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From: phaedrus@milton.u.washington.edu (Mark Phaedrus)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.system
Subject: Re: Version 7.0 questions
Keywords: version 7.0
Message-ID: <18440@milton.u.washington.edu>
Date: 15 Mar 91 02:09:09 GMT
References: <258@valid.valid.com>
Organization: University of Washington, Seattle
Lines: 51

In article <258@valid.valid.com> kim@feynman.valid.com (Kim Helliwell) writes:
>    I have a question (or two) for those of you who are actually using
>    MacOS 7.0 now.  I remember being told _YEARS_ ago that v 7.0 would 
>    do away with DA's (and maybe INTIs, too!).  So the question is, is that
>    true?  And if so, what do I do with my favorite DAs that I just can't
>    get along without?  Obviously, the same question applies to INITs as
>    well.

     System 7 doesn't do away with DAs; they're not necessary, and they work
differently, but they're still there.  Basically, DAs are not installed in the
System file anymore, and Font/DA Mover is gone.  When you double-click on a
font or sound suitcase, it opens like a folder, and you can see the invididual
fonts and DAs inside.  To install a font, you drag it from the suitcase into
the System file's icon, which can also open to show the fonts and sounds
installed.  DAs don't go in the System file at all anymore; you drag the DA
you want out of its suitcase file, and it becomes a separate, double-clickable
"application".
     The Apple menu works on a completely new principle.  Anything you put in
the "Apple Menu Items" subfolder in the System Folder immediately shows up in
the Apple menu.  Applications, DAs, folders, whatever.  Note that with the
aliasing capability of 7.0, you can add anything anywhere on any disk to the
Apple menu by just putting an alias of it in the Apple Menu Items folder.
     In short, DAs still work just fine.  But with MultiFinder always on,
full-fledged applications as easily accessible as DAs, and virtual memory
available on most machines (so the small size of the average DA isn't as much
of an advantage), there's not as much incentive to use them.
     INITs and cdevs (now called "Extensions" and "Control Panels") work as
well, though there's changes there as well, and anybody who reads this group
knows that I've had my share of problems with incompatibilities.  (I'm now
sending off for new versions of every INIT I own. :) )  INITs now go in the
"Extensions" subfolder of the System Folder instead of in the System Folder
itself, and cdevs go in the "Control Panels" subfolder.  There's no longer
any such thing as "the Control Panel"; if you double-click on a cdev file, it
just opens up into its own little window like an application, sorta like DAs
do now.  So the "Control Panels" option on the Apple menu is just an alias of
the Control Panels folder; when you choose it from the Apple menu, the folder
opens, and you double-click on the cdev you want to adjust.
     There's one other handy System Folder subfolder.  "Set Startup" is gone;
instead, anything in the "Startup Items" subfolder gets executed at startup
time.  Again, aliases work just as well as the real thing.  I did find this
name confusing at first; "Startup Items" sounds like a good place to put INITs.
System 7's Finder does have one nifty feature that helps to stop this sort of
confusion.  If you try to drag, say, an INIT into the System Folder, a dialog
comes up to the effect of "This thingy belongs in Extensions.  Do you want me
to put it there for you?"  It won't stop you from putting something straight
into the wrong subfolder, though, like dragging an INIT into Startup Items.)

-- 
Internet: phaedrus@u.washington.edu        (University of Washington, Seattle)
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