Apple Technical Notes

Apple Technical Notes answer many specific questions about the operation of Macintosh computers and the Mac OS. The technical notes are available on the Technical Note website at

http://developer.apple.com/technotes/

3D Graphics

Developers of 3D graphics for games should know about OpenGL for Macintosh, a new version of SGI’s application programming interface (API) and software library for 3D graphics.

Developer support and documentation is available at

http://developer.apple.com/opengl/

PowerPC G5 Microprocessor

Information about the PowerPC G5 microprocessor is available on the World Wide Web at

http://www-306.ibm.com/chips/techlib/techlib.nsf/techdocs/AE818B5D1DBB02EC87256DDE00007821

Velocity Engine

Velocity Engine is Apple’s vector processor in the PowerPC G5 microprocessor. Apple provides support for developers who are starting to use the Velocity Engine in their applications. Documentation, development tools, and sample code are now available on the World Wide Web, at

http://developer.apple.com/hardwaredrivers/ve/index.html

AltiVec Technology Programming Environments Manual (AltiVec PEM) is a reference guide for programmers. It contains a description for each instruction and information to help in understanding how the instruction works. Obtain a copy of the AltiVec PEM from the following Freescale site on the World Wide Web by logging in and searching for ALTIVECPEM/D.

http://www.freescale.com/

Mac OS X

The iMac G5 ships with Mac OS X version 10.4 installed. To run Mac OS 9 applications, install the Classic application from the “Additional Hardware and Apple Software Test” CD shipped with your computer. For access to Apple’s developer documentation for Mac OS X, see the Apple Developer Connection (ADC) website at

http://developer.apple.com/documentation/MacOSX/MacOSX.html

O'Reilly & Associates publishes a series of books about Mac OS X development. The books in this series have been technically reviewed by Apple engineers and are recommended by the Apple Developer Connection.

Open Firmware

The software architecture implemented on current Macintosh computers follows the standard defined by the Open Firmware IEEE 1274-1994 specification. Three Technical Notes provide an introduction to Open Firmware on the Macintosh platform. They are:

TN1061: Open Firmware, Part I, available at

http://developer.apple.com/technotes/tn/tn1061.html

TN1062: Open Firmware, Part II, available at

http://developer.apple.com/technotes/tn/tn1062.html

TN1044: Open Firmware, Part III, available at

http://developer.apple.com/technotes/tn/tn1044.html

Other Technical Notes provide additional information about Open Firmware on the Macintosh.

TN2000: PCI Expansion ROMs and You, at

http://developer.apple.com/technotes/tn/tn2000.html

TN2001: Running Files from a Hard Drive in Open Firmware, at

http://developer.apple.com/technotes/tn/tn2001.html

TN2004: Debugging Open Firmware Using Telnet, available at

http://developer.apple.com/technotes/tn/tn2004.html

RAM Expansion Modules

The iMac G5 uses DDR400 PC3200-compliant, 184-pin DDR SDRAM DIMMs.

The electrical and mechanical characteristics of the DIMM are given in JEDEC Standard 21-C. The specification can be found by using the search string JESD21-C on the Electronics Industry Association’s website at

http://www.jedec.org/DOWNLOAD/default.cfm

ATA Devices

ATA (AT Attachment), also referred to as integrated drive electronics (IDE), is a standard interface used with storage devices such as hard disk drives. For more information on ATA, refer to the following Apple website at

http://developer.apple.com/documentation/Hardware/DeviceManagers/ata/ata.html

Information about the ATA standards is available at the Technical Committee T13 AT Attachment website, at

http://www.t13.org/

Serial ATA

For information on Serial ATA specifications and design guides, go to the World Wide Web at

http://www.serialata.org

USB Interface

For more information about USB on Macintosh computers, refer to Apple Computer’s Accessing Hardware from Applications. Information is also available on the World Wide Web, at

http://developer.apple.com/hardwaredrivers/usb/index.html

Mac OS X includes support for a wide variety of USB classes. Detailed specifications on these classes available at

http://www.usb.org/developers/devclass/

For full specifications of the Universal Serial Bus, you should refer to the USB Implementer Forum on the World Wide Web, at

http://www.usb.org/developers/docs

Ethernet

For information on Ethernet specifications and design guides, go to the World Wide Web at

http://standards.ieee.org/

FireWire Interface

For additional information about the FireWire 400 IEEE 1394a interface and the Apple APIs for FireWire software, refer to the resources available on the Apple FireWire web site at:

http://developer.apple.com/hardwaredrivers/firewire/index.html

The IEEE 1394 standard is available from the IEEE. Ordering information can be found on the World Wide Web at

http://shop.ieee.org/store/

You may also find useful information at the 1394 Trade Association’s web site:

http://www.1394ta.org/

Wireless Networks

More information about Wi-Fi and wireless networks using the IEEE 802.11 standard is available on the website of the Wireless Ethernet Compatibility Alliance, at

http://www.wirelessethernet.org/OpenSection/

Bluetooth

For more information regarding Bluetooth technology, refer to the following locations on the World Wide Web.

Bluetooth specification:

http://www.bluetooth.org/spec/

Bluetooth SIG:

http://www.bluetooth.org

Bluetooth developer tools on the Apple web site at:

http://developer.apple.com/hardwaredrivers/bluetooth