Apple IIgs

The Apple IIgs (pronounced "Apple two G S") is the last computer model of the Apple II series of personal computers made. The IIgs was released in 1986 with little marketing support from Apple Computer as it was focusing the company's future on the Macintosh line.

The Apple IIgs was, in spite of little fanfare from Apple itself, an innovative computer with many improvements over the older but venerable Apple IIe and Apple IIc. The IIgs had a custom 16-bit 65816 microprocessor and built-in stereo sound thanks to an onboard Ensoniq audio chip. The IIgs could support both 5.25-inch and 3.5-inch floppy disks and, like the IIe before it, had several expansion slots. The IIgs, like the IIc, also had dedicated ports, but only for specific devices such as the monitor, printer, and mouse.

The Apple IIgs was almost completely backward compatible with older Apple II computers, so users wouldn't be left with large libraries of useless software. The IIgs ran Apple's DOS 3.3, ProDOS, Apple Pascal, and a new operating system, GS-OS. GS-OS utilized a GUI (like the Macintosh) that was somewhat like GEM for PCs and Atari computers of the time. The graphics of the IIgs were the best of the Apple II series.

Prior to product release, the IIgs was called the "Cortland." Some pre-release documents refer to it as the IIx.

See also: Apple II family