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From: bskendig@dae.Princeton.EDU (Brian Kendig)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.system
Subject: Re: system 7.0
Message-ID: <7322@idunno.Princeton.EDU>
Date: 19 Mar 91 18:49:32 GMT
References: <6602@idunno.Princeton.EDU> <18349@imag.imag.fr> <1991Mar19.163024.26790@rodan.acs.syr.edu>
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In article <1991Mar19.163024.26790@rodan.acs.syr.edu> isr@rodan.acs.syr.edu (Michael S. Schechter - ISR group account) writes:
>In article <18349@imag.imag.fr> gourdol@imag.fr (Gourdol Arnaud) writes:
>>What I was "fighting" against is the myth that new system versions
>>must be used ONLY with newer computers they were made for.
>
> Apple itself, while they used to say always use the latest,
>doesn't anymore. According to what i've seen, here's apple's 
>recomendation: (please correct me if your from apple)
>Classic,si,lc    6.0.7
>Fx,ci,portable   6.0.5
>cx,ii,iix,se,+   6.0.4
>se/30            6.0.3

I'm not an Apple employee, but I play one on the net.  ;)

Apple's official word is that there's certain versions of system
software that you can't use on certain machines (nothing before 6.0.3
on an SE/30, nothing below 6.0.4 on a IIci or a portable, nothing
below 6.0.5 on a IIfx, and nothing below 6.0.7 on a Classic, LC, or
IIsi -- correct me if I'm off on this).  You're free to run anything
since 6.0.2 on an SE or a Plus (6.0 and 6.0.1 were buggy), for
example.

If you have an SE/30 and you got 6.0.3 with it, for example, then
there's no reason to upgrade to a newer system if you don't need the
small benefits.  Apple makes a distinction between `major upgrades',
such as the move to 7.0 will be, and `service upgrades', such as 6.0.3
to 6.0.4.  Your machine will run fine on the original System that was
made for it.

However, each successive system release fixed bugs and adds new
features.  Without going into details, I suggest from experience that
the most practical system you should be using is 6.0.5, because that's
the most stable.  6.0.7 has a few nice features, such as the error
messages when you crash (which are often wrong) and the new Sound
Manager (which lots of things aren't compatible with), but there have
been lots of reports of users having serious problems with it.

To set the record straight: Whenever Apple releases a new version of
system software, IT'S FOR EVERY MODEL of Macintosh.  They don't
decrease functionality for one machine while providing support for new
ones, and the bug fixes are often useful.  (Okay, some examples: in
6.0.4, your Mac Plus sometimes won't realize when you've inserted a
disk, and in 6.0.2 and 6.0.3, machines without a FDHD (high-density
drive) would sometimes catch their read-write heads on the door of a
disk as it was being ejected, destroying both the disk and the drive.)

If you're interested in seeing what the changes between successive
versions of system software are, ftp to apple.com and look in
/pub/dts/sw.license.

     << Brian >>

| Brian S. Kendig      \ Macintosh |   Engineering,   | bskendig             |
| Computer Engineering |\ Thought  |  USS Enterprise  | @phoenix.Princeton.EDU
| Princeton University |_\ Police  | -= NCC-1701-D =- | @PUCC.BITNET         |
"It's not that I don't HAVE the work to *do* -- I don't DO the work I *have*."