Apple Writer is a discontinued word processor for the Apple II family of personal computers. It was created by Paul Lutus and published in 1979 by Apple Computer .
88-453: Paul Lutus wrote Apple Writer, a word processor for the Apple II series of personal computers, alone in a small cottage he built himself atop a hill in the woods of Oregon , connected to the electricity grid via 1,200 feet (370 m) of cable strung in trees . Published in 1979 by Apple Computer after the company purchased the rights for $ 7500, the original version of Apple Writer runs from
176-418: A game paddle port as a serial interface is an undocumented feature . Apple did not publicize the information due to the risk of damage to the computer or printer, but Lutus described how to build the serial cable in a letter to BYTE . After Apple Writer became very popular, Lutus signed a new contract with royalties because, he said, "no one at Apple was able to make the improvements that were needed for
264-423: A microprocessor . The computer also includes memory and input/output (I/O) circuitry together mounted on a printed circuit board (PCB). Microcomputers became popular in the 1970s and 1980s with the advent of increasingly powerful microprocessors. The predecessors to these computers, mainframes and minicomputers , were comparatively much larger and more expensive (though indeed present-day mainframes such as
352-870: A proof of concept to demonstrate what such a simple device could do. As microprocessors and semiconductor memory became less expensive, microcomputers grew cheaper and easier to use. All these improvements in cost and usability resulted in an explosion in their popularity during the late 1970s and early 1980s. A large number of computer makers packaged microcomputers for use in small business applications. By 1979, many companies such as Cromemco , Processor Technology , IMSAI , North Star Computers , Southwest Technical Products Corporation , Ohio Scientific , Altos Computer Systems , Morrow Designs and others produced systems designed for resourceful end users or consulting firms to deliver business systems such as accounting, database management and word processing to small businesses. This allowed businesses unable to afford leasing of
440-495: A 13- sector DOS 3.2 diskette and supports 40-column text display. It displays text entirely in uppercase, but case can be toggled by pressing the ESC key; characters that the user signified as uppercase appear in inverse (black-on-white) capitals, while characters in lowercase appear as standard capitals. The names of the binary files Apple Writer 1.0 produces begin with the prefix "TEXT". The program's ability to print to printers using
528-732: A 16-bit processor, the Apple II GS , was added in 1986. It remained compatible with earlier Apple II models, but the II GS has more in common with mid-1980s systems like the Atari ST , Amiga , and Acorn Archimedes . Despite the introduction of the Motorola 68000 -based Macintosh in 1984, the Apple II series still reportedly accounted for 85% of the company's hardware sales in the first quarter of fiscal 1985. Apple continued to sell Apple II systems alongside
616-552: A DOS, and with Wozniak inexperienced in operating system design, Jobs approached Shepardson Microsystems with the project. On April 10, 1978, Apple signed a contract for $ 13,000 with Shepardson to develop the DOS. Even after disk drives made the cassette tape interfaces obsolete they were still used by enthusiasts as simple one-bit audio input-output ports. Ham radio operators used the cassette input to receive slow scan TV (single frame images). A commercial speech recognition Blackjack program
704-563: A breakout cable which connected to the back of the card, the user could attach up to two UniDisk or Apple 5.25 Drives , up to one UniDisk 3.5 drive , and a DE-9 Apple II joystick. Many of the LC's built-in Macintosh peripherals could also be "borrowed" by the card when in Apple II mode, including extra RAM, the Mac's internal 3.5-inch floppy drives, AppleTalk networking, any ProDOS-formatted hard disk partitions,
792-497: A built-in BASIC programming language. The motherboard holds eight expansion slots and an array of random access memory (RAM) sockets that can hold up to 48 kilobytes . Over the course of the Apple II series' life, an enormous amount of first- and third-party hardware was made available to extend the capabilities of the machine. The IIc was designed as a compact, portable unit, not intended to be disassembled, and cannot use most of
880-560: A built-in disk controller that could control external drives, composite video (NTSC or PAL), serial interfaces for modem and printer, and a port usable by either a joystick or mouse. Unlike previous Apple II models, the IIc had no internal expansion slots at all. Two different monochrome LC displays were sold for use with the IIc's video expansion port, although both were short-lived due to high cost and poor legibility. The IIc had an external power supply that converted AC power to 15 V DC, though
