"Classic" on a new PB
OK, I'm almost ready to switch back. I had Macs back in the 7.6 days. I had my office on em. Still have my clone in storage but probably not worth upgrading. I'm looking at a new PB 17". I talked to the guy at my local Mac store, and he tells me "no more classic on a Mac". I still have some software that runs on the old OS. I would like to be able to run same without investing in upgrades for my clone. Any thoughts?
drbuzz
drbuzz
Comments
http://www.apple.com/powerbook/specs.html
Apple made the jump to the power pc chip during OS 8.x . Therefore none of the things that you had running in 7.6 will be able to run on a new apple computer. All the pb's come with some software but you will stil need to get other apps to make it an complete office machine.
reg
Originally posted by reg
...
Apple made the jump to the power pc chip during OS 8.x . Therefore none of the things that you had running in 7.6 will be able to run on a new apple computer....
reg
You are so wrong. First off, Apple made the transition to the PowerPC with System 7.1.2. The first Power Macs shipped with this OS. The last version of the MacOS to support the 680x0 processor was MacOS 8.1. By no means did the end of support for the 680x0 processor in the OS render its applications inoperable. The Mac Toolbox ROM for the PPC, and later the ROM file, contains a 680x0 emulator that still executes 68k applications applications from the System 6 era. In fact, MacOS Classic requires the emulator to execute substantial portions of code in the OS that cannot be ported to PPC code.
I guess that means it will run under "classic?" Right?
I also have a peripheral called a "YO-YO which is a telephony device. Hooked up to a ADB port and the incoming telephone line, it performed caller ID and only let in calls I specified. Let me assign different rings to different people etc. Pretty cool. Any chance I can get that to work?
Originally posted by drbuzz
Actually, my software ran on a PowerComputing Powercenter150 which I believe had a PPC 604 chip. Sooo!
I guess that means it will run under "classic?" Right?
I also have a peripheral called a "YO-YO which is a telephony device. Hooked up to a ADB port and the incoming telephone line, it performed caller ID and only let in calls I specified. Let me assign different rings to different people etc. Pretty cool. Any chance I can get that to work?
As a rule of thumb, stuff that was written to Apple guidelines should work. My copy of Lotus 1-2-3 works great after 13 years. When it comes to peripherals, you have to be careful with "innovative" peripherals and their drivers. It is my understanding that Apple no longer supports serial ports. USB replaced ADB years ago. YO-YO may work, on a new Mac, but I would bet against it.
Originally posted by BRussell
There's some confusion about how to define "Classic." Most of us here would use that term to mean running OS 9 under X. The new PowerBooks can do that just fine, and it still comes with new machines from I believe.
I don't know about the new machines, but the retail Panther package even though does indeed install Classic support, it doesn't put in place an operating OS 9 installation. If you want to launch Classic, you will need an OS 9 system folder in your hard drive. For example taken from an older Mac.
Originally posted by drbuzz
I'm looking at a new PB 17". I talked to the guy at my local Mac store, and he tells me "no more classic on a Mac".
From this one I guess that the Powerbook will have Classic support, but not the needed OS 9 system folder.
OK. I went to the apple web site and it specifies that classic is supported. What exactly does that mean. The guy at the retail store told me that the previous rev's had some firmware that allowed them to "run" os-9. Now apparently apple has discontinued this firmware and one must run "classic" under OSX. What does that mean to me, I just want to run some older software. Do I care whether I run the software after "booting up in OS 9" or OSX? egads!!!
thanks
buzz
Originally posted by drbuzz
"Classic is still supported on the new pb's".
OK. I went to the apple web site and it specifies that classic is supported. What exactly does that mean. The guy at the retail store told me that the previous rev's had some firmware that allowed them to "run" os-9. Now apparently apple has discontinued this firmware and one must run "classic" under OSX. What does that mean to me, I just want to run some older software. Do I care whether I run the software after "booting up in OS 9" or OSX? egads!!!
thanks
buzz
Some guy in a store does not change the facts. Software supports hardware, not the other way around. The newest version of MacOS 9 is MacOS 9.2.2. More than a year ago, Apple made a silent upgrade for the OS to support today's huge hard disks, but the OS has not been updated since MacOS X 10.1. Technology marches on; MacOS 9 does not. Apple's newest ROM has to support such technologies as SATA, USB2, etc., none of which are supported by MacOS 9. Apple has left MacOS 9 behind. Ask yourself if you really want Apple to spend its valuable time and resources developing MacOS 9 or to spend its time and resources developing MacOX 10.