Power Macintosh 6100
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| Developer | Apple Computer, Inc. |
|---|---|
| Type | Desktop |
| Release date | March 14, 1994 |
| Discontinued | May 18, 1996 |
| Operating system | System 7, Mac OS 8, Mac OS 9 |
| CPU | PowerPC 601, 60 MHz – 66 MHz |
The Power Macintosh 6100 was Apple Computer's first computer to use the new PowerPC RISC type processor created by IBM and Motorola. It came in the "pizza box" style low-profile case, and superseded the Quadra series that used Motorola's 68040 processor, Apple's previous high end workstation line. It was the earliest Macintosh model able to run Mac OS 9.
Power Macintosh 6100 was first introduced in 1994, and featured a 60 MHz (later 66 MHz) PowerPC 601 processor. The base model was complemented by an AV version, which included a NuBus card that added audio and visual enhancements such as composite and S-video input/output and full 48 kHz 16-bit DAT-resolution sound processing. The Power Macintosh 6100 was also re-branded as the Performa 6100 and the Workgroup Server 6150.
Apple also released a PC-compatible model of the 6100 called the Power Macintosh 6100 DOS Compatible. This version came with a card that featured an Intel 80486 DX2/66 processor (without L2 cache) and a single SIMM RAM slot that used the same type of RAM to that in the Power Mac itself, and could hold up to 32 MiB of RAM, a Creative Technology Vibra 16 sound chipset, and also sported standard PC VGA and joystick ports. One could easily run the Macintosh interface and DOS/Windows 3.1 side by side, even on different monitors if one so desired. The card could also use the main system RAM if there was no SIMM installed on the card.
Notable was the new startup and "sad mac" chimes: instead of the electronic "bong" that was the previous norm, it played a guitar chord strummed by jazz guitarist Stanley Jordan, and instead of the "Chimes of Doom" arpeggio that played when there was a hardware error at startup, there was the sound of a car crashing and glass breaking, both of which can be heard here.
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