<It would permit you to run most of the up-to-date (for the classic Mac OS at least) versions of the 'net clients.>
I guess my head is just stuck in the mud, LOL. <Word processing: If you're using AppleWorks, stick with vers 5. Version 6 is a slow pig with few new features (drives me nutz!). :)> I'm using ClarisWorks 4.0 actually, both on the 7200 and the PB. The word processing is the reason why I need my PB and 7200 to be compatible: I take the PB when I go out of town, or out to the park next door on nice days, to do my writing as time and inspiration permit (though out of town, I'll use it to check email too). Since my stories are very long and basically done on the 7200, I copy what I have from the 7200 to a floppy, transfer that to the PB, write, and then "update" the floppy with the new additions to the story for re-transfer to the 7200. <Email: As part of the new anti-spam movement, many services are upgrading their mail servers to require SSL-based (encrypted) communication. If your email provider does this, you may need to upgrade your email client - and the SSL-capable ones that I know of require OS 9 or later.> Hmmmm. I'm using Claris Emailer (both 7200 and PB) here. Only difference is that I have 2.0 on the 7200 and 1.0 on the PB. Does this mean that if I don't upgrade, I won't be able to do email any more? Yikes! <Surfing the web: The older Java engines are quite buggy. The browsers that run on OS 8 have serious problems with web sites that use the newer forms of HTML & CSS etc. Those older browsers don't have updated security certificates, so more and more "https" sites (banking etc) are becoming inaccessable.> Yeah, this I've run into. I already know I can't upgrade the Netscape 4.04 on my 7200 because I'm only running 8.1, and on and off I play with iCAB because I get sick of the javascript errors I get on Netscape. But I also find that (and I thank my bf for this) having turned off "Enable Javascript" in the Netscape Advanced preferences has helped a lot. Still though, I do have to admit that I've lost my taste for web surfing: I never do it "for fun" any more, I only do it when I have to research something or hope to find a free d/l of something (like I did to get CarbonLib). <AIM: AOL's new client requires OS 9. AOL has announced they're preparing to upgrade their server systems over the next year or so, to "enhance" privacy and add features. They've said that the older client versions will no longer be able to connect.> Oh, great, this is all I need to hear. (how do you do a sarcastic smile, LOL). My story-writing partner-in-crime and I do a lot of AIM chatting and frequently transfer files to one another. This is because she's on PC and the cross-platform transfer prohibits our emailing attachments: she can't read mine, and I can't read hers. The only way we can exchange drafts is via AIM file transfer of an .rtf formatted document. <Again, not an issue. OS 9 is compatible with talking to your PB. And the PM 7300 is still old enough that it has a serial port, for Localtalk!> Uh-huh. But it seems to me that maybe I'd be better off going into more serious debt and just buying one of those spanking new G4 PBs I recently heard about and running OS X -- would solve all the aforementioned problems and last me awhile too, wouldn't it? Alas, I'm too chicken to do it. ;-) <Don't get me wrong, I'm not suggesting that you have to upgrade *now*. I'm just suggesting one path that you should keep in mind for the future. OS 8.1 was a great OS when it was released in January of '98. But that was 6+ years ago now - an aeon in 'net time. Like me, you don't need to be on the forwarding bleeding edge, but you do need to stay ahead of the abyss behind you. :)> What gets me is how come "they" don't realize that not everybody rushes out and buys the latest and greatest new computers, OS's and software -- both Mac and (I know, shudder) PC people, so "they" design things which can NOT be run with the older gear. This makes me hopping mad. I know someone (IRL and off this list ) who IS one of those "New, gotta have it" types on his computer -- that's fine, and so are the people on these lists who are into all the upgrades and want to do the fancy "stuff" which I couldn't care less about -- but how come "they" have to make it so impossible for the rest of us that we have to face the "abyss" you mention? Sheeeeesh! Thank you again! ~Yersinia. -- PCI-PowerMacs is sponsored by <http://lowendmac.com/> and... 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