For those of us who have been Mac fans and users for several years, the Happy Mac is almost like an old friend. It's the pixelated version of a smiling Mac Classic. If we started up that old Mac and got the “Happy Mac,” we knew we were going to have a good day at work. If instead we got the “Sad Mac,” we knew it might be better just to pack it all up and go home, as it wasn't going to get any better from there.
As heavily involved as we all are into our Mountain Lion OS X, our iOS 6, iPhones, iPads, etc., we haven't seen the Happy Mac in some time. Not that our Macs and devices aren't happy, it's just that he no longer greets us when we boot up. But he's back in the news again.
The reason Happy Mac is back in the news is somewhat surprising. He's appearing in the Apple vs. Samsung trial, or at least his creator, Susan Kare, is, according to CNET. She was responsible for creating many of of those old pixelated icons from the early days of Apple. She hasn't worked for the company in some time, having followed Steve Jobs to NeXT Computer, then moving on to gigs with IBM, Microsoft, Paypal, and Facebook.
Kare is expected to weigh in on the designs and patents of Samsung and Apple.
Photo Credit: Susan Kare