- QuickDraw GX: display PostScript equivalent for QuickDraw that improves
- font handling, background printing, and color management (via ColorSync).
- 7.5.0: 7.1.2 with AppleScript {scriptable Finder}, MacTCP, Macintosh Easy
- Open, QuickDraw GX, PowerTalk, PlainTalk, Thread Manager, Drag and Drop
- Manager {between programs}, improved Find File, and Apple Guide {balloon help
- replacement}. Also includes WindowShade, a hierachical Apple menu, a menu
- clock, and Sticky Memos. 680x0/MPC601 version requires 2.5/4.5 MB {4/8
- recommended} RAM for core elements, 3/5.5 MB {8/16 recommended} for adding
- QuickDraw GX and PowerTalk. (BYTE 8/94:188; MacUser 09/94:79).
- Marconi: May 1995 Bridge between 7.5.x and Copland.
- Copland: mid-1996. Microkernel based, multitheading, Memory protection,
- OpenDOC, and new I/O. To be written in native PowerPC code; asynchronous
- file system will access volumes up to 256 terrabytes {~262000 GB}. Support
- for non-Mac systems and files will be provided (BYTE 5/94:40; MacWeek
- 7/11/94; PC Week 7/11/94).
- Gershwin: ~1997. Microkernel based, preemptive multitasking, a concurrent
- File Manager and configurable allocation block sizes with a 4 KB default
- (MacWeek 7/11/94).
- A/UX 3.0.1 {3.1-wgs 95} [UNIX]: Base requirements: 8 MB RAM and 80 MB hard
- Drive. To run well: 16 MB RAM and 240 MB hard drive. Apple's version of Unix
- based on an old AT&T SVR2 release, with extensions from more recent SV
- releases, and BSD releases. The memory and disk requirements are about
- average, for a networked protected mode preemptively multitasking server OS
- (Faisal Nameer Jawdat).
- MachTen {by Tenon}: Mach that runs on top of System 7.x.
- Note: sound output was provided in OSes 3.2 to 6.0.5 via many third party
- formats including the following: snd, WAVE, ASND, FSSD, QSSN, SMSD, SOUN,
- dc2d, and DCFL. In 6.0.7 the sound manager formally established sound 'snd'
- and AIFF as standards which causes some playback problems for the other
- formats, though most still play correctly.
-
- IBM/PC clone OSes
- Due to their modualar nature these machines have little GUI code, data, and
- hooks present in hardware for programmers to work with, so most of the coding
- must be provided by the OS or the program {including floating point numbers}.
- Since hard disks were slow the disk OS code is read into RAM along with what
- little ROM code there is {Shadow ROM}. This results in faster implementation
- since RAM is faster then PROMS or EPROMS. Disk based OS code has the
- advantage of being able able to optimize code for a certain piece or
- collection of hardware instead of using a 'ROM patch' The modular nature of
- code reduces patch size for major revision of hardware support.
- MS-DOS 6.22: Conventional Memory mode is limited to either 640 K {DOS's
- own memory manager} or 1 MB {third party memory managers}. XMS allows up
- to 16 MB but is usable only by certain programs. Protected Mode Interface
- (DPMI) compliant programs running in 32-bit Protected Mode [386dx] also
- allow 16 MB. Contains DOS 4.0 GUI shell, disk defragmenter, debugger
- for the CONFIG.SYS file and built-in file compresion. It needs a $80 module
- for networking. (InfoWorld 8/29/94).
- MS-DOS 7.0:In development (PC Week 04/05/93). Will come with Windows95.
