AppleIBM
Volume Number: 10
Issue Number: 4
Column Tag: The Editor's Page
Related Info: Memory Manager Process Manager
Apple/IBM: First Fruits 
By Scott T Boyd, Editor
Note: Source code files accompanying article are located on MacTech CD-ROM orsource code disks.
Apple/IBM: first fruits
It was shortly after the rollout of System 7. Apple system software engineers
were pondering their next moves. Many had thoughts of turning their attention to the
next big system release, System 8. Unlike what many people outside the company
envisioned, this project had been in development for as long as System 7. Its existence
was relatively unknown, yet was coming along nicely; only two years out.
A number of these engineers went on to MacHack, uneasily knowing that
something was in the wind. Periodically checking their AppleLinks throughout the day,
the news finally came. Layoffs. The word hung heavy in the air, all thoughts of
exciting next-generation systems swept away. But wait, bigger news than even
layoffs. Apple and IBM, partners!
The ramifications were sweeping. The cloaked-in-secrecy system was now
bandied about, showing up in places like the Wall Street Journal. It was not only was
out in the open, but being hailed as a technology which would serve as the focus for a
new joint spin-off company, Taligent
Plans for a RISCmachine had been kicking around for a while. After all, the
writing was already on the wall, and the bang for the buck just could not be ignored.
These plans changed quickly and drastically, completely re targeting to the RS/6000
follow-on, the PowerPC.
The bad news seemed to be coming from all directions. To work on the next
generation system, an engineer now had to quit Apple first! And it seemed ludicrous to
pay any attention to the RS/6000 chip. After all, it ranked pretty low in the general
comparisons list put together by MacHack’s computer architecture grand master,
Waldemar Horwat.
So, almost three years later, is it all that bad? Not at all. Of course, we wonder
how many more times we’re going to hear that Taligent is (still) two years out, but
that’s just one data point. One of Apple’s best-kept secrets is that somehow, out of the
midst of chaos, come some of the best products on the planet. Apple attracts some
mighty special people, and they have a long track record of achieving the
near-impossible.
This month hails the introduction of the PowerMacintosh. It’s a Macintosh
through and through, yet it doesn’t have a Motorola 680x0 CPUin the box. While other
companies were going off to build yet-another un*x box, Apple took on the unlikely
task of building an all-new box with a very familiar system, System 7, and a host of
available, well-liked software. That probably caught a few people off guard, perhaps
even IBM, and, not least, many of us who worked on it.
The simplicity of the “It’s a Macintosh” message might be a bit deceiving. Every
Macintosh developer knows that it’s a lot of work to make something look simple and
effortless. Pulling off the highly-compatible-yet-missing-a-68K-CPU Macintosh
called for a number of special feats, starting with the emulator. It’s a terrific piece of
work, as is Mixed Mode, and the Code Fragment Manager (CFM). These new pieces of
technology show Apple at its finest. But you don’t get a PowerMacintosh with just
those pieces. To get performance, it took rewriting a number of pieces in PowerPC
code, including QuickDraw, the Memory Manager, Virtual Memory, the Process
Manager, the text drawing routines, among others. Not only new, but compatible, too!
The Component Manager had to learn how to load native components while adapting to
the new facilities and run-time architecture. There was the code to bootstrap the
emulator, the code to bootstrap the CFM and Mixed Mode, and a host of other pieces.
There’s a team of worn-out, bleary eyed people to thank for all of this, and they did it
all in spite of some unbelievably crazy schedules, and too many people to please. Our
hats are off to the PowerPC team - Rock n’ Roll!
Taking a look at the specs, it’s easy to get lost in the verbage, but here’s an easy
way to remember what’s what. It all starts with ‘Power Macintosh’. If it costs a little
(~$2000), it’s model number starts with a ‘6’. That translates to 60 MHz. If it’s the
midrange (~$3000), it starts with a ‘7’, and runs at 66 MHz. If you had to sell your
firstborn (~$4000), it starts with an ‘8’ and runs at 80 MHz. If it ends with AV, you
could’ve used it to digitize movies of your firstborn, but maybe now you can use the
spare bedroom as a computer room. You construct the name as follows:
/* 1 */
Power Macintosh 100/[AV|Logic Board|Upgrade Card]
It might seem a bit redundant to have the digit indicate the speed, but they left
themselves some namespace room to add another hundred or so models later in the
year. All of this, and it can run Windows, too! I guess it’s about time Ibought a PC, but
this one’s going to be a PowerPC!