968-446: A built-in music synthesizer that far exceeded any other home computer. The Apple II GS evolved the platform while still maintaining near-complete backward compatibility. Its Mega II chip contains the functional equivalent of an entire Apple IIe computer (sans processor). This, combined with the 65816's ability to execute 65C02 code directly, provides full support for legacy software, while also supporting 16-bit software running under
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#17330930223371056-587: A computer based on a microprocessor – the Intel 8008 8-bit microprocessor. This Micral-N was marketed in early 1973 as a "Micro-ordinateur" or microcomputer , mainly for scientific and process-control applications. About a hundred Micral-N were installed in the next two years, followed by a new version based on the Intel 8080. Meanwhile, another French team developed the Alvan, a small computer for office automation which found clients in banks and other sectors. The first version
1144-463: A computer had to be big in size to be powerful, and thus decided to market them as calculators. Additionally, at that time, people were more likely to buy calculators than computers, and, purchasing agents also preferred the term "calculator" because purchasing a "computer" required additional layers of purchasing authority approvals. The Datapoint 2200 , made by CTC in 1970, was also comparable to microcomputers. While it contains no microprocessor,
1232-422: A disk operating system included in a series of programmable read-only memory chips (PROMs); 8 Kilobytes of RAM; IBM's Basic Assembly Language (BAL); a hard drive; a color display; a printer output; a 150 bit/s serial interface for connecting to a mainframe; and even the world's first microcomputer front panel. In early 1973, Sord Computer Corporation (now Toshiba Personal Computer System Corporation ) completed
1320-419: A minicomputer or time-sharing service the opportunity to automate business functions, without (usually) hiring a full-time staff to operate the computers. A representative system of this era would have used an S100 bus , an 8-bit processor such as an Intel 8080 or Zilog Z80 , and either CP/M or MP/M operating system. The increasing availability and power of desktop computers for personal use attracted
1408-523: A multitude of programs developed under the CP/M operating system, including the dBase II database and the WordStar word processor. There was also a third-party 6809 card that would allow OS-9 Level One to be run. Third-party sound cards greatly improved audio capabilities, allowing simple music synthesis and text-to-speech functions. Eventually, Apple II accelerator cards were created to double or quadruple
1496-786: A new OS. The OS eventually included a Macintosh-like graphical Finder for managing disks and files and opening documents and applications, along with desk accessories . Later, the II GS gained the ability to read and write Macintosh disks and, through third-party software, a multitasking Unix-like shell and TrueType font support. The GS includes a 32-voice Ensoniq 5503 DOC sample-based sound synthesizer chip with 64 KB dedicated RAM, 256 KB (or later 1.125 MB) of standard RAM, built-in peripheral ports (switchable between IIe-style card slots and IIc-style onboard controllers for disk drives, mouse, RGB video, and serial devices) and, built-in AppleTalk networking. The final Apple II model
1584-557: A time, although they can often be modified with software or hardware to concurrently serve more than one user. Microcomputers fit well on or under desks or tables, so that they are within easy access of users. Bigger computers like minicomputers , mainframes , and supercomputers take up large cabinets or even dedicated rooms. A microcomputer comes equipped with at least one type of data storage, usually RAM . Although some microcomputers (particularly early 8-bit home micros) perform tasks using RAM alone, some form of secondary storage
1672-453: A time, by turning them over and notching a hole for the write protect sensor. The first disk operating systems for the Apple II were DOS 3.1 and DOS 3.2, which stored 113.75 KB on each disk, organized into 35 tracks of 13 256-byte sectors each. After about two years, DOS 3.3 was introduced, storing 140 KB thanks to a minor firmware change on the disk controller that allowed it to store 16 sectors per track. (This upgrade
1760-511: Is a series of microcomputers manufactured by Apple Computer, Inc. from 1977 to 1993. The first Apple II model , that gave the series its name, was designed by Steve Wozniak , and was first sold on June 10, 1977. Its success led to it being followed by the Apple II Plus , Apple IIe , Apple IIc , and Apple IIc Plus , with the 1983 IIe being the most popular. The name is trademarked with square brackets as Apple ][ , then, beginning with