- Windows 3.0: Runs on top of DOS. Breaks 640K/1 M barrier but still uses DOS
- file structure. Base requirements: 1 MB, floppy and 286; to run well 2 MB,
- hard drive, 386sx and fast display adapter {> 8-bit}. Has Mac's QD
- equivalent called Windows GDI [Graphics Device Interface]. Does not have
- consistent application interfaces {Like 84-85 Mac programs} nor a very large
- program base {compared to DOS}, still tends to slow the machine down
- (Info-IBMPC Digest V92 #186) with speed more dependent on the display
- adapter then on the CPU (Bill Coleman) and "A user pumping up a Windows
- machine past 64 MB (or even 16 MB in some cases) can encounter some nasty
- conflicts." (Computer Shopper, 07/93 v13 n7 p180(7)). Some programs need
- editing of config.sys, autoexec.bat, or system.ini to run/display
- correctly (Fortune 10/04/93:112). Window programs tend to be disk and
- memory hogs compared to their DOS counterparts (Byte April 93:98-108).
- Windows 3.1: A faster version of Windows 3.0 with better memory managment.
- Base requirements 2 MB, hard drive and 386sx; to run well 8 MB, hard drive,
- 386sx (PC Magazine 94). Takes a 12-15% performance hit in enchanced {32-bit}
- mode (BYTE 11/93:85). In general Windows and its applications occupy 1.84
- times more disk space than their 680x0 Macintosh counterparts
- (Byte 04/93:102; Ingram Report 93).
- Windows for Workgroups: To run well: 4 MB RAM and 386dx (PC World
- Feb/93:160). Intermediary between Win 3.1 and Windows NT. It is
- basically Windows 3.1 with built-in peer to peer networking support.
- Windows 95 [Chicago] {Aug 95}; Requirements {rumor}: 8 MB and 386
- (Washington Post 9/26/94). 32-bit OS combining 3.x and NT features that does
- not run on top of DOS.
- Windows NT: ~50 MB of disk space [including swap file] 16 MB recommended
- (PC Week 07/19/93). This 32-bit OS has protected mode multitasking,
- multithreading, symmetric multiprocessing, recoverable file system, and
- 32-bit data GDI. Has built-in OSF DCE compliant networking and can handle
- up to 4 GB RAM. Windows programs ran up to 10% slower on the beta
- (PC Week 03/15/93).
- Windows upgrades: $295 for upgrades, $495 otherwise (PC Week 03/15/93).
- Daytona {NT 3.5}: Smaller memory requirments, PPC, and OpenGL
- Cairo {Mid 1996}: Object File System, New GUI, and intergrates Plug and Play.
- Non MS-OSes
- AIX: IBM's UNIX system, planned to be a subset of PowerOpen and Taligent OS.
- 3.2.5 is a precursor to PowerOpen-compliant 4.0 (PC Week 09/13/93).
- Variant will replace A/UX in Macs.
- AIXlite: 4 MB RAM, 80 MB disk space. May be used as a PowerPC OS
- (PC Week 06/28/93).
- PC-DOS 6.3: IBM's version of DOS. It runs Windows much faster then MS-DOS due
- to faster file I/O and video handling (InfoWorld 8/29/94).
- DR DOS 6.0: same as DOS 5.0 with some extras {like built-in data compression}
- and memory management enhancements. Still has 640K/1MB barrier.
- Expose: Novell DOS 7.0 with a Linux 1.0-based kernel: $99.
- also will run on PowerPC chip (PC Week 05/16/94)
- OS/2 2.1: Base requirements- 4 MB RAM, 40 MB hard drive, 386sx; to run well-
- 8-16 MB RAM, 60 MB hard drive {uses 17-33 MB}, and 386dx CPU. This 32-bit
- multithreaded, multitasking OS with UNIX-like features can address up to
- 4 GB RAM but on ISA systems using their own DMA {Direct Memory Access}
- drivers ALL memory above 16 MB RAM is used a fast swap file. Windows
- programs run faster on this than on DOS and Multimedia support built-in (BYTE
- June 93:193) IBM plans to use Taligent's OOPS in future versions of this.
- OS/2 3.0 {Warp}: fragmental infomation.
