Comments on: Is Classic Really, Seriously, Dead?

By: Max Roberts

Max Roberts — Fri, 07 Sep 2007 12:18:31 +0000

I don’t think that “Is Classic Dead” is the right question. Its been a long time coming, a very slow journey, but really, you should ask “Is the Macintosh dead?” With Intel chips, a completely different interface, a Unix operating system, and no more Os9, the only similarity with Macs of ten years ago is the Edit menu, cut, copy, paste and clear. I haven’t just bought an Apple Macintosh, I’ve bought an Apple 6, what name should it have?

[Apple I, Apple II, Apple III, Apple Lisa, Apple Macintosh]

Still running my B&W G3 tower though, built like a battleship, it will never break down. Too much legacy software that works perfectly and never crashes, plus I hate today’s bloatware.

By: BlackJackBonny

BlackJackBonny — Tue, 28 Aug 2007 03:20:14 +0000

I’ve upgraded my G4 iMac this week to 10.4.10 (PPC) so that I can use any software available today. I use the Classic environment for (1) old games that I still love to play (2) old applications that work faster or more stable in Classic than their OSX counterparts (3) because I have been working on a Mac of some description for 20 years (since the MacPlus) and I want to be able to access any document that I have created in that time.

I use a range of game emulators (PCSX, MAME, SMS Plus, Genesis Plus, Power64, etc.) so that I can play any arcade or console game I remember. I use Mac OS emulators (vMac, BasiliskII, SheepShaver) to run systems from 9.0.4 down to 6.0.4 so that I can open legacy programs that will not run in later systems.
NOTE: SheepShaver is difficult to configure, slower and less stable than Classic – but it will work on both PPC and Intel.

I bang my head every month or two when I can’t open my old PC work disks because of the Joliet CD format (I can use an applescript hack, but unstable), and I’m yet to find a solution to opening password protected WinZip files.

My point – I want access to my own intellectual property and it is very frustrating when I can’t open/refer to/reuse something that I created in the past. It’s like mourning a lost treasure.

And if you haven’t experienced this yet, you haven’t lived long or done enough.

By: hardcore old time gamer

hardcore old time gamer — Thu, 23 Aug 2007 01:15:28 +0000

Two reasons:
(1) Master of Orion (original is way better than the sequels, I like to play it while listening to podcasts)
(2) Majesty

I’m not abandoning Classic, even if my main machines all become intels, I’ll still keep a classic box around. Heck, I have an old windows/linux box whose only purpose in life is to play the original Command & Conquer.

By: Lordmike

Lordmike — Fri, 17 Aug 2007 09:12:10 +0000

I definetly hope that the old versions are dead and buried. Why anyone want to use old systems is something I will never understand, unless you need a program on the old system which the maker never ported to the new system. Then and only then can I understand the usage of an older obsolete system.

By: sbjcal

sbjcal — Mon, 13 Aug 2007 06:17:58 +0000

One word – Hypercard!

By: Tom von Schwerdtner

Tom von Schwerdtner — Tue, 07 Aug 2007 04:54:28 +0000

HotBot was the jam back when Wired was still hip and cool.

By: Charles Gaba

Charles Gaba — Tue, 07 Aug 2007 00:29:05 +0000

I still use Classic once in awhile for exactly two things:

1. When I do Search Engine Optimization, I still use an old SEO program called VSE BeFound. The developers (out of Germany) kept promising an OS X version, but never got around to it and eventually disbanded.

2. Once in awhile I like to play an old D&D-style adventure game called Realmz. No OS X version was ever developed.

By: Paul Westbrook

Paul Westbrook — Mon, 06 Aug 2007 22:17:59 +0000

I still use Classic on our kids iMac. There are still a bunch of Mac OS 9 games for younger kids.

By: Billy K

Billy K — Mon, 06 Aug 2007 21:54:37 +0000

I moved to all Intel machines (24″ iMac/MacBook) over the last year, but there is one app I still need OS 9 for – Mastering Tools. It’s shareware and the author quit writing for Mac apparently. I have yet to find a replacement, so I bought a cheap 600Mhz Snow iMac for when I absolutely need it.

(I really wish I could find a reasonably easy-to-use audio mastering app for OS X)

By: joecab

joecab — Mon, 06 Aug 2007 20:57:05 +0000

(er DTP biz that is)

And I do wonder if there are still schools running those same OS 9 apps they were 5-10 years ago…

By: joecab

joecab — Mon, 06 Aug 2007 20:56:05 +0000

Still using Quark 4 here, mate! Can you believe it? (People in the STP biz sure will.)

But that’s the last OS 9 we still use, so hopefully within a year we’ll be 100% switched over to InDesign.

By: Eric

Eric — Mon, 06 Aug 2007 18:27:00 +0000

Actually, one of my publishing clients still uses QuarkXPress 5 running in Classic mode, and have a scanner and photoshop station on a G3 running OS 9. They publish 5 national magazines in the UK. They are currently upgrading to InDesign CS 3, but Quark in Classic is still used by over 20 people every day. I look forward to removing Classic when it is no longer needed.

By: Webomatica

Webomatica — Mon, 06 Aug 2007 17:11:52 +0000

On our increasingly long in the tooth G4 iMac, for a while I would run classic to use Streamline (like Mattshu) which is now no longer needed.

I now have a MacBook which doesn’t have Classic and I don’t miss it one bit.

Hopefully this year we’ll ditch the G4 and move to an Intel iMac or MacMini, leaving Classic totally behind.

By: mattshu

mattshu — Mon, 06 Aug 2007 17:03:40 +0000

Up until CS3 I still booted into classic to run Adobe Streamline. Now that Illustrator’s tracing abilities are better, I likely won’t ever again.

By: Travis Bell

Travis Bell — Mon, 06 Aug 2007 16:27:06 +0000

It’s funny how different people’s uses are.

I have owned a Mac for 5 years (OS 10.2), and not once (NOT A SINGLE TIME) booted into Classic.

Aside from Quark, I can’t even think of a single reason why you ever would have…

By: ShavenYak

ShavenYak — Mon, 06 Aug 2007 14:41:19 +0000

Unfortunately, there are lots of educational titles and kids’ games that require Classic. Some of them even mention System 7 in their requirements (these tend not to run well even in Classic, so I stay away from them). Luckily, we now have an Apple retail store nearby which carries a wide enough selection of software that it is possible to find OS X native titles. Still there’s the odd kids’ package on their shelves that would require Classic to run, even though there’s not a machine under their roof capable of running it.