Welcome to Macintosh

Welcome to the Vintage Mac Museum
A pre-Intel collection covering the 68k and PowerPC based Macintosh
 
Old Mac File Transfer & Conversion Services Available
 

68k Macintosh  •  PowerPC Beige   •  PowerPC G-Series  •  The PowerBook  •  Photos & Extras  •  VMM Blog

The Vintage Mac Museum is a working 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 Macintosh user since the Mac Plus but had never used the original System Software. Just how much of the Mac's later features were contained in that primal core? After a few hours poking around online I'd downloaded some early system disk images and was off and running.

Old 68k Macs were easy to come by, so I decided to assemble a subjective 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 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 you never know when you might need to read a 400k floppy or run some 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 since it's conversion from NeXTstep. It was a successful move for Apple, and the Mac now has its strongest market share in years. The Intel transition also made a logical boundary point for the Vintage Mac Museum, which has since expanded beyond its 68k roots into the PowerPC era and become a pre-Intel 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! Enjoy the collection.

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

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

 
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