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 With
the advent of the new year 1999 Apple rolled out its next
generation of G3 PowerMacs. Designed with the professional
Web designer, publishing pro, video editor and 3-D gamer in
mind these high end machines depart in both technology and
design from the first generation G3s. Code named Yosemite
the computers sport 3 different speeds 400Mhz, 350Mhz and
300Mhz and come in four different models. The system bus on
these machines is likewise faster than the previous generation
and now run at 100Mhz (as opposed to 66Mhz) Graphics are handled
by a high-end ATI RAGE 128 graphics accelerator and 16MB of
SDRAM graphics memory making them appropriate for high-end
graphics work and superb gaming. System memory consists of
64MB or 128MB of PC100 SDRAM (3.3-volt, unbuffered, 64-bit-wide,
168-pin, running at 100 MHz) and can be upgraded in each machine
up to 1GB using the 4 provided memory slots. Memory from prior
Power Macintosh (EDO or FPM RAM) computers cannot be used
in the new systems. The Yosemite class machines are  the
easiest Macs, produced to date, to get inside . The side panel
easily swings down when a lever on the side of the machine
is manipulated - exposing the innards of the computer. Inside
you will find 4 PCI slots (3 empty slots running at 33Mhz
(64 -bit) and one special high speed 66Mhz, 32-bit PCI slot
that is filled with the ATI RAGE 128 graphics accelerator)
and 5 internal drive bays with built in support for the new
Ultra ATA drives ( three for 3 1/2-inch hard drives and 2
for 5 1/4-inch drives - CD ROM, Zip, DVD etc.). There is no
built in SCSI bus. If you want to add SCSI devices you will
have to do so through a PCI card using up one of your slots.
There is also no floppy drive. The new Power Macintosh G3s
come standard with a built-in slot to accommodate an internal
56K modem that supports both the K56flex and V.90 standards.
The actual internal modem is an add-on option.
Apple is moving forward with the new connection standards
it has committed to. It has eased out SCSI in favor of two
400Mbps firewire
ports (for connecting high-speed peripherals such as drives
and video) and continued the abandonment of the serial port
it started with iMac in favor of two 12Mbps USB
ports for connecting low speed devices (such as keyboards,
mice etc). In a nod to the past it included one ADB port on
the machines so you can connect your old mouse, keyboard,
graphics tablet or other ADB device. All machines come with
10/100BaseT Ethernet.
For connecting monitors these machines have moved to the
"PC", VGA port standard. If you want to connect
an  older
Mac monitor you'll have to use the included VGA-to-Mac adapter.
The ATI RAGE 128 graphics accelerator supports up to 1,920-
by 1,200-pixel resolution at 32 bits per pixel (millions of
colors)
In looks the Yosemite machines take the traditional mini-tower
form factor and cover it all with a iMac type frosting made
of the same bullet-proof plastic found encasing the iMacs.
At each corner is found a sturdy handle making it easy to
move the machines around. If the Yosemite machines aren't
as radical a design departure as the iMac was, they are still
quite stunning in appearance.
The Yosemite machines ship with system 8.5.1 installed which
fixes some bugs associated with the initial release of 8.5.
It also ships with the same Apple compact USB Keyboard and
Apple round USB Mouse found with the iMac
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