Mac OS X vs. "Classic" Mac OSes.

[TheCustomer99]

I've heard people refer to Pre-Mac OS X systems as "classic". I've seen a setup on ShapeShifter that refers to their layout as "Mac OS X, the way it should have been." I've heard people say that Mac OS X is radically different from Mac OS 9,8,7,etc. Now, I used Mac OS 9 in elementary school, but I have no recollection on how it was set up, so I really don't know anything about the OSes before Mac OS X. Does anyone know what was so radical about Mac OS X that people now refer to the Mac systems before it as "classic"?

 

[dan_beast]

people refer to it as classic becuase when apple switched over to OSX every machine came with OS9 on it, which you could run also if you had older versions of certain applications that didn't yet run in OS10. It was labelled as 'classic' on the system by apple.

 

[technologist]

http://www.kernelthread.com/mac/oshistory/

http://osxbook.com/book/bonus/chapter1/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mac_OS_history
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mac_OS_X_history

Hours and hours of reading there.

 

[Brown Study]

My System 9 desktop



My OS X desktop (Who needs the dock?)



The most obvious radical change is the dock. I'd rather live without it, so I make it as small as possible and hide it on the left side of the screen. Another obvious change, in Tiger at least, is Spotlight. I've dumped that, as well

So X on my machine is less radical than on others. I still run System 9, so I set up OS X with a dock-replacement shareware app called Classic Menu to mimic my apple menu in 9.

X has its shortcomings. Among them is its ability to record AppleScripts that is worse than it is in 9, and it still can't mute the startup bong without third-party intervention. Both apple menus have restart and shutdown AppleScripts that mute the sound before restarting or shutting down the machine. Each system has a "volume 2" AppleScript in the startup (login) items to turn on the sound after the un-bong.

The System Preferences requiring a main window are a throwback to System 6, and probably before. I made an alias of each preference pane and turned them back into separate control panels, the way they should be.

The pix show how I set up X to look like 9 — the way it's supposed to.

 

[Netty4mac]

My cousin had a mac way back when we were younger and I remember using the calculator on it to play store..lol This is sort of what it looked like..

 

[dtownley1]

My cousin had a mac way back when we were younger and I remember using the calculator on it to play store..lol This is sort of what it looked like..

yeah, I used to have an old mac like that. I think it had either 256 or thousands of colours...I can't remember. Kidpix, Lemmings and Carmen Sandiego days there Good times.

Exposé is another big addition to OSX, and has made my navigation much smoother. F11 is one of the most used keys on my keyboard. Especially useful for tasks that require a lot of Finder navigation, where I need to switch apps frequently and quickly. I personally think the dock is a great addition, as it allows me to start up apps quickly, and when I need them (as opposed to login items) It's also a good place to start when showing off a mac to non-believers

OS 9 was when I really started using macs a lot, and where I learned most of the shortcuts I know today and learned a general 'mac sense' of how things work.

Overall I really like the smooth appearance of OS X, and combined with Front Row, it sure steals a lot of 'wows' from Vista.

 

[Netty4mac]

Yes, I love kidpix, carmen sandiego, and oregan trail!! I wish I could play those on my macbook. Wow, those games take me way back to elementary school...I miss being a kid.

 

[johntalin]

Netty4mac I like your Anti Animal Abuse messages.