- NeXTStep 3.2: Base requirements-8 MB {2-bit grayscale}/12 MB {8-bit
- grayscale}/16 MB {16-bit color}, 120 MB {330 MB with Developer tools} hard
- drive, 486sx. Suggested-12 MB {2-bit grayscale}/16 MB {8-bit grayscale}/24
- MB {16-bit color}, 200 MB {400 MB with Developer tools} hard drive , 486sx
- (NeXTStep CD-ROM). Object-oriented Mach (UNIX)-based microkernal GUI OS with
- built-in multi-architecture binary support, preemptive multitasking,
- multithreading, virtual memory, multimedia e-mail, on-line help, Display
- PostScript Level 2, networking support {NFS 4.0, Novell, Ethernet, Token
- Ring}, Pixar's Interactive- and Photorealistic- 3D RenderMan, Pantone color
- support, and Object Links. Can read, write, and initialize Mac and IBM disks.
- (1993 NeXT, Inc. literature - Dayne Miller). Lacks device-drivers for some
- hardware cards, DriverKit to write above lacking device-drivers, and
- supports Portable Distributed Objects and OpenStep. (pcu@umich.edu)
- Solaris OS for x86: a SunSoft port. A 32-bit OS with symmetric
- multiprocessing and multithreading, built-in networking capabilities with
- tools to allow remote configuring and adminstration features, and a
- communication package. WABI {windows emulator} runs Windows programs
- 60% faster than Windows 3.1 does on a 486. Client: $795, 50 users server:
- $1,995, 1000s users server: $5,995. Developer kits-software: $495,
- hardware: $195.
-
- Networking [Includes printing]
- WYSIWYG printing can be a problem with either Mac of IBM machines especially
- if one sends TrueType fonts to a older style PostScript printer.
- Mac
- Hardware: Built-in printer port and a built-in modem port. LocalTalk has
- moderate speeds (230.4 Kb/s), requires special connectors for each machine
- ($15 and up), and is run through the printer port. Some third party
- networking programs use the modem port. Built-in Ethernet is becoming common
- with transceivers available {Power Macintosh and Quadras} but many older Macs
- require a PDS or Nubus card at about $150-$300 for each machine. These cards
- provide three connectors and transceivers {thick, thin, and 10BaseT} for
- Ethernet. TokenRing has been a network option since 1989. Over five years a
- Mac is the cheapest overall (The Gartner Group - Fortune 10/04/93:110).
- Software: AppleTalk {the suite of protocols} standard with Mac OS, which can
- use variety of media types. AppleShare client software included with the OS
- and can connect to file servers such as Novell Netware, 3Com 3+Open, Banyan
- Vines, DEC Pathworks, Apple's AppleShare servers, System 7 File Sharing
- machines, and AFP servers running on variety of UNIX hosts. MacTCP allows
- typical TCP/IP communications (telnet, ftp, NFS, rlogin). Third-party
- software to connect to NFS servers. DEC Pathworks provides DECnet support.
- Peer-to-peer file sharing software built into System 7.1 (See OS section).
- Full server software is extra.
- Printing requires connection of the printer and the printer being selected in
- the chooser. Changing printers is by selecting a different name in the
- chooser. The same is true of connecting to servers.
-
- Printing bugs: Monaco TrueType font is different then the screen bitmap font.
-
- IBM
- Hardware: LocalTalk [not widely used], Ethernet, ArcNet, and TokenRing.
- Software: Novell Netware, IBM Lan Server, Banyan Vines, DECNet, Windows/Work
- Groups, AppleTalk protocols, and AppleShare {subset of AppleTalk}.
- Each of the MS-DOS networking schemes are, in general, totally incompatible
- with the others. Once you have chosen one, you are pretty much locked-in to
- that product line from then on. Windows/Work Groups is a little more
- forgiving and removes some of this problem. Novell Netware is the biggest,
- {~80 percent of the corporate market.} and in general is more powerful and
- offers better control/management/security than AppleShare, but it's also more
- complex to set up and manage. This will change due to the use of the Mac
- finder and file management system by Novell (MacWeek 3/22/93).
