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===Rilascio===
The LaserWriter was announced at Apple's annual shareholder meeting on January 23, 1985,<ref name="bart-1985">Jim Bartimo, Michael McCarthy: [http://books.google.com/books?id=7S4EAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA15 "Is Apple's LaserWriter on Target?"], ''InfoWorld'', Volume 7 Issue 6 (11 February 1985), pp. 15-18.</ref> the same day Aldus announced PageMaker.<ref>''Aldus Announces Desktop Publishing System ...'' BusinessWire, January 23, 1985.</ref> Shipments began in March 1985<ref>[http://www.macworld.co.uk/mac/news/index.cfm?newsid=24596 Macintosh Timeline]</ref> at the retail price of US$ 6,995, significantly more than the HP model. However, the LaserWriter featured [[AppleTalk]] support that allowed the printer to be shared among as many as sixteen Macs, meaning that its per-user price could fall to under $450, far less expensive than HP's less-advanced model.
Il rilascio della LaserWriter fu annunciato all'incontro annuale degli azionisti Apple il [[23 gennaio]] [[1985]]<ref name="bart-1985">{{en}}Jim Bartimo, Michael McCarthy:[http://books.google.com/books?id=7S4EAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA15 "Is Apple's LaserWriter on Target?"], ''InfoWorld'', Volume 7 Issue 6 (11 February 1985), pp. 15-18.</ref>, lo stesso giorno in cui Aldus rivelò [[PageMaker]]<ref>{{en}}''Aldus Announces Desktop Publishing System ...'' BusinessWire, January 23, 1985.</ref>.
The combination of the LaserWriter, PostScript, PageMaker and the Mac's GUI and built-in AppleTalk networking would ultimately transform the landscape of computer desktop publishing.<ref name="pfiff-2003">Pamela Pfiffner: ''Inside the Publishing Revolution. The Adobe Story.'' Adobe Press, 2003. ISBN 0-321-11564-3. Chapter ''Steve Jobs and the LaserWriter.'' Pages 33-46. A PDF of the chapter is available at {{cite web|url=http://www.creativepro.com/article/inside-publishing-revolution-how-laserwriter-and-photoshop-changed-world |title=Inside the Publishing Revolution|publisher=CreativePro.com |date=2002-12-03 |accessdate=2009-09-23}}</ref> At the time, Apple planned to release a suite of AppleTalk products as part of the [[Macintosh Office]], with the LaserWriter being only the first component.<ref name="linz-1985">{{cite book|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=mXnw5tM8QRwC&pg=PA143
|author=Owen W. Linzmayer
|title=Apple Confidential 2.0
|publisher=Books.google.com |date= |accessdate=2009-09-23
|ISBN= 978-1-59327-010-0}} Chapter ''Why 1984 Wasn't like 1984.'' Pages 143-146.</ref>
Le vendite iniziarono nel [[marzo]] [[1985]]<ref>[http://www.macworld.co.uk/mac/news/index.cfm?newsid=24596 Macintosh Timeline]</ref> al prezzo di 6.995 [[dollaro|dollari]], molto più alto rispetto al modello della [[HP]]. Comunque, la LaserWriter aveva una peculiarità: il supporto [[AppleTalk]], che permetteva di condividere la stampante con ben sedici Mac.
While competing printers and their associated control languages offered some of the capabilities of PostScript, they were limited in their ability to reproduce free-form layouts (as a desktop publishing application might produce), use [[Computer_font#Outline_fonts|outline fonts]], or offer the level of detail and control over the page layout. HP's own LaserJet was driven by a simple [[page description language]] running on the host computer, known as [[Printer Command Language]], or PCL. The version for the LaserJet, PCL4, was adapted from earlier [[inkjet printer]]s with the addition of downloadable bitmapped fonts.<ref name=j/> It lacked the power and flexibility of PostScript until several upgrades provided some level of parity.<ref>[http://www.csgnetwork.com/hppclhist.html "HP's History Of Printer Command Language (PCL)"], HP</ref> It was some time before similar products became available on other platforms, by which time the Mac had ridden the desktop publishing market to success.
==Caratteristiche==
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