Lunduke
News • Science & Tech
AppleWorld 1987: When the Mac got color and expandability
Steve Jobs was against color screens and expansion bays, but after he was forced out of Apple... they arrived!
June 04, 2024
post photo preview

In March of 1987, Apple held an event at the Universal Amphitheater in Los Angeles.

That event, “AppleWorld ‘87”, was where Apple announced two of the most critical Macintosh hardware updates in history: The Macintosh II and the Mac SE.

The Macintosh II, in particularly, was a big move for Apple. For multiple reasons:

  • The very first Macintosh without a built-in monitor.

  • The very first Macintosh capable of color graphics.

  • The first Macintosh (along with the SE) to use the ADB (Apple Desktop Bus) for connecting peripherals like keyboards. (ADB was first introduced 6 months earlier with the Apple IIgs.)

  • The first “modular” Macintosh — with multiple drive bays and six NuBus expansion slots (which could drive up to six monitors at once).

 

The Macintosh II was much more “PC Clone” like than previous Macs. Big, rectangular box filled with expansion slots. With a monitor stacked on top.

 

That’s a heck of a lot of firsts.

Fun historical tidbit: Steve Jobs was opposed to the Macintosh line having color displays. He felt that everything displayed on a Macintosh must be able to be printed on a standard printer (he was an avid believer in true WYSIWYG). And, since color printers were rare, Jobs was firmly opposed to a color display on a Macintosh.

 

Steve Jobs was also opposed to expansion slots, of any kind, in a Macintosh. Jobs felt strongly that the Macintosh should be a sealed box — not user serviceable or upgradeable — with no internal expandability, relying solely on serial ports for accessories.

 

To get around this… the Macintosh II project was started, in 1985, completely without Jobs’ knowledge. After Jobs was forced out of Apple, later that same year, the project became more prominent.

The next year, in 1988, Apple would announce the second operating system for the Macintosh II: A/UX.

A/UX, Apple’s first release of a UNIX based operating system, was absolutely fascinating. A full, multitasking UNIX — running on a Mac II — with Macintosh System Software running on top. Which means you could run both UNIX and Mac software, side by side, a full decade before the first release of Mac OS X (OS X Server 1.0, in 1999).

 

A/UX being all A/UX-y.

 

Want to know something even more crazy?

Not only could the Macintosh II run “Macintosh System Software” and “A/UX”… but there was also a NuBus expansion card called “Mac286” that added an entire 286 DOS computer to the Mac II.

 

The two NuBus cards of the Mac286.

 

The Mac286 was two big NuBus cards, connected together with a ribbon cable. One card containing the 286 CPU, the second card containing the memory and drive controller. 1 MB of RAM, CGA display, and full access to the Macintosh hard drive (via a “D:” that provided access to the Mac hard drive).

Yeah. That’s right. Mac OS, UNIX, and DOS. All on the same rig. Awesome.

Ok. Back to AppleWorld 1987.

Below is the keynote from the event, with the new hardware being introduced by Jean-Louis Gassée — who was, at the time, a Vice President at Apple. I highly recommend watching this keynote in full. It is a gateway into a critical time in computer history.

One fun Jean-Louis Gassée tidbit:

During Memorial Day weekend of 1985, John Sculley (who was the CEO of Apple at the time), was in travelling China. Steve Jobs, who was feeling super grumpy at Sculley, hatched a plan to remove Sculley from the Company. Well, Jean-Louis Gassée, who was the Director of European Operations for Apple, found out about Steve Jobs’ dastardly plan. What did Gassée do? He told the board of Apple, who were not too pleased with Jobs (to put it mildly). This directly led to Steve Jobs getting the boot from Apple.

John Sculley then appointed Gassée to be the new head of Macintosh Development… Steve Jobs’ old role. Brutal, right?

During his time in the role, Gassée would introduce the Mac II, and create the Macintosh laptop line… starting with the Macintosh Portable. It could be argued that Gassée had a bigger impact on what the Macintosh would become… than even Jobs himself.

Gassée would later go on to found Be, inc., and create the legendary BeOS. The impact he has had on the broader computer industry is nothing short of astounding.

Fun side note: There was a period of time, during the late 1980s were Apple was producing four distinct operating Systems:

  • ProDOS for the Apple II line (including IIgs)

  • GS/OS for the Apple IIgs

  • Macintosh System Software (before it became known as Mac OS)

  • and A/UX (Apple’s UNIX version)

Four Operating Systems from Apple.  Plus the ability to run DOS via an expansion card.  And two completely different computer architectures -- both with similar, color graphical interface -- competing for survival (the Macintosh II and the Apple IIgs).

It was a crazy few years at Apple.

 

Advertisement for Apple IIgs (intruduced in 1986).  Which, in many ways, was directly competing with the Macintosh line (and the color Mac II specifically).