1848-806: Is normally desirable. In the early days of home micros, this was often a data cassette deck (in many cases as an external unit). Later, secondary storage (particularly in the form of floppy disk and hard disk drives) were built into the microcomputer case. Although they did not contain any microprocessors, but were built around transistor-transistor logic (TTL), Hewlett-Packard calculators as far back as 1968 had various levels of programmability comparable to microcomputers. The HP 9100B (1968) had rudimentary conditional (if) statements, statement line numbers, jump statements ( go to ), registers that could be used as variables, and primitive subroutines. The programming language resembled assembly language in many ways. Later models incrementally added more features, including
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#17330930223371936-523: Is sometimes called the first generation of microcomputers. Many companies such as DEC , National Semiconductor , Texas Instruments offered their microcomputers for use in terminal control, peripheral device interface control and industrial machine control. There were also machines for engineering development and hobbyist personal use. In 1975, the Processor Technology SOL-20 was designed, which consisted of one board which included all
2024-409: Is specified with escape-commands, which varies depending on the printer. Common commands include Esc-X to begin underlining, and Esc-Y to end underlining. Apple Writer was very successful, with sales by Apple Computer of $ 1.5 million in the 16 months through May 1982. Lutus's royalties reached "six figures" in 1981 and were estimated to reach $ 250,000 in 1982. II Computing listed Apple Writer third on
2112-592: The Apple II J-Plus (Japan). In these models, Apple made the necessary hardware, software and firmware changes in order to comply to standards outside of the US. The Apple II Plus was followed in 1983 by the Apple IIe, a cost-reduced yet more powerful machine that used newer chips to reduce the component count and add new features, such as the display of upper and lowercase letters and a standard 64 KB of RAM. The IIe RAM
2200-399: The BASIC programming language (HP 9830A in 1971). Some models had tape storage and small printers. However, displays were limited to one line at a time. The HP 9100A was referred to as a personal computer in an advertisement in a 1968 Science magazine, but that advertisement was quickly dropped. HP was reluctant to sell them as "computers" because the perception at that time was that
2288-660: The IBM System z machines use one or more custom microprocessors as their CPUs). Many microcomputers (when equipped with a keyboard and screen for input and output) are also personal computers (in the generic sense). An early use of the term "personal computer" in 1962 predates microprocessor-based designs. (See "Personal Computer: Computers at Companies" reference below) . A "microcomputer" used as an embedded control system may have no human-readable input and output devices. "Personal computer" may be used generically or may denote an IBM PC compatible machine. The abbreviation "micro"
2376-541: The Micral N. The same year the company filed their patents with the term "Micro-ordinateur", a literal equivalent of "Microcomputer", to designate a solid state machine designed with a microprocessor. In the US the earliest models such as the Altair 8800 were often sold as kits to be assembled by the user, and came with as little as 256 bytes of RAM , and no input/output devices other than indicator lights and switches, useful as
2464-552: The instruction set of its custom TTL processor was the basis of the instruction set for the Intel 8008 , and for practical purposes the system behaves approximately as if it contains an 8008. This is because Intel was the contractor in charge of developing the Datapoint's CPU, but ultimately CTC rejected the 8008 design because it needed 20 support chips. Another early system, the Kenbak-1 ,
2552-545: The Altair itself was only a mild commercial success, it helped spark a huge industry. By 1977, the introduction of the second microcomputer generation as consumer goods , known as home computers , made them considerably easier to use than their predecessors because their predecessors' operation often demanded thorough familiarity with practical electronics. The ability to connect to a monitor (screen) or TV set allowed visual manipulation of text and numbers. The BASIC language, which
2640-530: The Apple II could boot into the CP/M operating system and run WordStar , dBase II , and other CP/M software. With the release of MousePaint in 1984 and the Apple II GS in 1986, the platform took on the look of the Macintosh user interface, including a mouse. Much commercial Apple II software shipped on self-booting disks and does not use standard DOS disk formats. This discouraged the copying or modifying of
2728-664: The Apple II series looked similar, featuring much clean white space and showing the Apple rainbow logo prominently. For several years up until the late 1980s, Apple used the Motter Tektura font for packaging, until changing to the Apple Garamond font. Apple ran the first advertisement for the Apple II, a two-page spread ad titled "Introducing Apple II", in BYTE in July 1977. The first brochure,
