I was recently afforded the opportunity to attend a developers’ conference in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Ostensibly the reason for my attendance was to learn new and better ways of producing Macintosh software. The cost of attending the conference was not trivial, but it was considered a necessary business expense.
For those of you who are not fluent in “technobabble,” a “developers’ conference” is a series of lectures and demonstrations (usually lasting three days to a week) aimed at making it easier for programmers to keep up with the new gizmos from computer and software manufacturers.
So, what was the big topic at the conference? What single item was the source of more than half of the lectures and most of the questions thrown at Apple Computer representatives? The big topic was System 7.0, a new system for the Macintosh that is coming out in 1990. So what?
Hmmm.... Perhaps I should just list the major changes that the new system will offer to Mac owners. Lets see....
Oh yeah, Multifinder is gone. There is no Finder/Multifinder split with the new system. All of the Multifinder capabilities are now part of the regular Finder. Or, to put it another way, you have no choice with system 7.0, YOU WILL RUN MULTIFINDER. Any programs you have that are not “Multifinder Friendly” will be more unfriendly than ever.
Wait a minute... there are a lot of programs that just barely run under the Multifinder with a one-megabyte Mac Plus. Hypercard, for instance, or Excel. How well are these programs going to work with system 7.0? Brace yourself. System 7.0 “recommends” at least two megabytes. “Requires” is more like it. To quote an Apple employee: “You will probably be able to run System 7.0 on a standard Mac Plus, but you won’t be able to run anything else.”
Hmm... any more good news? Well there are “Outline fonts” a new font technology that allows smooth scaling of screen (or ImageWriter) fonts to any size. If you have a Quickdraw Laser Printer, you will love Outline fonts. Even if you just have an ImageWriter, Outline fonts will make your output much nicer. Kudos to Apple on this one.
Then there is the Font/DA Mover. It’s gone. History. Fonts and Desk Accessories will be handled in a much more intelligent fashion. To install a font, for example, will probably require simply moving a font file into a designated folder within the system folder.
How would you like to have your files displayed on the desktop with date created, date last modified, and file size all displayed neatly below the icon? Apple is rethinking the desktop metaphor, and this is one area they intend to enhance.
There are other changes you will notice, but the most important changes by far are those changes you, as a user, will not see. Programmers will use those changes and will be able to write much more powerful programs.
So this all sounds terrific, right? Until you remember that it takes at LEAST two megabytes to run system 7.0. If you have a standard Mac Plus you won’t get any of the benefits of the new system, and worse, you won’t be able to take advantage of the “new generation” of software that will be written to take advantage of the new features.
If you have a Mac plus and want to upgrade to the memory needed for system 7.0, current prices for the memory chips needed puts the upgrade near $500.00 per megabyte. Ouch! Probably the best thing to do is to accept your lot, and resign yourself to using your Plus with System 6.0.2 or earlier. Or you can write a letter to Apple Computer, telling them how you feel about their memory hungry system. It won’t do any good, but it might make you feel better.
What if you have a Mac II with one megabyte of RAM? Bad news, you will need at least 2 megabytes as well. Unfortunately some of the new enhancements in the System 7.0 will depend on a memory management chip that the Mac II does not have, so even Mac II owners with 2 meg or more will have to upgrade their systems to get the full benefit of System 7.0. Of course we are all too familiar with Apple Computer’s generous upgrade policies.
I have to admit to severely mixed feelings about this new operating system software. On the one hand I am fascinated by the possibilities and the power of the new system software. On the other hand, I cannot understand Apple’s enslavement to multi-megabyte systems. An old saw in programming circles concerns memory usage by programmers. Simply put it goes like this: “Any given program will expand to fill the available memory.” Because most Macs sold now have at least two megabytes of memory, Apple has expanded their system to match that memory. This mindless homage to Japanese memory chip manufacturers both saddens and infuriates me. The computer for “the rest of us” now seems to be aimed squarely at “the wealthiest of us.”
