A User's Guide to Macspeak

Every field has its jargon. Computers seem to spawn more than their fair share. For the most part, these are Mac-specific terms.

68K, 680x0 - Motorola family of processors including 68000, 68020, 68030, and 68040.

ADB - Apple Desktop Bus, connector used for keyboard and mouse since Mac II and SE of 1987.

AppleTalk - hardware designed to support LocalTalk.

Centris - a short-lived line of 68040-based Macs between the 68030-based Mac II line and the faster 68040-based Quadra line.

Clean ROMs - ROMs that work correctly with 32-bit addressing.

DIN-8 - the serial connector on all Macs since the Plus.

Dirty ROMs - ROMs that will not work correctly with 32-bit addressing; Mode 32 patches the ROMs and allows use of 32-bit addressing. (Without 32-bit addressing, the Mac sees no more than 8 MB RAM.)

FDHD - Apple's designation for a high density (1.44MB) floppy drive.

FireWire - the peripheral bus of the future, already in use on some consumer video gear.

GeoPort - high speed serial port introduced with Centris 660av and Quadra 840av; also used on all Power Macs.

Intel Inside - advertising slogan denoting computers less sophisticated then any Macintosh; one alternative is POWER inside.

Jobs - one of the founders of Apple Computer; what many Apple employees have lost over the years.

LocalTalk - 230.4Kbps network protocol invented by Apple.

Maclone - generic term for a Mac OS computer not made by Apple.

NuBus - 10 MHz expansion bus standard from Mac II to first generation Power Macintosh.

Performa - a line of relabeled Macs intended for the consumer market; discontinued in 1997.

PhoneNet - Localtalk hardware from Farallon that uses inexpensive phone wire for networking.

SCSI - small computer system interface; fast peripheral bus introduced with Mac Plus and used on all Macs since.

PCI - industry standard 33 MHz expansion bus standard since second generation Power Macintosh.

PDS - processor direct slot; expansion slot specific to one processor or family of computers (such as LC series, SE/30 and IIsi, Quadras).

Plug-n-Play - advertising slogan denoting purported ability of Windows 95 to emulate a Macintosh by recognizing and automatically configuring itself for new components; often called Plug-n-Pray by Windows users.

PPC - PowerPC family of processors including 601, 603, 603e, 604, 604e, 740, and 750.

SuperDrive - Apple's other designation for a high density (1.44MB) floppy drive. Later, Apple's designation for the DVD-ROM burner in the Power Mac G4.

TiBook - Shorthand for Titanium PowerBook G4.

Wintel - an amalgamation of Windows and Intel; the other computing platform.

<back to Low End Mac home page>

About LEM Support Usage Privacy Contact

Low End Mac is an independent publication and has not been authorized, sponsored, or otherwise approved by Apple Inc. Opinions expressed are those of their authors and may not reflect the opinion of Cobweb Publishing. Advice is presented in good faith, but what works for one may not work for all.
  Entire Low End Mac website copyright ©1997-2016 by Cobweb Publishing, Inc. unless otherwise noted. All rights reserved. Low End Mac, LowEndMac, and lowendmac.com are trademarks of Cobweb Publishing Inc. Apple, the Apple logo, Macintosh, iPad, iPhone, iMac, iPod, MacBook, Mac Pro, and AirPort are registered trademarks of Apple Inc. Additional company and product names may be trademarks or registered trademarks and are hereby acknowledged.
  Please report errors to .
  LINKS: We allow and encourage links to any public page as long as the linked page does not appear within a frame that prevents bookmarking it.
  Email may be published at our discretion unless marked "not for publication"; email addresses will not be published without permission, and we will encrypt them in hopes of avoiding spammers. Letters may be edited for length, context, and to match house style.
  PRIVACY: We don't collect personal information unless you explicitly provide it, and we don't share the information we have with others. For more details, see our Terms of Use.

  • Mac of the Day: Mac IIfx, introduced 1990.03.19. This 'wicked fast' 40 MHz Mac trumped the 33 MHz DOS world.
  • List of the Day: Mac UK is for Mac users in the United Kingdom.
  • Channels
     Power Macs
     iMac Channel
     iBook/PowerBook
     MacInSchool
    Computer Profiles
     iMac
     Power Mac
     PowerBook/iBook
     Performas
     Mac Clones
     Older Macs
     LisaNeXT
    Editorial Archive
    Mac Daniel's Advice
    Email Lists
    LEMchat (uses AIM)
    Online Tech Journal
    Consumer
     advice, reviews
     guides, deals
    Software
    Apple History
    Best of the Web
     Best of the Mac Web surveys
    Miscellaneous Links
     Used Mac Dealers
     Video Cards
     Mac OS X
     Mac Linux
     Macspeak
     RAM Upgrades
    About Low End Mac
    Site Contacts

    Open Link

    Support LEM

    Affiliates

    The Apple Store
    The iTunes Store
    MacMall
    iResQ
    ExperCom
    eBay
    Amazon.com
    PayPal
    PCMall
    PC Zone
    Crucial Memory

    Our advertising is handled by BackBeat Media. For detailed price quotes and advertising information, please contactat BackBeat Media (646-546-5194). This number is for advertising only.