- Printing {Very OS dependent}
- DOS: If it's a single user, then you plug the printer into the parallel port,
- and don't worry about it {Tweeking may be needed with poorly written
- software}. Network Printing is not controlled by the system, but is mostly
- implemented by the actual program, therefore performance varies from one
- software program to the next.
- Windows 3.x: supports standard drivers and can do a good job of showing "jobs"
- in the print queue, but it can list printers as "active"... even if they
- are not. This becomes a problem if there are several incompatible printers
- on the same net, because there's no way for software to reliably determine
- which printer is active right now. Windows for Workgroups is more Mac-like
- and intelligent about this.
- OS/2: Mac-like; the os deals with printers, with apps making calls to the OS.
- Printing bugs: due to poor programing some programs for all the above OSes do
- not have WYSIWYG printing. This is the fault of the programs in question
- and not that of the OS involved.
-
- Price issue: This is very dynamic with Mac providing more build-in features
- than IBM and IBM being more 'get only what you need' then Mac, and price
- wars going on in both worlds.
- In general, when one adds all the standard Mac hardware features to an IBM
- {built-in input/output sound support, SCSI, PDS, built-in monitor support,
- built-in networking, standard interface, and NuBus equivalent in higher
- machines} the Mac tends to be cheaper then an equivalent equipted IBM
- machine at purchace and over five years.
- (IBM System User, Jan 1992 v13 n1 p43(1) {91 Ingram report};
- Fortune 10/04/93:110 {92 Gartner Group report}; BYTE 9/94:79 {93 Gartner
- Group report-Windows PC}; 93 Ingram report; 94 Ingram report; Business Week,
- 03/06/95:73).
- {Since some IBM monitors can be used with Macs the over all cost of a Mac can
- be cut even further (MacUser Aug 1992:158-176)}
-
-
- These are the facts as they were known to me on 01/01/95 and may be changed by
- new developments, announcements, or corrections. Corrections to the
- information are welcome.
- Please email corrections to
- AOL: BruceG6069
- Internet: BruceG6069@aol.com
-
- Bibliography notes
- 'Info-IBMPC Digest' back issues were available from wsmr-simtel20.army.mil
- {discontinued Oct 1993 in directory PD2:<ARCHIVES.IBMPC>.
- 'Dictionary of Computer Terms 3rd ed.' (ISBM 0-8120-4824-5)
- jay@seaspray.uacn.alaska.edu (Jay C. Beavers)
- bericksn@ac.dal.ca (Sean)
- david@visix.com (David Charlap)
- bcoleman@hayes.com (Bill Coleman)
- matt@wardsgi.med.yale.edu (Matt Healy)
- cj00+@andrew.cmu.edu (Carl B Jabido)
- fj05+@andrew.cmu.edu (Faisal Nameer Jawdat)
- dana@vnet.ibm.com (Dana Kilcrease)
- jokim@jarthur.claremont.edu (John H. Kim)
- lamont@catfish16.rtsg.mot.com (Bradley Lamont)
- mem@jhufos.pha.jhu.edu/mem@pha.jhu.edu (Mel Martinez)
- dayne@u.washington.edu (Dayne Miller)
- mpark@utmem1.utmem.edu (Mel Park)
- pcu@umich.edu
- noah@apple.com (Noah Price)
- terjer@ifi.unit.no (Terje Rydland)
- lschultz@ichips.intel.com (Len Schultz)
- especkma@reed.edu (Erik. A Speckman)
- d88-jwa@nada.kth.se (Jon Wtte)
- nan@matt.ksu.ksu.edu (Nan Zou)
-
- "Eliminate the impossible and what ever remains, no matter how improbable,
- is the truth" -- Sir Arthur Conan Doyle through Sherlock Holmes in The
- Adventure of the Beryl Coronet, The Adventure of the Blanched Soldier, Sign of
- Four and The Adventure of the Bruce-Partington Plans.
-
- "The burden of proof is on the people who make these statements, to show
- where they got their information from, to see if their conclusions and
- interpritaions are valid and if they have left anything out."
- -- _The Case of the Bermuda Triange_ Nova/Insight
-