Macintosh Performa
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The Macintosh Performa series was Apple Computer's consumer product family of Apple Macintosh personal computers from 1992 until 1997, when the introduction of the Power Macintosh x500 ended this product line. The Performa series was not in actuality a new line of computers per se but simply renamed models from Apple's regular line of computers sold in computer stores, such as Quadra, Centris, LC, Power Mac, and so on. The series was introduced in 1992 with the Performa 200, which was essentially a renamed Macintosh Classic II. Nearly every member of the Mac LC series existed as a Performa version, as did the Power Macintosh 6100. Systems that were not branded as Performas were largely intended for the education market.
The Performa versions sold as a package deal that included a monitor, external modem, and typically a software bundle of some sort, items that were not generally included with the non-Performa Mac models of the time. Performa software bundles usually included ClarisWorks, Quicken, a calendar/contact manager such as Touchbase and Datebook Pro, America Online, and Apple's At Ease child-safe interface, educational software such as American Heritage Dictionary and Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing, and some games, such as Spectre Challenger, Super Munchers and Monopoly, pre-installed over a slightly customized version of the Mac System software, denoted by a 'P' in the version number (e.g. System 7.1P5). The Performa versions of the System software introduced some useful features that were later rolled to mainstream system releases, most notably the Launcher. System 7.5 ended the separate Performa releases.
The Performa series of Macintosh computers was Apple's attempt to increase its market share among families and individuals. Apple attempted wide retail distribution of the Performas in the early 1990s, through major electronics store chains, short television commercials and numerous brochures and paper ads. The marketing failed due to not having attractive self-running demos at some stores, and the fact that many retailers that carried Performas seemed more interested in steering customers towards Windows PCs. It was not uncommon to see the demo machines crashed and the mouse missing, or to see the units not turned on. Critics of the Performa line, including some Mac users, argued that the Performa line was generally underpowered, although that is relative to higher-end Mac models. Some critics cited the large and confusing array of different Performa models, some differentiated only by the hard drive size or the software bundle (such as the Performa 475 and 476). The large number of models, however, was to accommodate retailers, who could advertise that they could beat their competitors' price on equivalent models, while at the same time making sure that they didn't carry the same models as their competitors.
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[edit] Software Restore
In the early days of the Performa line, as with some other Mac models, such as the PowerBook 145B, Apple, to save money, decided not to include system disks. Instead there was an Apple Backup program preinstalled on the Mac's hard disk to back up the system, and an Apple Restore program that was contained on the Disk Tools disk. Later, when the Performas were shipped with a CD-ROM, Apple included a restore CD.
This was not very flexible; the user could only restore just the system software or all the software. In fact, the restore software always restored to the first partition on the internal hard disk. This was good enough for the average consumer, who did not want the hassle of switching CDs and running the Installer for each of them, but not for power users, who wanted more flexibility in restoring software. This also affected Power Macintosh x500s with preinstalled software, again for cost saving reasons.
[edit] List of 68k Based Performa Models
- Performa 200 (1992, aka Macintosh Classic II)
- Performa 250 (aka Macintosh Color Classic)
- Performa 275 (1993, aka Macintosh Color Classic II)
- Performa 400 / 405 / 410 / 430 (aka Macintosh LC II)
- Performa 450 (aka Macintosh LC III)
- Performa 460 / 466 / 467 (aka Macintosh LC III+)
- Performa 475 / 476 (aka Macintosh LC 475 and Quadra 605)
- Performa 520 (aka Macintosh LC 520)
- Performa 550 / 560 (aka Macintosh LC 550)
- Performa 575 / 577 / 578 (aka Macintosh LC 575)
- Performa 580CD / 588CD (aka Macintosh LC 580)
- Performa 600 / 600CD (compromise between Macintosh IIvi and IIvx)
- Performa 630 / 630CD / 631CD / 635CD / 636 / 636CD / 637CD / 638CD / 640CD / 640CD DOS Compatible (aka Quadra 630)
[edit] List of PowerPC Based Performa Models
- Performa 5200CD / 5210CD / 5215CD / 5220CD (aka Power Macintosh 5200)
- Performa 5260CD / 5270CD / 5280 / 5300CD / 5320CD (aka Power Macintosh 5260)
- Performa 5400CD / 5410 / 5420 / 5430 / 5440CD (aka Power Macintosh 5400)
- Performa 6110 / 6112 / 6115 / 6116 / 6117 / 6118CD (aka Power Macintosh 6100)
- Performa 6200 / 6205 / 6210 / 6214 / 6216 / 6218 / 6220 / 6230 / 6260 / 6290CD / 6300 / 6310 / 6320CD (aka Power Macintosh 6200)
- Performa 6360 / 6400 / 6410 / 6420 (aka Power Macintosh 6400)
[edit] External links
