Macintosh Classic

The Macintosh Classic was a compact Macintosh model that was sold by Apple Computer from October 15, 1990 to September 14, 1992.

Features
Demand for another "all-in-one" Mac, such as the popular Macintosh Plus and the SE, spurred the introduction of the Macintosh Classic. Limitations of the form factor and cost targets prohibited major innovations in this model, which used the same 7.8336 MHz Motorola 68000 processor as its predecessors.

A major selling point of this model was the list price; it was the first sub-$1000 ($1499 with 40MB hard drive) computer to be introduced by Apple. It was superseded by the Macintosh Classic II, which featured a faster 16 MHz 68030 processor.

Bootable ROM disk
One new (and unique) feature in the Classic is the ability to start up from a small 357 KB HFS volume named "Boot Disk" stored in the ROM by holding down the keys  during the boot process. It only takes up 294 KB of RAM and includes System 6.0.3 with MacsBug and AppleShare Prep. Because the ROM disk cannot be modified, AppleShare preferences cannot be saved and additional software and data can only be introduced through the 1.4 MB floppy or an external drive. Any problems in starting up from the ROM after upgrading to System 7 or later can be resolved by resetting the PRAM. This startup method is made possible from an eDisk driver that first appeared in the Macintosh Portable. The Macintosh Classic II lacks this driver and is unable to take advantage of this feature. This functionality has been described as a predecessor to NetBoot which did not appear in other Macintosh models until much later.