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2816-621: The Apple logo on the casing was represented using rainbow stripes, which remained a part of Apple's corporate logo until early 1998. The earliest Apple IIs were assembled in Silicon Valley , and later in Texas; printed circuit boards were manufactured in Ireland and Singapore . An external 5 + 1 ⁄ 4 -inch floppy disk drive, the Disk II , attached via a controller card that plugged into one of
2904-519: The Disk II became available in 1978, tape-based Apple II software essentially disappeared from the market. The initial price of the Disk II drive and controller was US$ 595, although a $ 100 off coupon was available through the Apple newsletter "Contact". The controller could handle two drives and a second drive (without controller) retailed for $ 495. The Disk II single-sided floppy drive used 5.25-inch floppy disks ; double-sided disks could be used, one side at
2992-615: The IBM PC itself was widely imitated, as well as the term. The component parts were commonly available to producers and the BIOS was reverse engineered through cleanroom design techniques. IBM PC compatible "clones" became commonplace, and the terms "personal computer", and especially "PC", stuck with the general public, often specifically for a computer compatible with DOS (or nowadays Windows). Monitors, keyboards and other devices for input and output may be integrated or separate. Computer memory in
3080-658: The IIc itself will accept between 12 V and 17 V DC, allowing third parties to offer battery packs and automobile power adapters that connected in place of the supplied AC adapter. The Apple II GS , released on September 15, 1986, is the penultimate and most advanced model in the Apple II series, and a radical departure from prior models. It uses a 16-bit microprocessor, the 65C816 operating at 2.8 MHz with 24-bit addressing, allowing expansion up to 8 MB of RAM. The graphics are significantly improved, with 4096 colors and new modes with resolutions of 320×200 and 640×400. The audio capabilities are vastly improved, with
3168-522: The IIe, as Apple // . The Apple II was a major advancement over its predecessor, the Apple I , in terms of ease of use, features, and expandability. It became one of several recognizable and successful computers during the 1980s and early 1990s, although this was mainly limited to the US. It was aggressively marketed through volume discounts and manufacturing arrangements to educational institutions, which made it
3256-595: The Macintosh until terminating the II GS in December 1992 and the IIe in November 1993. The last II-series Apple in production, the IIe card for Macintoshes , was discontinued on October 15, 1993; having been one of the longest running mass-produced home computer series, the total Apple II sales of all of its models during its 16-year production run were about 6 million units (including about 1.25 million Apple II GS models) with
3344-681: The Platinum IIe and II GS . Unlike the IIe IIc and II GS , the IIc Plus came only in one version (American) and was not officially sold anywhere outside the US. The Apple IIc Plus ceased production in 1990, with its two-year production run being the shortest of all the Apple II computers. Although not an extension of the Apple II line, in 1990 the Apple IIe Card, an expansion card for the Macintosh LC ,
3432-685: The SMP80/08, which used the Intel 8008 microprocessor. The SMP80/08, however, did not have a commercial release. After the first general-purpose microprocessor, the Intel 8080 , was announced in April 1974, Sord announced the SMP80/x, the first microcomputer to use the 8080, in May 1974. Virtually all early microcomputers were essentially boxes with lights and switches; one had to read and understand binary numbers and machine language to program and use them (the Datapoint 2200
3520-439: The attention of more software developers. As the industry matured, the market for personal computers standardized around IBM PC compatibles running DOS , and later Windows . Modern desktop computers, video game consoles , laptops , tablet PCs , and many types of handheld devices , including mobile phones , pocket calculators , and industrial embedded systems , may all be considered examples of microcomputers according to
3608-568: The computer's expansion slots (usually slot 6), was used for data storage and retrieval to replace cassettes. The Disk II interface, created by Steve Wozniak , was regarded as an engineering masterpiece for its economy of electronic components. Rather than having a dedicated sound-synthesis chip, the Apple II had a toggle circuit that could only emit a click through a built-in speaker; all other sounds (including two, three and, eventually, four-voice music and playback of audio samples and speech synthesis) were generated entirely by software that clicked
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3696-697: The computer's speed. Rod Holt designed the Apple II's power supply. He employed a switched-mode power supply design, which was far smaller and generated less unwanted heat than the linear power supply some other home computers used. The original Apple II was discontinued at the start of 1981, superseded by the Apple II+ . The Apple II Plus, introduced in June 1979, included the Applesoft BASIC programming language in ROM. This Microsoft -authored dialect of BASIC, which
