> Chris Nandor summarizes the discussion. > > * Mac OS is no longer included with Mac OS X [after Jan. 1]. > > * You can purchase Mac OS separately. > > * You won't be able to boot into Mac OS on new machines [after Jan. 1]. > > * You will be able to run Classic on those new machines, but only if you > > also already have Mac OS, or purchase Mac OS separately. > Thanks very much, Chris, for this clear summing up. > > (1) What is the importance of not being able to BOOT into Classic Mac OS?
Many programs that make use of system functions that have been discarded or significantly altered in the Mac OS X Carbon API will not operate in the Classic emulation. Emulation is improving as they figure out ways to shoe-horn in more of the good-ideas-whose-time-has-gone functionality. But I expect they intend to pretty much freeze that activity by the end of this year, if they have not already done so. There's only so much backward compatibility you can maintain without dragging everything through the laundry (and maybe even the sewage underneath). Sound is going to be a prime example of something that's liable not to run under Classic emulation. The old sound system used low-level methods that don't make sense with modern hardware, and actually conflict with the newer, more correct methods. > (2) If you don't boot into it, presumably you just boot into OSX and then > double-click on the icon for Classic MAC OS -- or isn't it that simple? Is there still an icon for Classic floating around somewhere in the new systems? In Mac OS 10.0.3 (Yes, I am way behind.), there were two ways to run the emulation -- hand start it (heh -- single-click) as a service in the system control panels, or just double click on any old (ergo, classic) app, and wait while Finder starts Classic emulation so the old app can run. You don't have a separate desktop or anything, although you do have the Classic menu bar when the old app is running. > (3) I have OS 8.5 on a CD, and I have a program on my backup Superdisks to > upgrade it to OS 8.6. Will I be able to install 8.5 and/or 8.6 by using > them? Or will I need to buy a new CD -- and will such CD's be available only > for 9.x? I think that's looking the wrong direction. 8.5/8.6 simply does not run on new machines. My two year old iBook will not run anything less than 9.0.something. My friend's first-run iBook will run 8.6, but nothing earlier. (That is, I don't remember if it will run 8.5.) You can't take the new hardware back in time unless you install Linux as one of your main OSses and run the old OS under Linux through the (open source project) Macintosh-on-Linux (MOL). I recall reading that sound does not work (well?) yet on MOL, and I can well imagine that getting it to run right is going to be one tough project, since you're playing with low-level interrupts. So, even if you're game for Linux, that may not be the direction you'd want to take if you need sound. MOL does open the Macintosh desktop in its own window, BTW, which may be more in line with what your expectations in question (2) look like. So, if you have (say, sound) apps that you will still need to be running in a down-level system in five years, keep your eyes open for good deals on used machinery, get the latest that will support the OS version you need to run, and fill it up with us much memory, hard disk, and peripherals as you need, while you can still get parts easily. Get an extra box for backup, so that if one goes down you can keep going while looking for parts. And treat the old machinery well, of course, don't keep it where the dog/cat can sleep by the fan. And as soon as you can afford it, get a new machine to run anything that will run under the new OS. That reduces the load on the older machinery and helps you move ahead. And while you're doing that, get in contact with whoever owns the software, and see if you can talk them into porting the app to the new system (or converting your data for apps that run on the new system). Or perhaps talk them into releasing it to the Open Source community, in which case you'd need to hunt for interested Open Source developers. As far as MacPerl is concerned, Chris says it runs well under MOL, so Linux/MOL may be one option for working with MacPerl apps that you don't want to bother converting to run under Mac OS X. My 2 1/2 yen. -- Joel Rees <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
