Xref: utzoo comp.sys.mac.misc:10358 comp.sys.mac.system:3877 Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rpi!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!samsung!munnari.oz.au!uokmax!rob From: rob@uokmax.ecn.uoknor.edu (Robert K Shull) Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.misc,comp.sys.mac.system Subject: Re: Will the bugs in 6.0.7 be fixed (i.e. will there be a 6.0.8)? Message-ID: <1991Mar30.172229.193@uokmax.ecn.uoknor.edu> Date: 30 Mar 91 17:22:29 GMT References: Distribution: comp Organization: Engineering Computer Network, University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK Lines: 98 In article yee@osf.org (Michael K. Yee) writes: >> Everyone please be aware the Apple Computer has said that unless you have >> a Mac Classic, Mac LC, or Mac IIsi YOU SHOULD NOT USE 6.0.7. It is known >> to be buggy. 6.0.5 is the system of choice (we have run it on all macs >> in many configs with NO problems since it came out.) ONLY USE 6.0.7 IF >> YOU MUST otherwise use 6.0.5. Apple knows about the problems but >> with 7.0 so close (May) they are not going to fix it. So, "Apple Computer Said" 6.0.7 is known to be buggy. Who at Apple Computer? I mean, this is real close to the nebulous "They Said" that we hear so much. Name names, or at least positions. Not "Highly Placed Sources." Not "Well Informed Individuals." Not "Persons In Authority." Otherwise, it's just another urban legend. >> Michael McGuire > I got the message above from mac.digest, and was stunned! It > implies that there will not be 6.0.8 to fix the bugs in 6.0.7. As a > Mac LC owner I have learn to live with some of the bugs (although > the bus errors are the most annoying). I bought the LC, knowing > that it as a new machine it will have both hardware and software > bugs and incompatibilities. BUT, I assumed that the situation would Better break this down into two categories, (1) bugs, and (2) incompatibilities. There's only one bug in 6.0.7 that I've seen (the occasional loss of mouse-up) and that exists in 6.0.5 as well. I've been running 6.0.7 on my Mac II since the day it was placed on apple.com. Needless to say, my wife has been running it on her IIsi since the day it arrived. We've been running it on all of the IIx's, SE's, and SE/30's here for the last 2 months. We have yet to find ANY incompatibilities with the commercial software we use. (If anyone's interested: MacWrite II, MacDraw II, Canvas, MS Word, Excel, Pagemaker 3.1 and 4.0, Think C, Cricket Graph, Cricket Draw, DeltaGraph, and more which I can't remember right off hand.) The only problem we've seen so far is with some games and INIT's, and involves the new Sound Manager. Specifically, if another program attempts to make a sound while one of these is running, the system hangs or crashes in some wild and wonderful way. (Two offenders that come to mind are SoundMaster and Armor Alley, although there are probably many others.) And, of course, there are the problems that are blamed on Apple, and their software in particular, by other companies. Like the brain-dead programmers who assumed 68020/30->coprocessor, instead of checking SysEnvirons, then blamed Apple for the problem. > get better (i.e. the bugs will be fixed in a 6.0.8 patch release). > If it is true that "Apple knows about the problems(bugs) but with > 7.0 so close (May) they are not going to fix it". Is Apple trying > to tell me that my only upgrade path is to trade-in my old set of > bugs and incompatibilities in 6.0.7 for a new set of bugs and > incompatibilities (i.e. System 7.0)? Say, I've got a Mac 128 that won't run some of the latest software. Is Apple telling me that my only choice is an upgrade? Certainly they are. Personally I don't want to see Apple getting into the business of maintaining multiple operating systems for the same set of machines. Anyway, chances are that most of your incompatibilties would remain in any patch release that didn't drop the new freatures in 6.0.7. After all, for the most part it's not Apple's problem. Which software are you having trouble with? Why don't you talk to the people who wrote it? If nothing else, post a list to the net, and we can see if whether the same problem exists on other configurations. > My plan has always been to move to 6.0.8, and wait for the first > patch release of System 7.0 before the plunge. My plan is to put System 7 on my machine immediately, then discover if it breaks anything I can't live without. If so, I drop back to the release I was using. If not, everything's fine. Same procedure I've followed with every release since I bought my Mac 128. It's worked fine so far, and I've seen very little software break (with the exceptions of games, particularly copy protected games, and stuff that used features my old machine didn't have, like RAM :-) .) And all of it could be replaced or upgraded almost immediately. > Please someone tell me that this rumor is totally untrue. If System 7 IS coming out mid-May, I certainly hope it IS true. > - Or - > > Try to convince me that System 7.0 will have less bugs than 6.0.7, > and will not use up more system resources, and will not be Probably depends on how big you want to make it. Much like the current system. Can't say, since I haven't seen it. > incompatible with more software, etc. etc. etc. ^^^^^^^^^^^^ This you can bet on. Just like every release in the last 7 years. But I've got software that dates back to 1984 that works just fine on my wife's IIsi. Software can be written correctly. It's just easier not to. > =Mike Robert -- Robert K. Shull rob@uokmax.ecn.uoknor.edu chinet!uokmax!rob