3784-465: The definition given above. By the early 2000s, everyday use of the expression "microcomputer" (and in particular "micro") declined significantly from its peak in the mid-1980s. The term is most commonly associated with the most popular 8-bit home computers (such as the Apple II , ZX Spectrum , Commodore 64 , BBC Micro , and TRS-80 ) and small-business CP/M -based microcomputers. In colloquial usage, "microcomputer" has been largely supplanted by
3872-504: The end of the rail – and read and execute code from sector 0. The code contained in there would then pull in the rest of the operating system. DOS stored the disk's directory on track 17, smack in the middle of the 35-track disks, in order to reduce the average seek time to the frequently used directory track. The directory was fixed in size and could hold a maximum of 105 files. Subdirectories were not supported. Most game publishers did not include DOS on their floppy disks, since they needed
3960-419: The expansion hardware sold for the other machines in the series. The original Apple II has the operating system in ROM along with a BASIC variant called Integer BASIC . Apple eventually released Applesoft BASIC , a more advanced variant of the language which users can run instead of Integer BASIC. The Apple II series eventually supported over 1,500 software programs. When the Disk II floppy disk drive
4048-611: The features of the later model Apple IIc ) and the Apple IIe Platinum (a modernized case color to match other Apple products of the era, along with the addition of a numeric keypad ). Some of the feature of the IIe were carried over from the less successful Apple III , among them the ProDOS operating system. The Apple IIc was released in April 1984, billed as a portable Apple II because it could be easily carried due to its size and carrying handle, which could be flipped down to prop
4136-634: The first computer in widespread use in American secondary schools, displacing the early leader Commodore PET . The effort to develop educational and business software for the Apple II, including the 1979 release of the popular VisiCalc spreadsheet , made the computer especially popular with business users and families. The Apple II computers are based on the 6502 8-bit processor and can display text and two resolutions of color graphics. A software-controlled speaker provides one channel of low-fidelity audio. A model with more advanced graphics and sound and
4224-422: The first version of the series to run under ProDOS . It allows users to set screen margins and to connect the computer's keyboard to a modem as a rudimentary terminal program . Published in late 1985, this version corrects a problem with parallel printer cards present in 2.0 and changes printed characters from low- ASCII to high-ASCII, correcting an issue with certain interface cards and printers. Following
4312-498: The form of RAM , and at least one other less volatile, memory storage device are usually combined with the CPU on a system bus in one unit. Other devices that make up a complete microcomputer system include batteries, a power supply unit, a keyboard and various input/output devices used to convey information to and from a human operator ( printers , monitors , human interface devices ). Microcomputers are designed to serve only one user at
4400-555: The lines of the Commodore Datasette was never produced; Apple recommended using the Panasonic RQ309 in some of its early printed documentation. The uses of common consumer cassette recorders and a standard video monitor or television set (with a third-party RF modulator ) made the total cost of owning an Apple II less expensive and helped contribute to the Apple II's success. Cassette storage may have been inexpensive, but it
4488-484: The machine up into a typing position. Unlike modern portables , it lacked a built-in display and battery. It was the first of three Apple II models to be made in the Snow White design language , and the only one that used its unique creamy off-white color. The Apple IIc was the first Apple II to use the 65C02 low-power variant of the 6502 processor, and featured a built-in 5.25-inch floppy drive and 128 KB RAM, with
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#17330930223374576-465: The magazine's list of top Apple II software as of late 1985, based on sales and market-share data. David Thornburg of Compute! wrote in 1980 "I have looked at other text editors for the Apple, some of which were overloaded with features. Given the hardware limitations of the Apple II, I feel that Apple Writer is a very useful document creation tool", and stated that he wrote the review with Apple Writer. Apple II Apple II ("apple two ")
4664-443: The memory it occupied more than its capabilities; instead, they often wrote their own boot loaders and read-only file systems. This also served to discourage "crackers" from snooping around in the game's copy-protection code, since the data on the disk was not in files that could be accessed easily. Microcomputer A microcomputer is a small, relatively inexpensive computer having a central processing unit (CPU) made out of
