X-POP3-Rcpt: jaques.law@louise From: zero@istar.ca Date: 18 Jan 97 18:14:32 -0700 Subject: System 7.6 To: "Jaques_Donald" , "Jaques_Kevin" MIME-Version: 1.0 Hey fellers, I installed a beta version of System 7.6 on my external hard drive just to see. I seems very stable so I'm sure the final release will be about the same. Won't work on 68000 or 68020, and 68030 seriously compromised by bugs in Code Fragment Manager. PowerPC only really. No surprises or big functional improvements from 7.5.5. Some PICTs in the attached .cpt archive. The installer is slicker but perhaps slower. No longer force-quits other apps during install. It now installs by package; that is, you check off what stuff you want (e.g. speech, QuickDraw/GX, OpenTransport) and it does separate (but sequential) installs for each. I had one glitch ‹ a failed file ‹ but it let me continue with my other installs, and when I tried that file again it succeeded (?). Starts up fast enough with basic Apple extensions. Some unnecessary Mac OS logo-redrawing in initial stages (probably to be fixed befor release). Docs say that it no longer initialises peripherals, saving some time (and some headaches for GDT, whose PowerPrint cables sometimes spit some junk characters into PC printer buffers during startup). Existing version of RAM Doubler seems to install & work fine. System+Finder occupy 5 megs RAM after startup; pretty reasonable, what with speech, QuickDraw3D, and other unnecessary stuff loaded. But system RAM jumps noticeably (e.g. to 8 megs) when apps opened, notably internet-related ones. And it needs 2-3 megs more RAM if virtual memory or RAM Doubler are off. The System Folder takes 50 megs, with scads of discardable files: every modem brand ever created, app-specific translator doohickeys, printer drivers, and so on. Could probably pare it down to 40 megs. There's new stuff in there too. Desktop printer support ‹ those love-em-or-hate-em printer icons for drag-and-drop printing and queueing ‹ and "parts" and "editors" and "templates" for building OpenDoc thingamabobs (see below). Extensions Manager much improved; almost rivals third-party products (see picture). Still doesn't show RAM used per extension. Supposed "group" function overlooks that some groups share required extensions. There are some additional PC-compatibility and document-translation things that I don't really understand. Internet control panels look and behave much better. PPP, TCP/IP, and Modem control panels are lovely. Remote Access is now included free (at least in the beta) and works the same as ever. AppleTalk and OpenTransport worked well talking to Michelle's System 7.1 PowerBook. Much effort has been spent on Cyberdog, Apple's bid to replace Netscape as an all-in-one Internet package. It's pretty good but Netscape still has the edge. Cyberdog is based on OpenDoc, which lets you mix-n-match functional parts, Lego-style, into designer "documents". The menubar keeps changing depending on the active "part" and it's easy to get lost. The Web-browser part is slower than Netscape and doesn't do "frames". Its newsreader was too slow even to be permitted to start up properly (23000+ newsgroups on the server). The all-in-one, URL/email/newsgroup bookmark-organising, yellow-foolscap "Notebook" part is very cool ... but can't embed folders more than one deep!! Pathetic!! Almost everything is drag-and-droppable which is very loveable. Eudora's interface is a dog in comparison. Netscape's email and news windows also compare poorly. Cyberdog has the best config dialogs yet. The 7.6 interface generally seems snappier than my 7.5.5, but that's probably because I didn't load in QuicKeys, Now Utilities etc. Building OpenDoc document-applications is the biggest conceptual hurdle on the Mac since HyperCard, but coupled with AppleScript it could have real potential. Imagine if you could program something like HyperCard but also drag in working spreadsheets, Internet links, etc., and have it manipulate your apps à la QuicKeys to boot. However OpenDoc and AppleScript are each about three times as hard as HyperCard and HyperTalk, respectively, and multiplied together that makes them nine times harder. However, there are still glitches: it gets confused about which window is currently active. Well, I'll have CyberPooch send this off and then it's