Some Bad Is Good Mac OS

Some Bad Is Good Mac OS

May 31 2021

Some Bad Is Good Mac OS

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This article first appeared in the November 1999 issue of the Louisville Computer News. It was written by Lee Larson.

Mac OS 9: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

By the time you read this, Mac OS 9, the latest version of Mac OS should be available. It's probably the most ambitious upgrade to Mac OS since version 8. My experience with a late beta copy is that it's likely the fastest, most feature-rich and stablest Mac OS ever.

Following are some observations about a few of the more spectacular new features.

Rarely, ideas do flow upstream. Apple has borrowed a feature from Windows 95 and 98 by allowing multiple user configurations on a Mac. This allows individual users to store their own password-protected preferences and custom setups on a machine. It's not a very strong security feature, but it's a step in the right direction.

  1. Indeed, there are lots of things that a Mac computer from Apple can do better than a Windows PC. Oh, for sure, there are lots of good things about Windows PCs, when you put them up against a Mac.
  2. Best for: checking Mac hard drive for bad sectors Stellar Drive Toolbox is an all-in-one app includes a number of disk utilities (optimization, protection, sanitization, repair, and more) that help keep your Mac hard drive in good shape.

They do, and it’s free. Also the issue with programs not being as good on mac would be on the developer, and you also completely ignored that most of the good apps on mac are not even available on windows, and a lot of those apps don’t even have a windows equivalent. Gaming is a waste of time.

To go along with the multiple-user feature are some more interesting ideas.

About five years ago, with Mac OS 7.1, Apple had a grand vision for building unified networking and messaging into the operating system. Called PowerTalk, it never really caught on, and was abandoned with Mac OS 7.6. One of the good ideas in PowerTalk was the personal keychain, an encrypted database to store all those pesky user ID's and passwords collected while cruising the 'Net. PowerTalk is long gone, but the personal keychain is back.

The most spectacular part of the whole multiple-user setup is voiceprint passwords. When this is turned on, a user can log into the system by speaking a phrase into the microphone. The Mac analyzes her voice patterns to decide whether it's really her.

My experience with voice recognition is somewhat mixed. On a desktop machine it was quite reliable, but on a PowerBook it was not. The problem with the PowerBook was probably because the acoustics changed as the machine moved around.

This problem was not just with me. Apple had one of their traveling 'demo the new wares' shows in Louisville recently, and their own pitchman couldn't get it to work. He'd recorded the pass-phrase at home and it refused to work in front of the crowd.

Luckily, the user ID and password can still be typed in.

Apple is in the process of abandoning classical AppleTalk in favor of worldwide networking standards. The most useful major addition to Mac OS 9 is its wholesale embrace of TCP/IP. AppleScript can now send Apple Events via TCP/IP and, most importantly, desktop workstations can now use TCP/IP personal file sharing. File sharing over TPC/IP has been around for several years on the Mac, but it was limited to expensive AppleShare/IP file servers or the open source Netatalk-based servers under Unix and Linux. With the new file sharing, anyone running Mac OS 9 will be able to share volumes worldwide over the Internet.

Weaving it's way throughout Mac OS 9 is Apple's first big move toward 'Carbon.' This arises from Apple's plans to have two full-blown operating systems by the end of next year. Pocket trials mac os. One of them will be some version of Mac OS 9, and the other will be a newer version of Mac OS X able to run Macintosh programs. 'Carbon' is the glue allowing the same programs to run on each.

Some Bad Is Good Mac Os Catalina

More precisely, Carbon, is the new set of rules and routines programmers must follow to ensure their programs will work with both operating systems. Apple published the Carbon specifications about 18 months ago, and advised all programmers to follow the new guidelines. Mac OS 9 is the first OS to contain CarbonLib, a library of shared routines available to Carbon-based programs. In fact, key programs such as the new Finder 9.0, AppleScript 1.4 and Script Editor 1.4 are already Carbon-based.

Mac OS 9 still contains the older shared libraries so non-Carbon-based programs will still work.

So after all of this and many more new goodies, should Mac OS 9 be your operating system? Ummm.. well.. I'm not going use it much any time soon.

Some Bad Is Good Mac Os 7

There are many programs that have serious problems with Mac OS 9. The problems often aren't because of the new operating system, but, rather, because Apple made some internal changes that caught a few programmers with their hands outside the Carbon cookie jar. In fact, it appears Apple is well aware of the potential problems because a new operating system error has been defined: Type 119. If this error appears, it indicates that the program generating the error has a conflict with the OS and that the program needs to be revised. The good news is that this error should appear instead of the system crash that would have otherwise occurred.