4752-487: The minicomputer's CPU with one integrated microprocessor chip . In 1973, the French Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA) was looking for a computer able to measure agricultural hygrometry . To answer this request, a team of French engineers of the computer technology company R2E, led by its Head of Development, François Gernelle , created the first available microprocessor-based microcomputer,
4840-410: The next version". He reportedly began receiving more royalties daily than the $ 7500 one-time fee Apple paid for the first version. Released in 1980, Apple Writer 1.1 supports Apple DOS 3.3 's newer 16-sector format. It also features a spell checker known as Goodspell and some minor bug fixes. Apple Writer II was released in 1981 and, like its predecessor, runs on DOS 3.3 on an Apple II Plus . Unlike
4928-609: The original II in terms of electronic functionality. There were small differences in the physical appearance and keyboard. RAM prices fell during 1980–81 and all II+ machines came from the factory with a full 48 KB of memory already installed. After the success of the first Apple II in the United States, Apple expanded its market to include Europe, Australia and the Far East in 1979, with the Apple II Europlus (Europe, Australia) and
5016-546: The original, Apple Writer II can display both upper and lower case characters and, with a Sup'R'Terminal card in slot 3, supports both 40- and 80-column text. It also wraps text too long to appear on the current line rather than breaking it mid-word, and includes a glossary and the Word Processing Language (WPL), a macro -like resource that allows certain tasks to be automated. Apple Writer II files save as standard text files rather than binary files. This program
5104-464: The parts of the computer system. The SOL-20 had built-in EPROM software which eliminated the need for rows of switches and lights. The MITS Altair just mentioned played an instrumental role in sparking significant hobbyist interest, which itself eventually led to the founding and success of many well-known personal computer hardware and software companies, such as Microsoft and Apple Computer . Although
5192-404: The peak occurring in 1983 when 1 million were sold. Unlike preceding home microcomputers, the Apple II was sold as a finished consumer appliance rather than as a kit (unassembled or preassembled). Apple marketed the Apple II as a durable product, including a 1981 ad in which an Apple II survived a fire started when a cat belonging to one early user knocked over a lamp. All the machines in
5280-464: The rounded "a" of the logotype echoed the "bite" in the logo. This logo was developed simultaneously with an advertisement and a brochure; the latter being produced for distribution initially at the first West Coast Computer Faire . Since the original Apple II, Apple has paid high attention to its quality of packaging, partly because of Steve Jobs ' personal preferences and opinions on packaging and final product appearance. All of Apple's packaging for
5368-407: The screen, with NTSC composite video output suitable for display on a TV monitor, or on a regular TV set by way of a separate RF modulator . The original retail price of the computer was US$ 1,298 (equivalent to $ 6,500 in 2023) (with 4 KB of RAM) and US$ 2,638 (equivalent to $ 13,300 in 2023) (with the maximum 48 KB of RAM). To reflect the computer's color graphics capability,
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#17330930223375456-519: The serial ports, mouse, and real-time clock. The IIe card could not, however, run software intended for the 16-bit Apple II GS . Mike Markkula , a retired Intel marketing manager, provided the early critical funding for Apple Computer. From 1977 to 1981, Apple used the Regis McKenna agency for its advertisements and marketing. In 1981, Chiat-Day acquired Regis McKenna's advertising operations and Apple used Chiat-Day. At Regis McKenna Advertising,
5544-437: The series, except the IIc, share similar overall design elements. The plastic case was designed to look more like a home appliance than a piece of electronic equipment, and the case can be opened without the use of tools. All models in the Apple II series have a built-in keyboard, with the exception of the II GS which has a separate keyboard. Apple IIs have color and high-resolution graphics modes , sound capabilities and
5632-630: The software on the disks, and improved loading speed. The first Apple II computers went on sale on June 10, 1977 with a MOS Technology 6502 (later Synertek ) microprocessor running at 1.023 MHz , 4 KB of RAM , an audio cassette interface for loading programs and storing data, and the Integer BASIC programming language built into the ROMs . The video controller displayed 40 columns by 24 lines of monochrome, upper-case-only (the original character set matches ASCII characters 0x20 to 0x5F) text on
