Basics

Macintosh descibes a family of computers powered by Apple's Mac OS. The modern Mac OS, OS X, is based around Unix and is a fundamentally different technology than Microsoft's Windows. With the exception of a brief period in which the Mac OS was officially licensed to a handful of third-party hardware makers, the platform has always been a closed system. Both hardware and operating system are produced by Apple, who maintains tight control over the format. The proprietary nature of the Mac is often cited as both a weakness and a strength, limiting the flexibility and popularity of the platform but also minimizing its vulnerability to exploits and system conflicts.