Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!uwm.edu!linac!pacific.mps.ohio-state.edu!cis.ohio-state.edu!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!usc!apple!bc
From: bc@Apple.COM (bill coderre)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.system
Subject: Re: Apple should let us e-mail System 7
Message-ID: <52925@apple.Apple.COM>
Date: 15 May 91 20:06:17 GMT
References: <1991May15.012545.18398@cunixf.cc.columbia.edu> <6944@cactus.org> <1991May15.185019.1395@eng.umd.edu>
Organization: Apple Computer Inc., Cupertino, CA
Lines: 36

Matthew Russotto:
|The checker lies like a rug.  Apple made, IMO, a big mistake in accepting
|mfgr's word for it rather than testing themselves-- it looks like the mfgrs
|said that things wouldn't work just to get customers to shell out the $$ for
|an upgrade.

Um, hate to disagree, but there are about 165 people here to set you
straight. They tested System 7 with "over 777" pieces of software
compiling the reports. (source: Roger Heinen)

In many cases, they tracked down the exact nature and location of
incompatibilities and provided detailed upgrade plans to those
software authors. In most cases, they provide contact instructions for
users who want to upgrade. In some cases, the authors could not be
contacted.

Note that your definitions might be different: Apple would not claim a
piece of software was "compatible" or "mostly compatible" if it
crashed randomly but infrequently. In the case of MacWrite II, "mostly
compatible" means that it doesn't work right with True Type fonts
bigger than 127 points. As best I know (and I am not one of the
testers) avoiding fonts >127 points means that MacWrite II doesn't
have any problems. 

The attitude was definitely "better safe than sorry" -- especially
since precious data might be lost. 

Apple also elected not to provide detailed reports of exactly what the
problems were in its stack. This definitely hampers the cheapskate who
won't upgrade his/her software, but has the side-effect of making the
stack fit on less than 100 disks.

bill coderre

and if you think developers don't appreciate this kind of service even
more than users, you obviously weren't at the conference Monday.