<s>
The	O
MacEnhancer	B-Device
is	O
an	O
expansion	O
box	O
originally	O
developed	O
in	O
1985	O
by	O
Microsoft	O
for	O
Apple	O
Computer	O
's	O
original	O
Macintosh	B-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
Plugged	O
into	O
either	O
the	O
Macintosh	B-Device
's	O
serial	O
printer	O
or	O
modem	O
ports	O
,	O
the	O
MacEnhancer	B-Device
provides	O
IBM-standard	O
printer	O
and	O
serial	B-Protocol
ports	I-Protocol
as	O
well	O
as	O
a	O
passthrough	O
for	O
the	O
Mac-standard	O
serial	B-Protocol
port	I-Protocol
,	O
for	O
a	O
net	O
gain	O
of	O
three	O
peripheral	O
ports	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Along	O
with	O
a	O
provided	O
disk	O
of	O
drivers	B-Application
,	O
this	O
expansion	O
box	O
allows	O
the	O
Macintosh	B-Device
to	O
run	O
a	O
host	O
of	O
printers	O
and	O
other	O
business	O
peripherals	O
not	O
originally	O
supported	O
by	O
Apple	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Microsoft	O
began	O
producing	O
hardware	O
for	O
Apple	O
with	O
the	O
Z-80	B-Device
SoftCard	I-Device
,	O
an	O
Apple	B-Device
II	I-Device
processor	I-Device
card	I-Device
,	O
in	O
1980	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
SoftCard	B-Device
is	O
Microsoft	O
's	O
first	O
hardware	O
product	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
When	O
Apple	O
introduced	O
the	O
first	B-Device
Macintosh	I-Device
in	O
1984	O
,	O
the	O
only	O
printer	O
it	O
supported	O
was	O
Apple	O
's	O
own	O
ImageWriter	O
,	O
which	O
connects	O
to	O
the	O
Macintosh	B-Device
through	O
a	O
serial	B-Protocol
interface	I-Protocol
—	O
the	O
only	O
type	O
of	O
connection	O
this	O
Macintosh	B-Device
offers	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
dearth	O
in	O
choices	O
for	O
printers	O
led	O
the	O
Macintosh	B-Device
to	O
flounder	O
in	O
the	O
business	O
world	O
,	O
where	O
the	O
IBM	B-Device
PC	I-Device
,	O
and	O
the	O
Apple	B-Device
II	I-Device
before	O
it	O
,	O
achieved	O
widespread	O
adoption	O
owing	O
to	O
their	O
parallel	B-Device
ports	I-Device
,	O
which	O
support	O
a	O
wide	O
variety	O
of	O
printers	O
and	O
other	O
peripherals	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
To	O
rectify	O
this	O
,	O
in	O
January	O
1985	O
,	O
Microsoft	O
announced	O
the	O
MacEnhancer	B-Device
,	O
an	O
expansion	O
box	O
for	O
the	O
original	O
Macintosh	B-Device
(	O
retronymically	O
dubbed	O
the	O
Macintosh	B-Device
128K	I-Device
)	O
and	O
the	O
recently	O
released	O
Macintosh	B-Device
512K	I-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
Microsoft	O
's	O
announcement	O
came	O
on	O
the	O
heels	O
of	O
Apple	O
announcing	O
their	O
Macintosh	B-Device
Office	I-Device
initiative	O
to	O
develop	O
more	O
hardware	O
to	O
make	O
the	O
Macintosh	B-Device
attractive	O
to	O
corporate	O
buyers	O
,	O
which	O
bore	O
the	O
LaserWriter	O
printer	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
MacEnhancer	B-Device
is	O
an	O
expansion	O
box	O
less	O
than	O
wide	O
,	O
deep	O
,	O
and	O
high	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
connects	O
to	O
the	O
Macintosh	B-Device
via	O
a	O
cable	O
with	O
an	O
8-pin	O
mini-DIN	O
connector	O
to	O
the	O
MacEnhancer	B-Device
side	O
and	O
a	O
DE-9	B-Protocol
connector	I-Protocol
on	O
the	O
Macintosh	B-Device
side	O
,	O
to	O
either	O
the	O
Macintosh	B-Device
's	O
RS-422	O
printer	O
or	O
modem	O
connectors	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
MacEnhancer	B-Device
has	O
four	O
ports	O
—	O
one	O
Macintosh-standard	O
DE-9	B-Protocol
connector	I-Protocol
(	O
as	O
a	O
passthrough	O
for	O
the	O
occupied	O
modem	O
or	O
printer	O
connector	O
)	O
,	O
two	O
IBM-standard	O
DB-25	B-Protocol
RS-232	O
serial	B-Protocol
ports	I-Protocol
,	O
and	O
one	O
IBM-standard	O
DB-25	B-Protocol
parallel	B-Device
port	I-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
Accompanying	O
floppy	O
disks	O
with	O
the	O
MacEnhancer	B-Device
provide	O
the	O
user	O
with	O
a	O
utility	O
used	O
to	O
control	O
the	O
MacEnhancer	B-Device
,	O
device	B-Application
drivers	I-Application
for	O
numerous	O
contemporary	O
printers	O
,	O
and	O
