The Macintosh Application Environment (MAE) is a software package introduced by Apple Computer in 1994 which allows users of certain

Unix Unix (; trademarked as UNIX) is a family of multitasking, multiuser computer operating systems that derive from the original AT&T Unix, whose development started in 1969 at the Bell Labs research center by Ken Thompson, Dennis Ritchie, an ...

-based

computer workstation A workstation is a special computer designed for technical or scientific applications. Intended primarily to be used by a single user, they are commonly connected to a local area network and run multi-user operating systems. The term ''workst ...

s to run

application software Application may refer to: Mathematics and computing * Application software, computer software designed to help the user to perform specific tasks ** Application layer, an abstraction layer that specifies protocols and interface methods used in a ...

designed for

System 7 System 7, codenamed "Big Bang", and also known as Mac OS 7, is a graphical user interface-based operating system for Macintosh computers and is part of the classic Mac OS series of operating systems. It was introduced on May 13, 1991, by Apple C ...

Overview

MAE uses the

X Window System The X Window System (X11, or simply X) is a windowing system for bitmap displays, common on Unix-like operating systems. X provides the basic framework for a GUI environment: drawing and moving windows on the display device and interacting wi ...

to provide the

Macintosh Finder The Finder is the default file manager and graphical user interface shell used on all Macintosh operating systems. Described in its "About" window as "The Macintosh Desktop Experience", it is responsible for the launching of other applications, ...

graphical user interface The GUI ( "UI" by itself is still usually pronounced . or ), graphical user interface, is a form of user interface that allows users to interact with electronic devices through graphical icons and audio indicator such as primary notation, inst ...

in a window. MAE 1.0 was launched in 1994 for SPARC-based systems running Solaris 2.3 and PA-RISC-based systems running HP-UX 9.0, at . It features a special version of

.1 with its integrated

MultiFinder MultiFinder is an extension for the Apple Macintosh's classic Mac OS, introduced on August 11, 1987 and included with System Software 5. It adds cooperative multitasking of several applications at once – a great improvement over the previou ...

environment, running on an emulated 68LC040 CPU (which, by definition, lacks floating-point support). Up to 70% of host RAM can be allocated to MAE using its customized Memory control panel. The custom environment omits support for some Macintosh functionality, such as QuickTime, sound, serial, networking, and hardware drivers within CDEVs and INITs. Host integration was introduced to compensate, with the host system's storage, including floppy and CD-ROM drives, being available to Macintosh applications. Files within the emulated environment are stored in the host's filesystem. Clipboard integration permits textual and graphical copying and pasting between the Macintosh and X Window System environments. MAE includes a license manager, allowing floating network licenses. The final version of 3.0 provides

System 7.5.3 System 7, codenamed "Big Bang", and also known as Mac OS 7, is a graphical user interface-based operating system for Macintosh computers and is part of the classic Mac OS series of operating systems. It was introduced on May 13, 1991, by Apple Co ...

, and runs on Solaris 2.5 and later and HP-UX 9.05 or 10.10. MAE was discontinued on May 14, 1998.

Reception

Reviewed as an "impressive piece of work" in 1994 by ''Open Systems Today'' magazine, MAE 1.0's performance on a

SPARCclassic The SPARCclassic (Sun 4/15) is a workstation introduced by Sun Microsystems in November 1992. It is based on the sun4m architecture, and is enclosed in a lunchbox chassis. It shares the code name ''Sunergy'' with the SPARCclassic X, SPARCstation ...

workstation with 32 MB of RAM was "sluggish" with screen redraws "slower than a

Mac Plus The Macintosh Plus computer is the third model in the Macintosh line, introduced on January 16, 1986, two years after the original Macintosh and a little more than a year after the Macintosh 512K, with a price tag of US$2,599. As an evolutiona ...

", but higher-end workstations have performance comparable to a Macintosh IIci.

References

External links

Apple's MAE page
* Apple Inc. software Unix emulation software Products introduced in 1994 {{Mac-stub

Overview

Reception

See also

References

External links