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From: man@cs.brown.edu (Mark H. Nodine)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.system
Subject: Re: Tell me: what was System 1.0 like?
Message-ID: <75204@brunix.UUCP>
Date: 10 May 91 14:23:11 GMT
References: <13942@ur-cc.UUCP> <1991May10.045757.25862@neon.Stanford.EDU>
Sender: news@brunix.UUCP
Organization: Brown Computer Science Dept.
Lines: 40

In article <1991May10.045757.25862@neon.Stanford.EDU>, torrie@cs.stanford.edu (Evan Torrie) writes:
|> hlsw_ltd@uhura.cc.rochester.edu (Dave Hollinsworth) writes:
|> 
|> >With 7-Day rapidly approaching, let's get nostalgic, shall we?
|> 
|> >I've only had a Mac for 2 years, so I'll let the oldtimers answer the
|> >question:  What was the original Mac system (1.0) like?  (Note:  if 1.0
|> >wasn't stable, then what was the first stable system after 1.0 like?)
|> 
|>   Actually, the first system to come out (with the 128K) was System 
|> 0.97, and it seemed to be moderately stable.  There of course was nothing
|> like MultiFinder, Font/DA Mover didn't even exist (i.e. you
|> couldn't install or remove fonts), and it used to take about 30 disk
|> swaps to copy a disk.
|>   The System File was a whole 50K or so.
|>   Other than that I don't remember much.

The finder was version 1.1g, and had the mountain picture in its about box
that I hear is making a comeback with System 7.  The main things I remember
about it were:

   1. The text at the top of the finder's windows saying how much space was 
free was geneva 9 bold.  
   2. It was _really_ slow.  A friend of mine used to parody the old ad by 
saying "If you know how to wait, you know how to use a Macintosh," and he 
wasn't far off.  You would double-click on an application to launch it, it
did the equivalent of HyperCard's "visual effect zoom out very slowly and 
let me take a coffee break".  The disk swapping was horrendous (they were 
only 400K disks, but at the time that seemed huge).  It seemed impossible that 
anybody could want more than 128K of memory.  
   3. Updating the desktop took forever: when you ejected a disk you'd have 
to wait 15 seconds or so.  
   4. You couldn't drag more than one disk icon to the trash at the same time. 
   5. There was no HFS or HyperCard, of course.  
   6. The Mac came with MacPaint and MacWrite, which at the time were truly 
avant garde applications and the envy of all my friends.

Anybody have any other reminiscences?

	--Mark