 

During that same time, Steve Jobs -- after getting the boot from Apple -- was off building NeXTStep… which would eventually get tweaked and renamed to MacOS X. (But that… is a different story.)

community logo
Join the Lunduke Community
To read more articles like this, sign up and join my community today
1
What else you may like…
Videos
Podcasts
Posts
Articles
November 02, 2024
Apple Removes Ability to Run Unsigned Apps in macOS 15.1

Big Tech's war against "sideloading" continues. With Microsoft and Google not far behind.

The article:
https://lunduke.locals.com/post/6304352/apple-removes-ability-to-run-unsigned-apps-in-macos-15-1

00:23:36
October 31, 2024
Wayback Machine & Google Website Cache Go Offline Weeks Before 2024 Election

With a Presidential election days away, the biggest ways to record online statements are conspicuously broken.

00:13:05
October 31, 2024
25% of Google Code is AI Generated

Layoffs, lack of pay raises for engineers, but they're not replacing programmers with Al. Wink wink.

00:12:59
November 22, 2023
The futility of Ad-Blockers

Ads are filling the entirety of the Web -- websites, podcasts, YouTube videos, etc. -- at an increasing rate. Prices for those ad placements are plummeting. Consumers are desperate to use ad-blockers to make the web palatable. Google (and others) are desperate to break and block ad-blockers. All of which results in... more ads and lower pay for creators.

It's a fascinatingly annoying cycle. And there's only one viable way out of it.

Looking for the Podcast RSS feed or other links? Check here:
https://lunduke.locals.com/post/4619051/lunduke-journal-link-central-tm

Give the gift of The Lunduke Journal:
https://lunduke.locals.com/post/4898317/give-the-gift-of-the-lunduke-journal

The futility of Ad-Blockers
November 21, 2023
openSUSE says "No Lunduke allowed!"

Those in power with openSUSE make it clear they will not allow me anywhere near anything related to the openSUSE project. Ever. For any reason.

Well, that settles that, then! Guess I won't be contributing to openSUSE! 🤣

Looking for the Podcast RSS feed or other links?
https://lunduke.locals.com/post/4619051/lunduke-journal-link-central-tm

Give the gift of The Lunduke Journal:
https://lunduke.locals.com/post/4898317/give-the-gift-of-the-lunduke-journal

openSUSE says "No Lunduke allowed!"
September 13, 2023
"Andreas Kling creator of Serenity OS & Ladybird Web Browser" - Lunduke’s Big Tech Show - September 13th, 2023 - Ep 044

This episode is free for all to enjoy and share.

Be sure to subscribe here at Lunduke.Locals.com to get all shows & articles (including interviews with other amazing nerds).

"Andreas Kling creator of Serenity OS & Ladybird Web Browser" - Lunduke’s Big Tech Show - September 13th, 2023 - Ep 044

That time my Linux box was hacked and owned by the Chinese in 30 minutes...

I normally used linux on my home network. Never had any issues.

Then one day I put up a Linux instance on DigitalOcean. Within 30 minutes the Chinese had hacked it and DigitalOcean had shut it down.

The linux vm's in digitalocean just sit on the internet, unlike my home computers and VM's that are behind my router. I had NO IDEA about the basics that one needs to do to lock Linux down.

Spent the weekend educating myself and set up a new linux vpc on DigitalOcean that never got hacked. It didn't take brilliance, but it did take some basic education on security.

I tell this story to add some context to securing, debloating and turning off or blocking telemetry on Windows. It takes just a bit of time and education to learn what to do.

I find it weird that anybody who educates themselves on running Linux and extolls the virtues of how customizable it is, and the power of learning how to use VI --- would...

Time to buy a Mac Mini - but no. Not really.

My Beelink Windows 11 computer has died. It won't turn on and I don't know why. It doesn't even try to turn on. So, great time to get a Mac mini for the same $600 I have in the Beelink!

Not so, unfortunately. I need this box specifically to run Windows software - and it has 64gig of ram for running docker containers and virtual machines. It's actually over kill for how I'm using it.

I did buy the Asurion 3yr protection so I get to ship it back to be fixed. Risking my data...and my upgraded ram.

So, I ordered another one to be delivered over night. I'll swap the nvme's and ram, so that I'll have a running machine with my data....and I have until January to return this PC.

In that time, I'm hoping my original will be fixed. If I end up owning two of these computers, that's an acceptable outcome to be back up and running tomorrow or the next day.

3 hours ago

Zelle money transfer app, everyone.

No data is collected or stored after a complete system scan because... trust me, bro.

post photo preview
November 03, 2024
post photo preview
Last week at The Lunduke Journal (Oct 20 - Nov 2, 2024)
Linux v. Russia! Internet Archive Weirdness! RISC OS Web Browsing!

Ok, first off: I totally forgot to publish a "week in review" article last week.  Woops.  My bad.  So this article covers the last two weeks.

Second: Over the last 14 days, apparently there's been 16 shows.  Hot dang.

