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Apple adds special Mac Birthday section to App Store

In celebration of 30 years of the Mac, Apple has put together a collection of applications which "capture the spirit of what makes the platform extraordinary."

CNET staff
2 min read

In celebration of the 30th anniversary of the Macintosh, Apple has added a special "Happy Birthday, Mac" section to its App Store.

The section offers quick links to Apple's App offerings, such as OS X, iPhoto and iLife programs, and its Pro suites like Final Cut Pro and Logic Pro X. In addition, it offers a selection of popular "Amazing Apps" and "Great Games." All of these are special selections by Apple to "capture the spirit of what makes [the Mac] so extraordinary."

In addition to app offerings, the birthday section has a link to Apple's site that explores the 30-year history of the Mac, a special section of the Apple site that outlines the use of various Mac models over the years by significant artists and creative professionals.

App Store 30th birthday page

The App Store has a 30th birthday section for the Mac, with apps that, according to Apple, outline and exemplify the Mac experience.

Screenshot by Topher Kessler/CNET

The Macintosh 128K was initially released on January 24, 1984, and through 30 years of advancements in hardware and software services, the platform still has some surprising similarities to its initial iteration. While the design of Apple's computers took a number of twists and turns over the years, as seen on iFixIt's celebratory teardown of the 30-year-old Macintosh 128K, the system shares unibody construction and other general features seen in the latest iMac models.

While the design of the systems has changed and in some ways come full circle back to the original, and while the computing hardware in the systems have advanced and changed significantly (adopting different CPU platforms and becoming smaller and more compact), its the software environment that outlines the Macintosh experience. Apple's graphical operating system offered a new and yet familiar approach to computing, one that allowed for new interactions with data and content creation. The OS has advanced over the years, becoming more user friendly and undergoing a significant overhaul with the development of OS X; however, even though the OS defines the Mac, its arguably the applications built for the platform that define a user's capabilities.

If you have the right apps for your system, then you can get almost anything you need done swiftly, efficiently, and with results that can be deeply satisfying. In this light, many of the apps which Apple outlines on its 30th birthday App Store section may be just what you need to maximize your Mac experience.


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