5720-520: The speaker at just the right times. The Apple II's multiple expansion slots permitted a wide variety of third-party devices, including Apple II peripheral cards such as serial controllers , display controllers, memory boards, hard disks, networking components, and real-time clocks . There were plug-in expansion cards – such as the Z-80 SoftCard – that permitted the Apple to use the Z80 processor and run
5808-520: The success of AppleWorks , Apple discontinued the Apple Writer series. Lutus agreed in 1992 to make his program available on a freeware basis; it can be copied freely and given away, but cannot be sold for a profit. Apple Writer uses inline commands, so formatting does not appear on-screen; it appears when the document is printed. Paragraph formatting is specified with dot-commands, each of which requires its own line. For example: Character formatting
5896-462: The team assigned to launch the Apple II consisted of Rob Janoff , art director, Chip Schafer, copywriter and Bill Kelley, account executive. Janoff came up with the Apple logo with a bite out of it. The design was originally an olive green with matching company logotype all in lowercase. Steve Jobs insisted on promoting the color capability of the Apple II by putting rainbow stripes on the Apple logo. In its letterhead and business card implementation,
5984-448: The term " personal computer " or "PC", which specifies a computer that has been designed to be used by one individual at a time, a term first coined in 1959. IBM first promoted the term "personal computer" to differentiate the IBM PC from CP/M -based microcomputers likewise targeted at the small-business market, and also IBM's own mainframes and minicomputers. However, following its release,
6072-487: Was a striking exception, bearing a modern design based on a monitor, keyboard, and tape and disk drives). Of the early "box of switches"-type microcomputers, the MITS Altair 8800 (1975) was arguably the most famous. Most of these simple, early microcomputers were sold as electronic kits —bags full of loose components which the buyer had to solder together before the system could be used. The period from about 1971 to 1976
6160-506: Was also slow and unreliable. The Apple II's lack of a disk drive was "a glaring weakness" in what was otherwise intended to be a polished, professional product. Recognizing that the II needed a disk drive to be taken seriously, Apple set out to develop a disk drive and a DOS to run it. Wozniak spent the 1977 Christmas holidays designing a disk controller that reduced the number of chips used by a factor of 10 compared to existing controllers. Still lacking
6248-508: Was available, after some user-specific voice training it would recognize simple commands (Hit, stand). Bob Bishop's "Music Kaleidoscope" was a simple program that monitored the cassette input port and based on zero-crossings created color patterns on the screen, a predecessor to current audio visualization plug-ins for media players. Music Kaleidoscope was especially popular on projection TV sets in dance halls. Apple and many third-party developers made software available on tape at first, but after
6336-525: Was based on LSI chips with an Intel 8008 as peripheral controller (keyboard, monitor and printer), before adopting the Zilog Z80 as main processor. In late 1972, a Sacramento State University team led by Bill Pentz built the Sac State 8008 computer, able to handle thousands of patients' medical records. The Sac State 8008 was designed with the Intel 8008. It had a full set of hardware and software components :
6424-489: Was common during the 1970s and 1980s, but has since fallen out of common usage. The term microcomputer came into popular use after the introduction of the minicomputer , although Isaac Asimov used the term in his short story " The Dying Night " as early as 1956 (published in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction in July that year). Most notably, the microcomputer replaced the many separate components that made up
6512-431: Was configured as if it were a 48 KB Apple II Plus with a language card. The machine had no slot 0, but instead had an auxiliary slot that could accept a 1 KB memory card to enable the 80-column display. This card contained only RAM; the hardware and firmware for the 80-column display was built into the Apple IIe. An "extended 80-column card" with more memory increased the machine's RAM to 128 KB. The Apple IIe
6600-469: Was easier to learn and use than raw machine language, became a standard feature. These features were already common in minicomputers , with which many hobbyists and early produces were familiar. In 1979, the launch of the VisiCalc spreadsheet (initially for the Apple II ) first turned the microcomputer from a hobby for computer enthusiasts into a business tool. After the 1981 release by IBM of its IBM PC ,
6688-486: Was entitled "Simplicity" and the copy in both the ad and brochure pioneered "demystifying" language intended to make the new idea of a home computer more "personal." The Apple II introduction ad was later run in the September 1977 issue of Scientific American . Apple later aired eight television commercials for the Apple II GS , emphasizing its benefits to education and students, along with some print ads. The Apple II
