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A Macintosh Performa 5200, an all-in-one desktop similar to the iMac.

A Macintosh Performa 6300, a desktop cased model.

A Macintosh Performa 6400, one of the few Performas in a tower.

The Macintosh Performa series was Apple Computer's consumer product family of Apple Macintosh personal computers from 1992 until 1997, when the introduction of the Power Macintosh x500 ended this product line. The Performa series was not in actuality a new line of computers per se but simply renamed models from Apple's regular line of computers sold in computer stores, such as Quadra, Centris, LC, Power Mac, and so on. The series was introduced in 1992 with the Performa 200, which was essentially a renamed Macintosh Classic II. Nearly every member of the Mac LC series existed as a Performa version, as did the Power Macintosh 6100. Systems that were not branded as Performas were largely intended for the education market.

The Performa versions sold as a package deal that included a monitor, external modem, and typically a software bundle of some sort, items that were not generally included with the non-Performa Mac models of the time. Performa software bundles usually included ClarisWorks, Quicken, a calendar/contact manager such as Touchbase and Datebook Pro, America Online, and Apple's At Ease child-safe interface, educational software such as American Heritage Dictionary and Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing, and some games, such as Spectre Challenger, Super Munchers and Monopoly, pre-installed over a slightly customized version of the Mac System software, denoted by a 'P' in the version number (e.g. System 7.1P5). The Performa versions of the System software introduced some useful features that were later rolled to mainstream system releases, most notably the Launcher. System 7.5 ended the separate Performa releases.

The Performa series of Macintosh computers was Apple's attempt to increase its market share among families and individuals. Apple attempted wide retail distribution of the Performas in the early 1990s, through major electronics store chains, short television commercials and numerous brochures and paper ads. The marketing failed due to not having attractive self-running demos at some stores, and the fact that many retailers that carried Performas seemed more interested in steering customers towards Windows PCs. It was not uncommon to see the demo machines crashed and the mouse missing, or to see the units not turned on. Critics of the Performa line, including some Mac users, argued that the Performa line was generally underpowered, although that is relative to higher-end Mac models. Some critics cited the large and confusing array of different Performa models, some differentiated only by the hard drive size or the software bundle (such as the Performa 475 and 476). The large number of models, however, was to accommodate retailers, who could advertise that they could beat their competitors' price on equivalent models, while at the same time making sure that they didn't carry the same models as their competitors.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:

Macintosh Performa

• Mac Performa flat top 475 (LC 475)
• Mactracker - information on every Mac, Mac clone, and Apple products.