So was version 8 of the (classic Mac OS) ever called System 8? My remembrance is that System 7 was the last of the System named releases and they moved to Mac OS 8 (and then Mac OS 9) for later versions.
I was a freshman in 1984 and my university was an original Apple consortium member so we could buy the original Mac for about $1200. Which was $1200 more than I had. I had to use the dorm’s computer lab or the Mac a friend had to get experience with it. I eventually got a Mac Plus on a student discount in 1989 when I was going to night school at a different university but had enough credits to qualify as “full time”. Working for DEC at the time I had enough income to afford it so I retired my Atari ST I had been using and moved to the Mac. I added an LC when I went back to full time school in 1990 on leave of absence and an LC475 in 1994. Added a PPC board to the LC475 IIRC and ended up with a PowerMac 7200/90 (and later a 7200/75 as a server) in the mid 90s. Then bought a Umax clone in the late 90s and the a PowerMac 9600 on a close out. Then an original Bondi blue iMac in August 1998. Macs just kept getting added to my stable. Many since. I firted with PCs a bit in the late 90s as I started to work with NeXT software and though Apple had just bought NeXT it was a good while before WebObjects or anything OpenStep related would run on an Apple computer. So I had a couple home built PCs and a Compaq laptop in that timeframe for that sort of work, though the Mac remained my main personal computer for my own needs and uses.
It has just gone downhill since then. Am IBook, multiple MacBooks and MacBook Pros, iMacs, a Mac Pro, etc. Haven’t had a Windows computer since around 2002 except in a VM for very specific specialized SW needs, and now also have W10 running natively on my 2008 Mac Pro for some specific model train software needs and the computer wasn’t otherwise being used any longer as it stopped being supported by current Mac OS X / macOS a few versions ago and my iMac (9 years younger) is a superior machine.
Apple did allow clone Macs for awhile, which is what I bought back in 1994 or so, a Radius 81/110. It was a great machine that got my foot in the door, so to speak.
That was Gil Amelio's doing, I believe. I had a Power Computing PowerCenter clone. I also had an Amiga 4000 on which I ran MacOS 8, I believe, in emulation using ShapeShifter.
When I hired into my current job in 1992, we had a single Mac for our entire software group. Needless to say, we weren't developing Mac software.
Chris Espinosa is apparently a current Apple employee, number 8, having commenced at age 14 when the company was still housed in Steve Jobs' parent's garage. Chris - would love to meet you one day!
System 7's virtual memory implementation was indeed terrible -- but it wasn't even an option if you had a pre-68030 Mac (and there were plenty that would run System 7). If your Mac didn't have a PMMU that meant most likely you were limited to at most your 4MB of physical RAM.
When I hear people complain about the cost of Apple computers and devices today, I have to laugh. The cost of entry to become a desktop publisher in 1991: Mac IIci: $4,095 (5MB RAM, 200MB hard drive) Keytronic keyboard: $139 Microtek 600ZS color scanner: $1,469 Apple Laserwriter: $1,799 Ikegami 20" color monitor: $1,990 Cables: $18 NET INVOICE $9,570 TAX $737 TOTAL $10,307
By the time i upgraded machines, it had 128 MB of RAM & a RasterOps video card with maxed out memory. Photoshop flew, especially when the RAMDisk was working well.
I believe that was also the machine i had my slide printer on. Yes, turning digital images (typically graphics/text) into 35 mm slides for presentations. Sounds utterly backwards in 2021
System 7 worked well. It’s just too bad Apple didn’t allow PowerComputing to continue.
Umm… I’d love to hear your reasoning.
You realize Apple was on its way to bankruptcy and PowerComputing (and the other clones) were one of the primary reasons? Apple would have gone out of business if they hadn’t nixed the clones.
System 7 was code named "Big Bang", presumably because "The Hitchikers Guide to the Galaxy" was big at the time (featuring Zaphod Beeblebrox, described by Eccentrica Gallumbits as "the best Bang since the Big One"). Perhaps also, because the author, the late Douglas Adams, was the first person to buy a Mac in Europe (the second being his friend Stephen Fry).
Happy memories for me include upgrading from Mac SE to LC, playing with Hypercard with my then 9 y.o. son (among other stacks that we made, I remember a "radar screen"), discovering AppleTalk and, as a result, converting my department to Mac and then connecting the Mac network to the corporate mainframe with an SNAps 52/50 card (or something like that, it was a while ago), implementing MapGrafix mapping, and getting a PowerBook 100 - wow! I used to do the staff training myself. I'd show them how to move, point and click the mouse and then I'd bring up the training module (there was an on-screen cartoon guy) and that was that! Productivity and innovation jumped massively and we had a lot of fun too!
Comments
versions ago and my iMac (9 years younger) is a superior machine.
When I hired into my current job in 1992, we had a single Mac for our entire software group. Needless to say, we weren't developing Mac software.
By the time i upgraded machines, it had 128 MB of RAM & a RasterOps video card with maxed out memory.
Photoshop flew, especially when the RAMDisk was working well.
I believe that was also the machine i had my slide printer on.
Yes, turning digital images (typically graphics/text) into 35 mm slides for presentations.
Sounds utterly backwards in 2021
You realize Apple was on its way to bankruptcy and PowerComputing (and the other clones) were one of the primary reasons? Apple would have gone out of business if they hadn’t nixed the clones.
Happy memories for me include upgrading from Mac SE to LC, playing with Hypercard with my then 9 y.o. son (among other stacks that we made, I remember a "radar screen"), discovering AppleTalk and, as a result, converting my department to Mac and then connecting the Mac network to the corporate mainframe with an SNAps 52/50 card (or something like that, it was a while ago), implementing MapGrafix mapping, and getting a PowerBook 100 - wow! I used to do the staff training myself. I'd show them how to move, point and click the mouse and then I'd bring up the training module (there was an on-screen cartoon guy) and that was that! Productivity and innovation jumped massively and we had a lot of fun too!