Here are some specs on the new boxes. We’ll start with prices, and should note
that these were given to us as final prices, but let’s just call these good at the time we
went to press.
Final Pricing (as of press time), listed as “Apple Prices”.
Power Macintosh 6100/60
RAM HD CD AV VRAM System* CPU Only
8 160 - - - $2209 $1819
8 250 CD - - 2679 2289
8 250 CD AV 2MB 2989 2599
16 250 - - - 2909 2519
(the 16MB configuration includes SoftWindows)
*Includes Apple Color Plus Display ($305) and Apple Keyboard II ($85)
Power Macintosh 7100/66
RAM HD CD AV VRAM System* CPU Only
8 250 1MB - - $3379 $2899
8 250 CD - 1MB 3659 3179
8 500 CD AV 2MB 4469 3989
16 250 1MB 3859 3379
(the 16MB configuration includes SoftWindows)
*Includes Apple Color Plus Display ($305) and Apple Extended Keyboard
($175)
Power Macintosh 8100/80 All 8100’s include a 256K cache
RAM HD CD AV VRAM System* CPU Only
8 250 - - 2MB $4869 $4249
8 250 CD - 2MB 5139 4519
16 500 CD AV 2MB 6279 5659
16 1000 CD - 2MB 6779 6159
16 500 - - 2MB 5929 5309
(the last 16MB configuration includes SoftWindows)
*Includes14” Macintosh Color Display ($445) and Apple Extended Keyboard
($175)
Board Upgrades
Power Macintosh Upgrade Card $699
Power Macintosh 6100/60 logic board upgrade 999
8MB DRAM
Power Macintosh 6100/60 AV logic board upgrade 1399
8MB DRAM, 2MB VRAM
Power Macintosh 7100/66 logic board upgrade 1499
8MB DRAM, 1MB VRAM
Power Macintosh 7100/66AV logic board upgrade 1699
8MB DRAM, 2MB VRAM
Power Macintosh 8100/80 logic board upgrade 1899
8MB DRAM, 2MB VRAM, 256K Cache
Power Macintosh 8100/80AV logic board upgrade 1999
8MB DRAM, 2MB VRAM, 256K Cache
Accessories
Power Macintosh 6100/60 NuBus Adapter Card $99
256K Cache Card for the 6100/60 & 7100/66 299
Power Macintosh Display Adapter 29
Every Power Macintosh uses a PowerPC601 RISCprocessor with a
surprisingly-fast built-in floating point unit and an integrated 32K cache. The 8100
boxes have a 256K second-level cache.
APower Macintosh can support most Apple displays (limited by memory
requirements of the monitor) and most third-party displays, including NTSC, PAL,
VGA, and SVGA. Most Power Macs use DRAM to support the displays, and can also take
add-in VRAM to support bigger and deeper displays.
Color Depth Support (in bits)
6100/60 w/2MB 7100/66 w/1MB w/2MB 8100/80 w/2MB
w/4MB
and AV VRAM and AV VRAM VRAM and AV VRAM VRAM
14” 16 24 16 16 24 16 24 24
16”,17” 8 24 8 16 24 8 24 24
20”,21” - 16 - 8 16 - 16 24
They all have GeoPort-compatible DMA serial ports, and support AV-style phone
stuff, speech recognition, and text-to-speech capabilities. The AVs are distinguished
by having a DB-15 video port as well as S-video input and output ports, and supports
two displays with no additional cards.
All of the machines have on-board Ethernet, and handle 16-bit stereo audio input
and output.
The 6100 has a built-in processor-direct slot (PDS). The 7100 and 8100
Power Macs have three NuBus slots.
All of the Power Macintosh boxes have a high-speed asychronous SCSIinterface
which supports up to six external devices. The 8100 has a dual-channel, high-speed
asychronous SCSIinterface. The second SCSIinterface runs at double the clock speed,
and supports an internal hard disk array. Each box can hold a hard drive and a CD
ROMdrive. The 8100 boxes also have room for a full-height 3.5-in hard drive and a
removable 3.5-in device.
SoftWindows is only included with a few configurations, but will run on any of
them. I’ve seen it work, and it’s quite surprising. It’s quick, it feels responsive, and
it runs a lot of stuff. It was a bit disconcerting, of course, but I’m certain that I’m
going to have it on my desk.
And, perhaps most importantly, the maximum operating altitude for all of these
machines is 10,000 feet (3,048 m).
Food for thought
A Fifth Generation Systems employee, on the acquisition of Fifth Generation by
Symantec, “We’ve been assimilated by the Borg.”