And the news has been all over the map!  The big story, obviously, was the "Linux v. Russia" craziness.  The really wild part of that story is that it's still ramping up.  The next month is going to see some wild stories relating to open source software and sanctions compliance.

Oh!  Oh!  And the Internet Archive stuff!  Insane!

But, you know what my absolute favorite news story was for the last two weeks?  The one about RISC OS having WiFi and a modern web browser now.  That story just made me happy.  It's nice to know that, even when various software companies and organizations are losing their darned minds... there's still bright spots of nerdy joy out there.

The Shows

The Articles

Read full Article
November 02, 2024
post photo preview
Funny Programming Pictures Part LXII
Number 7 will SHOCK you!

No Ctrl-C's were harmed in the making of this post.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Read full Article
November 02, 2024
post photo preview
Apple Removes Ability to Run Unsigned Apps in macOS 15.1
Big Tech's war against "sideloading" continues.

On Monday, October 28th, Apple released the macOS 15.1 update.  And, with that update, Apple has ratcheted up their war on "sideloading" by completely disabling the ability to run unsigned macOS software.

And signing software, of course, requires an Apple Developer Connection subscription.  Which, for most people, is a costly thing.

 

Every Few Months, A Little Less Freedom

 

Just a little over one month ago (September of 2024), the initial release of macOS 15.0 brought with it a new round of restrictions on running non-signed (also called "non-notarized") applications.  With 15.0, users could still run non-signed software... but they needed to jump through a few extra hoops by openning the System Settings and manually enabling each application they wanted to run.

 

 

This change made running unsigned software on macOS a bit more annoying -- additional steps to do something that used to be a simple "double click on the darned icon" process.  Annoying, to be sure.  But, luckily, all software could still be run.

That all changed -- less than 45 days later -- as Apple released the 15.1 update to macOS, which included the removal of the "Click around in System Settings" option to allow unsigned apps to run.

Now, in 15.1, when you attempt to run a non-notarized piece of Mac software, you will be greeted by a simple error message: "The application 'Finder' does not have permission to open '(null)'."

 

 

No option to run the software whatsoever.  Effectively banning all non-signed software (such as those developed by a hobbyist).

 

The War on Sideloading Continues

 

This isn't exactly a surprising move by Apple.  Over the last few years, all of the Big Tech operating system companies (Microsoft, Apple, and Google) have pushed -- with increasing intensity -- to lock down what software users are allowed to run on their computers.

Increasingly restrictive "application signing" systems, and the removal of "features" which allowed non-signed applications to run, have been a stated goal of all three corporations.

All in the name of a war on, what Big Tech has termed, "Sideloading".

What is "Sideloading", you ask?

"Sideloading" is most simply defined as "The act of installing software on a real computer."  And Apple, Google, & Microsoft are determined to stop people from doing that.

 

 

These companies haven't exactly been quiet about their goal to stop people from installing software on their computers (outside of approved, heavily restrictive mechanisms).  Back in 2021, Apple published a whitepaper entitled "Building a Trusted Ecosystem for Millions of Apps - A threat analysis of sideloading".

 

 

That's right.  Apple considers you having the freedom to install whatever software you want on the computer you own -- something every real computer (including those made by Apple) have done since the dawn of Personal Computing -- to be a "threat".

With macOS 15.1, Apple is taking significant steps to neutralize that "threat".

No software freedom for you.

 

The Last Workaround

 

As of now -- with macOS 15.1 -- there remains one final way to work around these draconian and artificial restrictions.

To do so requires the complete disabling of "Gatekeeper", the system which verifies downloads and restricts the running of non-signed applications.

This can be done via a fairly simple terminal command run as root:

 

sudo spctl --master-disable

 

However, it should be noted that with Apple's ever increasing requirements of application "notarization" -- and increasing reliance on the Mac App Store for software distribution (which ties into Gatekeeper) -- the full disabling of "Gatekeeper" seems likely to cause issues going forward with "Apple approved" methods of installing software.

Likewise, at Apple's current rate of attacks against "sideloading", the ability to turn off Gatekeeper may not be long for this world at all.

 

Don't Laugh, Google & Microsoft Users

 

While the news, today, is focused on Apple (their fight against the most basic freedoms of computing -- the ability to run software)... both Microsoft and Google have made it clear that they are all in on the war against sideloading.

Case in point: Google is migrating Android software away from "APK" application packages... to the far more restrictive "AAB" application bundles.  Microsoft, likewise, is pushing for a reliance on their online store.

So users of Android, ChromeOS, & Windows shouldn't laugh.  You're next.

Users of a variety of open source, alternative operating systems (such as Linux, BSDs, and many others), however, can laugh all they want.

Read full Article
See More
Available on mobile and TV devices
google store google store app store app store
google store google store app tv store app tv store amazon store amazon store roku store roku store
Powered by Locals