This is a list of Easter Eggs that I’ve kept as they’ve come into Mac Sys section 16, Easter Eggs. Following is a list of system Eggs. If anybody knows of other Eggs, or corrections to any of these, please post them to section 16 or message me, Kay Nelson 72000,1176.
Here we go...
With System 7, press the Option key (pressing Option switches About This Macintosh to About the Finder). Then choose About the Finder from the Apple menu. You'll see a mountain landscape. Wait a bit, and you'll see the credits scroll by at the bottom of the hill.
That's not all. Press Option as you open the Apple menu so you'll get the About the Finder choice. Then press Command and Option to see an unusual, somewhat rude, pointer.
On a Macintosh IIci, set the date to 09/20/89, set your monitor to 8-bit color, restart, and hold down Command-Option-ci as you reboot. A color picture of the machine's design team appears.
On an fx, set the date to 03/19/90 (the fx's release date). Restart with Command-Option-fx.
On a Mac Plus, locate the programmer's switch. It's the funny-looking piece of plastic that was in the box when you got your Mac. Look in your machine's manual to see how to put it on or locate it if it's already on your Mac. Press the rear part of the switch and you'll see a blank window. Enter G 40E118 to see a "Stolen from Apple Computer" message. To get out of the debugger (restart), press the front part of the programmer's switch{1}.
On a Macintosh SE you'll do a different procedure and get a different Egg. Press the programmer's switch (the button with the broken circle on it, on the back left side of your Mac). That takes you to the debugger. Then type G 41D89A. You'll see pictures of the Mac development team.
On a Classic, hold down Command-Option-ox as you start up. If you wait long enough, the Mac creates an internal ROM disk (System 6.03, Finder 6.1x). If you then use a utility like ResEdit or MacTools that lets you see invisible folders, you'll see a list of the folks who worked on the Classic in the ROM disk's System Folder.
On a PowerBook, turn on balloon help, press Caps Lock and point to the up arrow in the menu bar. You'll see a balloon with the original code names of the PowerBooks.
On the Apple fax modem, turn on the modem while you hold down the button on the front panel. The modem will beep three times. After it beeps the third time, press the button three times, in rhythm with the beeps. If your timing is right, you'll hear the modem speak digitally recorded voices of the three developers saying their names.
In System 7, turn on balloon help and then check what's in Extensions folder. You'll see some interesting messages for QuickTime and MacsBug.
In System 6.0.7 or 7.0, look in the data fork of the System file. (You can open it in Microsoft Word.) At the end of the file is a secret notice, a variation on the Chinese fortune cookie factory message.
In System 6.0, select About Multifinder and theave the dialog box open for an hour or longer. (In case you don’t want to try this, here’s what happens: you’ll see messages about “wanting my l--k and f--l”)
In System 6.0.7J (kanjitalk) set the clock to 1/1/92 and restart to see Happy New Year in Japanese.
The Map control panel in System 6 or 7 has lots of Easter Eggs. Open it with the Option key down (double-click and then press the Option key) to get a close-up view. Then try it pressing the Shift key after you double-click. Shift-Option magnifies it even more. Type mid as the location; then click Find to see the Middle of Nowhere. Click on the version number to see the author's name. Option-click on Find to go alphabetically to every city the Map has stored, starting from wherever you are. (Starting from the Middle of nowhere will take you to Minneapolis.) Click in the map and drag it to a border to scroll around the world. Paste the color map from the Scrapbook to get a nice color map. Click on v 7.0 to see the Mark Davis's name; he's the programmer of the Map control panel. (More Map tricks, Chapter 6.)
In the Cache Switch control panel (version 7.0.1), press Option and click on the version number. Watch its creator's name revealed.
Delete all the label descriptions in the Labels control panel. Then restart and take a peek at the Label menu. The labels change to ALANJEF.
In System 7, turn on virtual memory in the Memory control panel. Then hold down the Option key and click on the box under Select Hard Disk. You'll see a list of programmers; look at the submenu next to each one for some irreverent comments.
In System 7, click or Option-click on the sample text in the Color control panel.
In the System 7 Monitors control panel, click on the version number. With the mouse button down, press Option several times. You'll see the names of the developers of this control panel, also known as Blue Meanies. (Keep pressing Option to get an interesting effect.)
You can paste any picture in the System 7 Puzzle to create a custom puzzle. Try the graphic that's supplied with the Clipboard. To cheat and see what the puzzle's supposed to look like after it's solved, look at the Clipboard.
Rename a floppy disk exactly to any of these names: KMEG JJ KS (eight uppercase letters and two spaces) or Hello world JS N A DTP. Eject the disk with Command-E so that a grayed icon of it stays on your desktop. Click on the disk and watch the request dialog box (tip: dnf and ksct are David N. Feldman and Kenny S. C. Tung, the two Apple engineers responsible for the extensions to HFS under System 7).
In ResEdit 2.1, press Shift, Option, and Command while you select About ResEdit from the Apple menu. (No, you don't want to go into pig mode because it slows ResEdit down, but it sure is fun to hear the pig oink.) To see who created ResEdit, press Command and Option as you choose About ResEdit.
Open the Desktop file with ResEdit to see a rabbit wearing sunglasses. (Theodore D. Stalcup 75030,1156)
