Since at least as early as 1988, when Macs were used here in pioneering computer-integrated introductory design studios, Design Integration Laboratory has used the Apple Macintosh as its primary computing platform.
The Macintosh was the first mainstream graphical computer, and its inherent visual emphasis, ease of use, and simplicity of printing, networking and systems integration made it an obvious choice for broad-spectrum architectural applications.
Each year, the Macintosh platform has of course grown more powerful. And while the competition has worked hard to close the gap with Apple, Apple has managed to stay ahead, with a succession of technologies like inter-application copy and paste, PostScript support, automatic expansion board configuration, free personal file sharing, QuickTime digital video, automatic Ethernet networking, etc., etc., and coming this fall, built-in accelerated 3D graphics.
Over the last two years, as Apple has successfully made a historic shift to RISC processor technology, the Macintosh platfom has become an industry leader in system performance, even as prices have continued to come down. This creates a great situation for intensive uses like architectural computer graphics. Recent third party studies have concluded that for a given processor clock speed, the Power PC processor is typically around a third faster than the Pentium processor.
Finally, hardware means nothing without software. The Macintosh has a continuing history of attracting innovative developers, including for instance every significant conceptual modeling program for architecture introduced over the last ten years (including MacArchitrion, ModelShop, UpFront, form-Z, and DesignWorkshop). At least since the introduction of the original Macintosh II in 1988, Macintosh has been a primary computer platform for the design-oriented architectural computing community.
http://www.dil.uoregon.edu/computing/tools/fall96rec.html - Posted '95 KMM, rev. 96.09.06 KMM