Welcome to Macintosh

Welcome to the Vintage Mac Museum
A pre-Intel collection covering the 68k and PowerPC based Macintosh
 

68k Macintosh  •  PowerPC Beige   •  PowerPC G-Series  •  The PowerBook  •  Extras

The Vintage Mac Museum is a collection of 68k and PowerPC Macinti tracking the System Software, hardware design and period memorabilia of the pre-Intel Apple Macintosh. The Museum got started in the summer of 2001 while I was playing around with the then-just-released (and long awaited) MacOSX. Reminiscing a bit on Mac history, I realized I'd been a Mac user since the Plus but had never used the original Mac System Software. Just how much of the Mac's later features were contained in that original core? After a few hours poking around online I'd downloaded some early system disk images (thanks mac512.com) and was off and running.

Old 68k Macs were easy to come by, so I decided to assemble a working collection of best of breed (or otherwise notable) models running period applications and versions of the Macintosh System Software. Soon the models began multiplying, friends donated old Macs and I assembled a nice little working history of the 68k era. The Museum is a hands-on, functioning collection, and I fritter away more time than I should acquiring and cleaning up old machines. But hey, you never know when you might need to read a 400k floppy disk or run any classic Mac software!

In 2005 Apple shocked the world (again) by announcing its shift to the Dark Side, a transition of the platform from PowerPC to Intel CPUs. Unthinkable only a few years earlier (and confirming longstanding rumors), Apple acknowledged that they had been compiling MacOSX on Intel ever since it's conversion from NeXTstep. It's been a successful move for Apple, and the Mac now has it's strongest market share in years. The Intel transition also makes a nice boundary point for the Vintage Mac Museum, which has expanded beyond its roots into a 68k and PowerPC Macintosh collection.

The Mac is a seminal computer for many reasons, and has frequently been the platform of choice for artists and free thinkers worldwide. Part of that is the desire to use a tool which is non-mainstream, and part is the elegance of Apple's hardware and software designs. Whatever the reason, here's hoping that the Spirit of Macintosh lives on, enabling us to continue to Think Different(ly) and do great things!

Adam Rosen, Vintage Mac Museum Curator, Boston MA
macmuseum@oakbog.com
   

68k Macintosh  •  PowerPC Beige   •  PowerPC G-Series  •  The PowerBook  •  Extras

Oakbog Reference Articles
Tips for Working with Vintage Macs
Using Older Peripherals with Newer Macs