ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Apple IIGS

An Apple IIgs is like a special kind of computer made by Apple a long time ago. It was released in 1986 and was a more advanced version of the popular Apple II computer.

The Apple IIgs looked a little bit like a big box with a keyboard and a screen. It was different from other computers because it had colorful graphics and could make more realistic sounds. This made it really fun to play games and do other things on it.

The IIgs was also special because it could do things called multitasking and multiprocessing. Multitasking means it could do more than one thing at a time. For example, you could listen to music while playing a game or writing a story. Multiprocessing means it had more than one brain inside, called a processor. This made it work faster and get things done more quickly.

The IIgs also had a lot of different ports, which are like special holes where you can plug things in. It had ports for a mouse, a joystick, and even a special kind of printer called a dot matrix printer. You could use all of these things to have more fun and do even more things on the computer.

Another cool thing about the IIgs was that it could read and run programs that were made for the older Apple II computers. This meant that people who already had an Apple II could upgrade to the IIgs and still use all their favorite programs.

But even though the Apple IIgs was really cool, not a lot of people ended up buying it. This was because around the same time, newer and more powerful computers were coming out. These newer computers had better graphics, sound, and more advanced features, so people started buying those instead.

Eventually, Apple stopped making the IIgs and focused on making other computers. But even though it wasn't as popular as some other computers, the IIgs is still remembered as a special and important part of Apple's history.
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