I notice that when you reformat a drive you have the option to format such that OS 9 cannot be booted (I can't remember what it was, HFS++ or something, but I'm sure one of you guys know). Could it be something as trivial as new Macs coming with their drives formatted in this way?
For most non-technically minded users that would mean no macOS 9 booting, as not many people reformat their drives unless something goes wrong (anyway, the new boot disks probably wouldn't offer any alternative).
As for Macs that couldn't boot system 6, surely there wasn't much fuss because, unlike classic-mode, system 7 could run all System 6 software (with maybe one or two exceptions). I still find that many of the classic programs I have (VGS, 4X4 EVO, etc) don't work under X. Not to mention that things like Virtual PC and most games crawl by comparison to native 9 performance.
<strong>I notice that when you reformat a drive you have the option to format such that OS 9 cannot be booted (I can't remember what it was, HFS++ or something, but I'm sure one of you guys know). Could it be something as trivial as new Macs coming with their drives formatted in this way?</strong><hr></blockquote>
That might be part of it. However, the fundamental problem is that MacOS 9 must be updated to run on the new Macs. Apple has not yet stopped all development of MacOS 9. There has recently been an update of the old OS to recognize new hard disks. Presumeably, little tweeks like this will continue so long as Classic exists. However, it is a needless diversion of resources to continue the significant development required to support the new hardware that we will be seeing soon.
[quote]Originally posted by Socrates:
<strong>For most non-technically minded users that would mean no macOS 9 booting, as not many people reformat their drives unless something goes wrong (anyway, the new boot disks probably wouldn't offer any alternative).</strong><hr></blockquote>
You are jumping the gun here. The Mac that you buy today will be supported years into the future. Newer versions of MacOS X will only improve your experience. Apple is not going to trick you into rendering MacOS 9 unbootable on your computer if it supports it.
[quote]Originally posted by Socrates:
<strong>As for Macs that couldn't boot system 6, surely there wasn't much fuss because, unlike classic-mode, system 7 could run all System 6 software (with maybe one or two exceptions). I still find that many of the classic programs I have (VGS, 4X4 EVO, etc) don't work under X. Not to mention that things like Virtual PC and most games crawl by comparison to native 9 performance.</strong><hr></blockquote>
Apple continued to support computers that did not have 32-bit clean ROMs until MacOS 7.5.3. However, My Mac II will not boot into MacOS 7.5.5 or any subsequent version of the OS. Am I dissapointed? Of course, I am. Am I angry. Of course not. I have a life.
Comments
For most non-technically minded users that would mean no macOS 9 booting, as not many people reformat their drives unless something goes wrong (anyway, the new boot disks probably wouldn't offer any alternative).
As for Macs that couldn't boot system 6, surely there wasn't much fuss because, unlike classic-mode, system 7 could run all System 6 software (with maybe one or two exceptions). I still find that many of the classic programs I have (VGS, 4X4 EVO, etc) don't work under X. Not to mention that things like Virtual PC and most games crawl by comparison to native 9 performance.
<strong>I notice that when you reformat a drive you have the option to format such that OS 9 cannot be booted (I can't remember what it was, HFS++ or something, but I'm sure one of you guys know). Could it be something as trivial as new Macs coming with their drives formatted in this way?</strong><hr></blockquote>
That might be part of it. However, the fundamental problem is that MacOS 9 must be updated to run on the new Macs. Apple has not yet stopped all development of MacOS 9. There has recently been an update of the old OS to recognize new hard disks. Presumeably, little tweeks like this will continue so long as Classic exists. However, it is a needless diversion of resources to continue the significant development required to support the new hardware that we will be seeing soon.
[quote]Originally posted by Socrates:
<strong>For most non-technically minded users that would mean no macOS 9 booting, as not many people reformat their drives unless something goes wrong (anyway, the new boot disks probably wouldn't offer any alternative).</strong><hr></blockquote>
You are jumping the gun here. The Mac that you buy today will be supported years into the future. Newer versions of MacOS X will only improve your experience. Apple is not going to trick you into rendering MacOS 9 unbootable on your computer if it supports it.
[quote]Originally posted by Socrates:
<strong>As for Macs that couldn't boot system 6, surely there wasn't much fuss because, unlike classic-mode, system 7 could run all System 6 software (with maybe one or two exceptions). I still find that many of the classic programs I have (VGS, 4X4 EVO, etc) don't work under X. Not to mention that things like Virtual PC and most games crawl by comparison to native 9 performance.</strong><hr></blockquote>
Apple continued to support computers that did not have 32-bit clean ROMs until MacOS 7.5.3. However, My Mac II will not boot into MacOS 7.5.5 or any subsequent version of the OS. Am I dissapointed? Of course, I am. Am I angry. Of course not. I have a life.