It seems most of the standard font utilities fail.

A posting by Chris Holm (of Adobe Systems) in Adobe's User-to-User Forums confirms that the current versions of Adobe Type Manager, ATM Deluxe and Adobe Type Reunion will not work with Mac OS 9. In fact Mac OS 9 removes any version of ATM that it finds in the Control Panels folder. The removed ATM file is placed in a folder called 'deinstalled.' If you install ATM again, your Mac will crash at boot time when it encounters the ATM control panel. Also, if you open the ATR Deluxe Control Panel, the machine will crash.

How did this come to be? https://slot-free-bet-juice-werewolf-ef-wild-machine.peatix.com. According to the Adobe statement: 'Very late in the development cycle of OS 9, Apple removed an API (application program interface) which ATM depends upon.'

New versions of ATM (tentatively called 4.5.2) and ATR (tentatively called 2.5.2) are in the works. However, they will not be available until the beginning of November.

In the meantime, you will not be able to use ATM with Mac OS 9. The only good news here is that 'owners of current versions of Adobe Illustrator, Adobe Photoshop, Adobe InDesign, and certain other Adobe applications' will be largely unaffected because they already have ATM-like support for PostScript fonts built into the program. In any case, printed output to PostScript printers will be unaffected.

The Extensis technical support forum stated that Suitcase 8, version 8.1 works fine, but MenuFonts 8.0.3 does not. They are planning an update by the end of October.

Alladin's free StuffIt Expander 5.1.4 and an unregistered trialware version of Alladin DropStuff 5.1.2 are included in the standard installation of Mac OS 9. The versions included with Mac OS 9 are functionally the same as the current versions available on their web site but have been modified for compatibility with Mac OS 9. They are only available as part of Mac OS 9 and users of earlier versions of the Mac OS do not need to update these components. DropStuff 5.1.2 requires StuffIt Engine 5.1.3, which is also included with Mac OS 9.

The StuffIt Deluxe 5.1 application will not run. Neither Magic Menu, nor True Finder Integration will function correctly and should be removed.

Apple has released AppleWorks 5.0.4 Updater, which ensures compatibility between AppleWorks 5 and Mac OS 9. The updater requires Mac OS 9 and AppleWorks 5.0.3; it will not run on earlier versions of the Macintosh operating system and will not update any version of ClarisWorks. The updater is on the Mac OS 9 CD.

Some Bad Is Good Mac Os Screen Recorder For Roblox

SoftWindows98 will not work, and actually violently crashes the machine. According to its publisher, Insignia Solutions, 'Neither the G4 or OS 9 have been tested or are supported in SoftWindows, and although the G4 runs OK, OS 9 does not work, nor are any fixes for this problem imminent. The only solution here is to revert to an earlier OS.'

As some consolation, Connectix Virtual PC 3.0 does work, but Connectix Speed Doubler 8 does not. Netscape Communicator 4.7 does work, but there's a gotcha to look out for. If you use the Communicator that comes with Mac OS 9, you'll be all right. The Communicator 4.7 on Netscape's download site installs a program called Talkback that doesn't work. Talkback is that program launched by Communicator after a crash. It sends data about the crash to Netscape. Tossing out Talkback will cure the problem and not harm Communicator.

Most of these problems will be solved pretty quickly, and everyone will be able to use Mac OS 9 before Christmas. You'll read a lot of nasty hyperbole from software publishers about how Apple blind-sided them with massive operating system changes. Don't believe it! The software publishers love it!

This has been a very successful Microsoft strategy for many years. Revamp the OS and sell the new version for about $100; change the programming rules to break older programs; push developers to use the new features so everybody wants the new OS. Developers make lots of money selling upgrades. Everybody except the consumer wins.

Louisville Computer Society

The November 23 meeting of the Louisville Computer Society will have demonstrations of various digital cameras, just in time for Santa to slip one into your stocking.

The Louisville Computer Society meets from 7:00-9:00 P.M. at Pitt Academy, 4605 Poplar Level Road, at the intersection of Poplar Level Road and Gilmore Lane. Everyone is welcome to attend. For more information, on the web go to www.aye.net/~lcs, or e-mail lcs@aye.net.


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