6776-474: Was frequently cloned, both in the United States and abroad, in a similar way to the IBM PC. According to some sources (see below), more than 190 different models of Apple II clones were manufactured. Most could not be legally imported into the United States. Apple sued and sought criminal charges against clone makers in more than a dozen countries. Originally the Apple II used Compact Cassette tapes for program and data storage. A dedicated tape recorder along
6864-469: Was possible for software developers to create a DOS 3.2 disk which would also boot on a system with DOS 3.3 firmware. Later, double-sided drives, with heads to read both sides of the disk, became available from third-party companies. (Apple only produced double-sided 5.25-inch disks for the Lisa 1 computer). On a DOS 3.x disk, tracks 0, 1, and most of track 2 were reserved to store the operating system. (It
6952-420: Was possible, with a special utility, to reclaim most of this space for data if a disk did not need to be bootable.) A short ROM program on the disk controller had the ability to seek to track zero – which it did without regard for the read/write head's current position, resulting in the characteristic "chattering" sound of a Disk II boot, which was the read/write head hitting the rubber stop block at
7040-496: Was previously available as an upgrade, supported floating-point arithmetic, and became the standard BASIC dialect on the Apple II series (though it ran at a noticeably slower speed than Steve Wozniak's Integer BASIC). Except for improved graphics and disk-booting support in the ROM, and the removal of the 2k 6502 assembler to make room for the floating point BASIC, the II+ was otherwise identical to
7128-429: Was released in 1971. Like the Datapoint 2200, it used small-scale integrated transistor–transistor logic instead of a microprocessor. It was marketed as an educational and hobbyist tool, but it was not a commercial success; production ceased shortly after introduction. In late 1972, a French team headed by François Gernelle within a small company, Réalisations & Etudes Electroniques (R2E), developed and patented
7216-417: Was released in 1978, a new operating system, Apple DOS , was commissioned from Shepardson Microsystems and developed by Paul Laughton, adding support for the disk drive. The final and most popular version of this software was Apple DOS 3.3. Apple DOS was superseded by ProDOS , which supported a hierarchical file-system and larger storage devices. With an optional third-party Z80 -based expansion card ,
7304-450: Was released in 1982 for the Apple /// , and uses that computer's enhanced capabilities. Released in 1983, Apple Writer IIe supports the Apple IIe 's 80-column display and full keyboard, and has the ability to create larger files, print files to disk, and directly connect the computer keyboard to a printer for typewriter-like operation. Apple Writer 2.0 was released in September 1984 and is
7392-472: Was released. Essentially a miniaturized Apple IIe computer on a card (using the Mega II chip from the Apple II GS ), it allowed the Macintosh to run 8-bit Apple IIe software through hardware emulation , with an option to run at roughly double the speed of the original IIe (about 1.8 MHz). However, the video output was emulated in software, and, depending on how much of the screen the currently running program
7480-484: Was the Apple IIc Plus introduced in 1988. It was the same size and shape as the IIc that came before it, but the 5.25-inch floppy drive had been replaced with a 3 + 1 ⁄ 2 -inch drive, the power supply was moved inside the case, and the processor was a fast 4 MHz 65C02 processor that actually ran 8-bit Apple II software faster than the II GS . The IIc Plus also featured a new keyboard layout that matched
7568-478: Was the most popular machine in the Apple II series. It has the distinction of being the longest-lived Apple computer of all time—it was manufactured and sold with only minor changes for nearly 11 years. The IIe was the last Apple II model to be sold, and was discontinued in November 1993. During its lifespan two variations were introduced: the Apple IIe Enhanced (four replacement chips to give it some of
7656-519: Was trying to update in a single frame, performance could be much slower compared to a real IIe. This is due to the fact that writes from the 65C02 on the IIe Card to video memory were caught by the additional hardware on the card, so the video emulation software running on the Macintosh side could process that write and update the video display. But, while the Macintosh was processing video updates, execution of Apple II code would be temporarily halted. With
7744-470: Was user-installable as two PROMs on older controllers.) After the release of DOS 3.3, the user community discontinued use of DOS 3.2 except for running legacy software. Programs that required DOS 3.2 were fairly rare; however, as DOS 3.3 was not a major architectural change aside from the number of sectors per track, a program called MUFFIN was provided with DOS 3.3 to allow users to copy files from DOS 3.2 disks to DOS 3.3 disks. It
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