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While the iBook has many new features, there should be no compatibility problems with applications and peripherals that operate correctly with Apple PowerBook models, with the exceptions described in this section.
Legacy I/O Devices Not Present
The iBook does not have an ADB port, a serial port, a floppy disk drive, a SCSI port, a microphone, or a sound input jack. Any software designed to communicate directly with those hardware devices will not run properly. (It is possible that USB converters will be able to support some of those hardware devices.)
Software that communicates with the appropriate managers will be supported. For information about the managers, see Legacy Drivers.
The USB port takes the place of the ADB and serial I/O ports found on earlier Macintosh computers. Software shims have been added to allow existing applications designed to work with ADB mice and keyboards to work with the equivalent USB devices. See USB Port.
The iBook does not have an expansion bay. Expansion bay modules designed for earlier PowerBook computers cannot be used in the iBook.
For RAM expansion, the iBook accepts one standard SO-DIMM that uses SDRAM devices. For information, see RAM Expansion.
Like the system software for the iMac and the 1999 Power Macintosh G3 computer, system software for the iBook has Open Firmware booting and Mac OS ROM in RAM. The system software is described in Software
The system software that comes with the iBook is Mac OS 9 with the addition of the extensions and control panels required for product-specific features. For a description of the general Mac OS 9 release, developers should refer to the Technote for Mac OS 9. The technote is available on the Technote web site at
With the New World system software, it is no longer possible to use the Box Flag to identify the computer model. For guidelines about machine identification, see Computer Identification.