MacTerminal	O
—	O
a	O
terminal	B-Application
emulator	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
While	O
the	O
MacEnhancer	B-Device
allows	O
multiple	O
devices	O
to	O
be	O
connected	O
to	O
it	O
,	O
it	O
does	O
not	O
support	O
output	O
to	O
more	O
than	O
one	O
port	O
at	O
a	O
time	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
included	O
MacEnhancer	B-Device
software	O
utility	O
allows	O
the	O
user	O
to	O
switch	O
the	O
active	O
port	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
MacEnhancer	B-Device
retailed	O
for	O
US$245	O
(	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
On	O
the	O
release	O
of	O
the	O
Macintosh	B-Device
Plus	I-Device
in	O
1986	O
,	O
the	O
company	O
had	O
to	O
revise	O
the	O
MacEnhancer	B-Device
slightly	O
to	O
account	O
for	O
a	O
missing	O
power	O
rail	O
on	O
one	O
of	O
its	O
rear	O
serial	B-Protocol
connectors	I-Protocol
.	O
</s>
<s>
David	O
Ushijima	O
of	O
Macworld	O
gave	O
the	O
MacEnhancer	B-Device
a	O
positive	O
review	O
,	O
calling	O
the	O
included	O
software	O
easy	O
to	O
use	O
and	O
the	O
hardware	O
reliable	O
and	O
broadly	O
supportive	O
as	O
advertised	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
lower-fidelity	O
dot-matrix	O
printers	O
for	O
graphical	O
work	O
and	O
letter-quality	O
printers	O
for	O
business	O
correspondence	O
)	O
,	O
he	O
ultimately	O
dubbed	O
the	O
MacEnhancer	B-Device
an	O
"	O
expensive	O
alternative	O
to	O
plugging	O
and	O
unplugging	O
cables	O
"	O
and	O
only	O
saw	O
real	O
value	O
in	O
the	O
added	O
IBM-standard	O
parallel	B-Device
printer	I-Device
port	I-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
Microsoft	O
left	O
the	O
Macintosh	B-Device
hardware	O
market	O
in	O
1986	O
,	O
selling	O
the	O
hardware	O
and	O
software	O
rights	O
for	O
the	O
MacEnhancer	B-Device
to	O
SoftStyle	O
,	O
a	O
software	O
development	O
company	O
based	O
in	O
Hawaii	O
Kai	O
,	O
Hawaii	O
,	O
that	O
specialized	O
in	O
device	B-Application
drivers	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
SoftStyle	O
issued	O
another	O
version	O
of	O
the	O
MacEnhancer	B-Device
in	O
late	O
1986	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
box	O
largely	O
remained	O
the	O
same	O
but	O
changed	O
the	O
9-pin	O
DB	O
passthrough	O
connector	O
to	O
an	O
8-pin	O
mini-DIN	O
connector	O
—	O
a	O
style	O
of	O
connector	O
that	O
had	O
become	O
standard	O
for	O
Macintosh	B-Device
peripherals	O
with	O
the	O
release	O
of	O
the	O
Plus	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
software	O
also	O
added	O
support	O
for	O
controlling	O
two	O
MacEnhancers	B-Device
plugged	O
into	O
the	O
same	O
Macintosh	B-Device
,	O
effectively	O
giving	O
the	O
Macintosh	B-Device
eight	O
peripheral	O
ports	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
SoftStyle	O
's	O
MacEnhancer	B-Device
dropped	O
support	O
for	O
the	O
Macintosh	B-Device
128K	I-Device
because	O
of	O
its	O
requirement	O
for	O
versions	O
of	O
Finder	B-Application
that	O
support	O
HFS	B-Application
(	O
version	O
5.3	O
onward	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
SoftStyle	O
was	O
acquired	O
by	O
Phoenix	O
Technologies	O
in	O
1988	O
;	O
the	O
latter	O
terminated	O
all	O
of	O
SoftStyle	O
's	O
Macintosh	B-Device
hardware	O
products	O
after	O
the	O
acquisition	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
company	O
marketed	O
the	O
Momentum	O
Port	O
Juggler	O
,	O
which	O
like	O
the	O
MacEnhancer	B-Device
offered	O
several	O
serial	B-Protocol
ports	I-Protocol
for	O
Macintosh	B-Device
products	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
company	O
fizzled	O
in	O
the	O
late	O
1990s	O
,	O
after	O
Apple	O
announced	O
that	O
they	O
had	O
ditched	O
mini-DIN	O
serial	O
cables	O
with	O
the	O
Power	B-Device
Macintosh	I-Device
G3	I-Device
in	O
1997	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Looking	O
retrospectively	O
,	O
Benj	O
Edwards	O
of	O
PC	O
Magazine	O
called	O
the	O
MacEnhancer	B-Device
a	O
"	O
very	O
useful	O
expansion	O
peripheral	O
"	O
and	O
a	O
"	O
lost	O
"	O
hardware	O
product	O
of	O
Microsoft	O
.	O
</s>
