17 Facts About Apple IIGS

Apple IIGS made significant improvements over the Apple IIe and Apple IIc.

Apple IIGS's sound is provided by an Ensoniq 5503 Digital Oscillator Chip wavetable synthesis chip designed by Bob Yannes, creator of the SID synthesizer chip used in the Commodore 64.

The Apple IIGS is often referred to as a 15-voice system, because one voice, or "sound generator" consisting of two oscillators, is always reserved as a dedicated clock for the sound chip's timing interrupt generator.

Steve Wozniak said in January 1985 that Apple IIGS was investigating the 65816, and that an 8MHz version would "beat the pants off a 68000 in most applications", but any product using it would have to be compatible with the Apple IIGS II.

The IIe-to-Apple IIGS upgrade replaced the IIe motherboard with a 16-bit Apple IIGS motherboard.

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Original Apple IIGS motherboards have electrical connections for the IIe power supply and keyboard present, although only about half of those produced have the physical plug connectors factory-presoldered in, which were mostly reserved for the upgrade kits.

Software that runs on the Apple IIGS can be divided into two major categories: 8-bit software compatible with earlier Apple II systems such as the IIe and IIc, and 16-bit IIGS software, which takes advantage of its advanced features, including a near-clone of the Macintosh graphical user interface.

The Apple IIGS has a Finder application very similar to the Macintosh's, which allows the user to manipulate files and launch applications.

Software companies complained that Apple did not provide technical information and development tools to create IIGS-specific software.

The magazine concluded that "The Apple IIGS is an incredibly fine computer, arguably the finest assemblage of chips and resistors ever soldered together.

BYTEs Bruce Webster in January 1987 praised Apple IIGS for permitting Wozniak to finish the IIx project, but said that the company should have done so "a few years ago".

The other computers, he wrote, have both larger software libraries that use their power and lower prices; Webster found that a Apple IIGS package costing was comparable to a Atari ST configuration.

Apple IIGS concluded with a "qualified approval" of the computer: "It was necessary to prevent the Apple II line from dying off during the next year or so.

Apple IIGS resolved the issue by offering a free chip-swap upgrade to affected owners.

Nevertheless, seeing the need to help switch their educational customers to the Macintosh, Apple IIGS unofficially distributed the software for free to schools and other institutions that signed a non-disclosure agreement.

Gus represents one of the few software emulators developed within Apple IIGS, including MacWorks and Mac OS X Classic environment.

Inclusion of a professional-grade sound chip in the Apple IIGS was hailed by both developers and users, and hopes were high that it would be added to the Macintosh; however, it drew another lawsuit from Apple Corps.