Path: utzoo!attcan!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!rutgers!att!mtuxo!mtgzz!drutx!druwy!dlm
From: dlm@druwy.ATT.COM (Dan Moore)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.atari.st
Subject: Re: SYSTEM/FINDER AND RAM ON SPECTRE
Message-ID: <4155@druwy.ATT.COM>
Date: 27 Jun 89 15:16:44 GMT
References: <8906261231.AA03109@ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU>
Organization: AT&T, Denver, CO
Lines: 65

in article <8906261231.AA03109@ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU>,
MAXG@SUVM.BITNET (Gerry Greenberg) says:
> First of all, I'd like to thank Dan Moore for answering my previous

	Your welcome.  

> 				Next, I'd like to apologize for asking
> these questions about the MAC here, but they're reallyfor Spectr/Magic
> Sac users, 

	I wouldn't worry about asking Spectre and/or Magic Sac questions
here.  Where else should you ask them?  Comp.sys.mac would be of no use,
they don't know what is or isn't different on the Spectre and Magic Sac.

>					      With the newer versions of
> Finder, i.e. 6.0 and above, I have seen system folders on various macs
> packed with files in addition to Finder and System files like: mouse,
> keyboard, general, sound, color, etc.  Some of the icons for these files
> are iconic, i.e. there is a picture of a mouse, keyboard, sound, etc.
> I have two questions: Do these files take up RAM?  and Are they
> necessary, i.e. does something weird happen if they aren't there?

	Apple rewrote the Control Panel DA for the newer System
releases so that it is a shell that loads modules to do the real work. 
This allows Apple and third party companies to expand the Control Panel
for new hardware/software that is released.  The new Control Panel has
a icon strip with a scroll bar on the left side, as you select
different icons different "controls" appear in the balance of the
Control Panel. The various icons you are seeing in the System Folder
are the actual working parts of the Control Panel, the mouse control,
keyboard control, sound control, color control (for the Mac II and
IIx), etc.  Since they are only loaded by the Control Panel when the
user requests them (by clicking on the correct icon) they normally
don't take up any RAM.  If they aren't in the System Folder then some
or all of the Control Panel won't work.

	It's possible that some of the icons you see in the System
Folder are INITs.  INITs are somewhat like the programs in your AUTO
folder on the ST or TSRs on PClones.  They are loaded during boot time
and if they stay resident will take up RAM.  A good example is "Pyro"
one of the nicer Mac screen blankers, instead of blank screen you get
to watch a fireworks display.

	You also may have various sound and picture files in the System
Folder.  The Mac allows you to replace the desktop dither with a
picture, to replace the various beeps and bells with your choice of
sounds (eg. have your Mac play the "I'm sorry Dave, I'm afraid I can't
do that" message from 2001 instead of beeping when an error occurs, or
the "To the batmobile" phrase and music from the old TV series when you
turn the machine on).  Since the sounds and pictures need to be
resident in order to work they do take up RAM, a *LOT* of RAM.  Some of
the sound files take several hundered K, others may take 1K.

	Since the Magic Sac doesn't support sound on the Spectre only
has limited support you may not be want to load any of the sound files. 
I kind of like them on real Macs, of course the Macs I've use had lots of
RAM.




				Dan Moore
				AT&T Bell Labs
				Denver
				dlm@druwy.ATT.COM