back to 7.5.5. Attachment converted: Apps for Filing:SYS 7.6 PICTS.cpt (PACT/CPCT) (00011FCC) The attachment contained extra information, map: 10 Hey fellers, I installed a beta version of System 7.6 on my external hard drive just to see. I seems very stable so I'm sure the final release will be about the same. Won't work on 68000 or 68020, and 68030 seriously compromised by bugs in Code Fragment Manager. PowerPC only really. No surprises or big functional improvements from 7.5.5. Some PICTs in the attached .cpt archive. The installer is slicker but perhaps slower. No longer force-quits other apps during install. It now installs by package; that is, you check off what stuff you want (e.g. speech, QuickDraw/GX, OpenTransport) and it does separate (but sequential) installs for each. I had one glitch ‹ a failed file ‹ but it let me continue with my other installs, and when I tried that file again it succeeded (?). Starts up fast enough with basic Apple extensions. Some unnecessary Mac OS logo-redrawing in initial stages (probably to be fixed befor release). Docs say that it no longer initialises peripherals, saving some time (and some headaches for GDT, whose PowerPrint cables sometimes spit some junk characters into PC printer buffers during startup). Existing version of RAM Doubler seems to install & work fine. System+Finder occupy 5 megs RAM after startup; pretty reasonable, what with speech, QuickDraw3D, and other unnecessary stuff loaded. But system RAM jumps noticeably (e.g. to 8 megs) when apps opened, notably internet-related ones. And it needs 2-3 megs more RAM if virtual memory or RAM Doubler are off. The System Folder takes 50 megs, with scads of discardable files: every modem brand ever created, app-specific translator doohickeys, printer drivers, and so on. Could probably pare it down to 40 megs. There's new stuff in there too. Desktop printer support ‹ those love-em-or-hate-em printer icons for drag-and-drop printing and queueing ‹ and "parts" and "editors" and "templates" for building OpenDoc thingamabobs (see below). Extensions Manager much improved; almost rivals third-party products (see picture). Still doesn't show RAM used per extension. Supposed "group" function overlooks that some groups share required extensions. There are some additional PC-compatibility and document-translation things that I don't really understand. Internet control panels look and behave much better. PPP, TCP/IP, and Modem control panels are lovely. Remote Access is now included free (at least in the beta) and works the same as ever. AppleTalk and OpenTransport worked well talking to Michelle's System 7.1 PowerBook. Much effort has been spent on Cyberdog, Apple's bid to replace Netscape as an all-in-one Internet package. It's pretty good but Netscape still has the edge. Cyberdog is based on OpenDoc, which lets you mix-n-match functional parts, Lego-style, into designer "documents". The menubar keeps changing depending on the active "part" and it's easy to get lost. The Web-browser part is slower than Netscape and doesn't do "frames". Its newsreader was too slow even to be permitted to start up properly (23000+ newsgroups on the server). The all-in-one, URL/email/newsgroup bookmark-organising, yellow-foolscap "Notebook" part is very cool ... but can't embed folders more than one deep!! Pathetic!! Almost everything is drag-and-droppable which is very loveable. Eudora's interface is a dog in comparison. Netscape's email and news windows also compare poorly. Cyberdog has the best config dialogs yet. The 7.6 interface generally seems snappier than my 7.5.5, but that's probably because I didn't load in QuicKeys, Now Utilities etc. Building OpenDoc document-applications is the biggest conceptual hurdle on the Mac since HyperCard, but coupled with AppleScript it could have real potential. Imagine if you could program something like HyperCard but also drag in working spreadsheets, Internet links, etc., and have it manipulate your apps à la QuicKeys to boot. However OpenDoc and AppleScript are each about three times as hard as HyperCard and HyperTalk, respectively, and multiplied together that makes them nine times harder. However, there are still glitches: it gets confused about which window is currently active. Well, I'll have CyberPooch send this off and then it's back to 7.5.5.