Rural Dictionary

Macintosh

The Macintosh is an OS that's optimum for digital photography and graphic design, like Photoshop, for animation, like Flash, and for video editing and publishing, like Final Cut. Great OS for artists and the like. Gets a bad rap over Windows because of it's sheer simplicity, but does turn out to have the upper hand for what you want to use it for.

Not too many games are made for the OS, but if you want to play games, get a Windows. If you're into doing graphical work, use a Mac.

Not too many viruses exist that affect a Mac, but many do for a Windows OS. But who's fault is that?

So if you're into doing some animation, photo manipulation, video and film editing, music editing, and graphic design, get a Mac. If you want to do nothing but number crunch and write papers after papers, guy a Windows. And if you want to play video games, buy a fucking Xbox or something.

Person 1: "I've been working on this cartoon for about two years now, and my hard drive fried!"

Person 2: "You should've been working on a Macintosh. They've got one hell of a graphics card!"

Person 1: "Really? FUCK!"

by PCs Are A Virus Farm February 15, 2007

49👍 60👎

Macintosh

A very controversial platform introduced by Apple back in '85. Some love it, most hate it. The general consensus is that you can't do ANYTHING with them. I'll admit outright that a factory shipped apple computer lacks the ability to run games. But for those who don't play games, it's not a loss. And the platforms secure Unix core and lack of popularity make it a rare target for hackers and viruses. Not to mention that the previous PowerPC based generations were true monsters. The RISC based computers were oh so easy to program. And reached real world results that are hard to achieve on the x86 platform. Needless to say, my respect for that platform dropped exponentially since the advent of Intel based Macs. But the simple intuitive GUI makes up for the hardware drawback. It's Unix roots hold several advantages over other Os's on the market. If anything, the lack of a registry and no Dll's are the Unix system's biggest forte. All I can say, is that I've been using my 68k based Mac Plus, PowerPC based Powerbook 1400c, Power Mac G4 and Powerbook G4 happily for years. I do own a PC, but it's pretty pokey sometimes and has to be whiped clean every year. When I need a huge library of programs, than i'll whip out my Hp Mini, for something zippy and simple, my Macintoshs reign supreme. It's all a matter of what you want to do.

PowerPC Macintosh computers= Fast, simple.

x86= Far more common, overly complex, once used Netburst, and that's bad enough.

by Medicus April 28, 2010

12👍 12👎

Macintosh

1. A line of personal computers designed, marketed, manufactured and devolped by Apple Computers. It was the first operating system to feature a GUI (Graphical User Interface). Introduced in 2001, Mac OS X was based on Unix and was a more secure sucessor to the older Mac OS 9. Mac OS X is directly derived from NeXTSTEP, the operating system developed by Steve Jobs’ company NeXT before Apple bought it.

The Macintosh line has been responsible for many innovations which have had signifigant impact on modern computing, including the indroduction of the GUI as mentioned above. Other innovations include the introduction of standard audio in/out ports, the abandonment of the floppy disk drive, and the support of multiple monitors. Macintosh has also greatly contributed to the field of portable computers, being the first to introduce the touchpad, which ahs now become an industry standard.

The Macintosh differs noticably from other personal computers, especially those running Windows operating systems. All macintosh hardware and bundled software are assembled by Apple, whereas Microsoft supplies their software to third-party producers such as Dell, who make the hardware using a much wider range of components. The fact that the Mac OS is a less common operating system means that there is less third party software available for it, although suitable applications, such as Microsoft Office, are available in most areas. The design of the Macintosh operating system has contributed to the near-absence of the types of malware and spyware that plague Microsoft Windows users. However, recent security issues have made headlines, including a alleged severe hole in the Safari Browser and a "slew of malicious code" including the “Leap” & “Inqtana” worms to infiltrate the system. This has led some industry analysts and anti-virus companies to issue warnings that Apple's OS X is not immune to viruses. While no operating system is completely secure, there is no extant malware for Mac OS X -merely "proof-of-concept" code.

Many computer-users prefer Macintosh because of its user friendliness and integrated software, which gives it an ease of use that appeals to more casual computer users. Apple's minimalist design principles often appeal to the aesthetic, and many choose to buy a macintosh in part because of this. The Macintosh is also used widely in the field of graphic and video editing.

Detractors cite the non-upgradability of most macs, as well as the inability of a user to customise the Operating System through direct contact with the code, due to the lack of a command-line interface. Many criticisms of the macintosh focus on its inappropriatness for gaming purposes. Though the recent release of "Boot Camp" allows the Windows OS to be run on mac hardware, thus allowing the running of many previously unavailable games, macintoshes are certainly not optimised for maximum computer gaming performance.

2. (Also known as "Makintosh", and nicknamed "Mac") A type of waterproof raincoat, sold first in 1824 and made from rubberized fabric. The Makintosh was named after its inventor, Charles Macintosh. The name Macintosh has since become a generic term, but a geniune Makintosh coat is distinguished by being made from made from rubberised or rubber laminated material.

3. A type of apple (known specifically as the "McIntosh Red") with red and green skin and a tart flavor.

1. "I just bought a macintosh computer."

2. "That McIntosh apple was damn yummy"

3. "It rained today, but I was wearing my Makintosh, so I didn't get wet."

by MostlyGhostly January 3, 2007

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