Talk:Mac

Request for verification
Possibly rather difficult: "Mac OS and Mac OS X, the Macintosh operating systems". When does Mac alone mean this? The difficulty is that if you say that some software is "for Mac" it might be for the OS, but that's basically equivalent to the computer because you can't run the OS on anything else (can you?). In any case, can it ever unambiguously refer to the OS and not the machine? I don't think emulation counts, because even then you have an (emulated) machine. Equinox ◑ 22:55, 5 May 2009 (UTC)


 * Attributive uses like “Mac program” seem to refer to the OS and not the hardware, at least in some cases. Or is Mac just an adjective? —Michael Z. 2009-05-06 13:56 z 


 * 1991, “Breaking Communications Barriers”, in Compute!, v 13, n 9, pp 28–31:
 * Built by Matthew Weed, a blind political science and history major, and Victor Grigorieff, a computer science and psychology major, the system is based on a Macintosh IIfx, although it can run on earlier models, since each Mac program has a similar interface.
 * 1993, “The New Microprocessors Powerchips” in Popular Science, v 243, n 1, p 58:
 * Apple, IBM, and Motorola have teamed up to produce this 32-bit chip that will be used in future Apple Macintoshes and IBM PCs. PowerPC systems will run Mac or Unix programs, and possibly Windows software in the future.
 * 1993, “The Newest Appliance” in U.S. News & World Report, v 115, n 21, p 90:
 * If you invest the time to learn one Windows or Mac program, you'll automatically have mastered the basic skills to use hundreds of others.


 * Need to spend more time searching for cites like this one. There may be cases where Mac refers to either or both the hardware or software.


 * 2007, “Uninspiring Vista”, in Technology Review, v 110, n 1, pp 72–4:
 * As this shift accelerates, finding software that works with a particular operating system will be less of a concern. People will be able to base decisions about which OS to use strictly on merit, and on personal preference. For me, if the choice is between struggling to configure every feature and being able to boot up and get to work, at long last I choose the Mac.


 * —Michael Z. 2009-05-06 14:03 z 

RFV passed. Thanks for the cites, Mzajac! (BTW, Equinox, I believe it's true that Mac OS and Mac OS X only run on Mac computers or emulated Mac computers, but the two are still distinguishable in that some Mac computers can run other operating systems besides Mac OS and Mac OS X, using e.g. Boot Camp or Parallels. And they're also distinguishable in that a human can conceive of the two separately, even if they never actually are separate. That one would be harder to demonstrate lexicographically, though.) —Ruakh TALK 15:55, 5 December 2009 (UTC)

Request for verification 2
"One who uses Apple Mac products. I don't need your crappy software, I'm a Mac." This apparently comes from the ad campaign, where people introduce themselves with "I'm a Mac" and "I'm a PC" and highlight their differences &mdash; but in those ads, the people are pretending to be the computers, not merely identifying themselves as users. Does it exist elsewhere? Equinox ◑ 00:31, 18 January 2012 (UTC)
 * It's not just the Apple advert campaign, there was a Microsoft advert campaign that used PC and Mac that way as well. 70.24.249.190 15:52, 21 January 2012 (UTC)
 * But it's not the Apple ad campaign; "I'm a Mac" in the ads refers to being the computer, not a user of the computer.--Prosfilaes 20:49, 21 January 2012 (UTC)


 * RFV-failed. - -sche (discuss) 04:01, 1 March 2012 (UTC)

M'
M(c)- prefix :surname meaning "son of", MacArthur --Backinstadiums (talk) 11:29, 2 July 2020 (UTC)

RFV discussion: December 2020–January 2021
US slang: "A blowback machine pistol or submachine gun." I'm aware of capitalised MAC (Military Armament Corporation, a former firearms manufacturing company) but not sure about this generic slang or lower-case form. Equinox ◑ 07:23, 28 December 2020 (UTC)

RFV-failed Kiwima (talk) 21:04, 28 January 2021 (UTC)