Classic nostalgia thread.

[Taft]

OS X users...

Do you remember the OS that came before? You know, before Aqua, before the Dock, before you heard the term 'kernel' in Mac conversation. The "Classic" Mac OS.

I'll admit that it is quickly becoming a foggy memory to me and soon will only fill the tiny portion of my mind that is currently occupied by green screens, Apple II's and basic programming. So before the memory dies away, I'm making a call to all MacRumors members...

Wax nostalgic about the Mac OS of old. What were your favorite bits? Your least favorite? What was your favorite Classic version? What do you miss most? What do you miss least?

The results will hopefully live on for posterity in the securely held data (right Arn?) of the MacRumors servers. May future generations look upon this thread in wonder!

Taft

[Taft]

I'll kick start it...

A friend of mine called me the other day. She works at a place with some CRT iMacs running 8.5. She is having crashes. So, heavily straining my memory, I began to troubleshoot the mother of all Classic problems: extension conflicts. Its been so long since I had to deal with those horrible problems, I could barely remember how.

Definitely something I don't miss.

Something I do miss is the idea that I knew just about everything there was to know about the OS. I mean there was this stylish simplicity to the Classic OS. Maybe the underpinnings were ugly, but to a user, it was really laid out well. Whenever there was a problem or somthing you wanted to do, you'd know exactly where to go to fix/solve it. It was an empowering feeling.

I just don't get that feeling with OS X. For the power and stability, we've sacrificed that simplicity. I'm willing to make that sacrifice, but a tear comes to my eye when I think about how it used to be.

Taft

[eyelikeart]

for work...

At the printing company, where I work, we have 5 Macs on the network that are all on OS 9 still. Back in October, I redid my G4 to run X along with Classic, and kept it on X for about 4 months. I eventually switched over to 9 though, as X is stable as hell, but simply not ready for the production world, neither performance or compatibility-wise. It slowed down my work flow way too much, and had to overcome quite a number of problems to get some things done.

However, one thing I can both get pissed off & laugh at is when I get that damned "Could not complete the command because disk not found" error... :rolleyes: :p

[howard]

i honestly like the look of os 9 a lot...at least some things about it. it looks like a utility or a machine which is neat.

i don't miss its absolutely awful multitasking which is really my one big complaint.

[evoluzione]

Originally posted by Taft
Something I do miss is the idea that I knew just about everything there was to know about the OS. I mean there was this stylish simplicity to the Classic OS. Maybe the underpinnings were ugly, but to a user, it was really laid out well. Whenever there was a problem or somthing you wanted to do, you'd know exactly where to go to fix/solve it. It was an empowering feeling.

I just don't get that feeling with OS X. For the power and stability, we've sacrificed that simplicity. I'm willing to make that sacrifice, but a tear comes to my eye when I think about how it used to be.

Taft

i know exactly how you feel...i used to fix things easily enough, even oddities that defied logic sometimes, but there was never anything that beat me. OS X is a different story unfortunately. I actually love using OS9 at work etc when i have to, it's SO fast, especially as I do everything with the keyboard on OS 9. I remember I had one client (who was good on a mac, especially in Quark) who was looking over my shoulder as i was working, and he just couldn't keep up with what i was doing, windows opening and closing and dialogue boxes disappearing before they'd even redrawn completely. great stuff. just the speed at which things happened is what i miss.

(fortunately) i still have to use OS 9 on client's computers, one friend/client has a linotype scanner that will only work in 9, heidelberg are apparently not going to support OS X (gotta use a PC if you wanna keep p-to-date). so for me, i'll be using OS 9 for years to come :D

[MacBandit]

I'm personally really amazed at how fast I have grown accustom to OSX. I now look at OS9 and want to wretch at the horridness that it is. I had frequent crashes (Internet Explorer) with OS9 and never grew fond of it. My favorite OS either has to be OS7 or 8. The simplicity of them was what I liked. They didn't use up gobs of ram and were quite stable for what they were. Yes they were plain and nearly featureless until later updates of OS8 but in comparison OS9 is a stuffed pig that can't stand up under it's own weight. I wish to forget 9 as fast as I can and go about my fluid aqua crash-less life. Like I said before if I use an older computer I wretch if I see OS9 but if it's OS8 or older it's like playing with and old Atari, it's fun in a sentimental sort of way.

[mymemory]

I still using clasic in 2 of my 3 computers. If I go to OSX is because I have to not because I want to.

OSX is way too plastic, with OS9 I can go and fix the problem right away, with OSX I just have to hope the programers consider every posibility of malfunction.

Just yesterday After Effects closed on me without any warning or anything (under OSX) I do not know what I did wrong, no mesages, nothing!

So, I have my other 2 computer under 9.2.2 and I know when they are gonna fail on me, with OSX Mmmm "I'm not one with the system".

In my experience I expect OS 11 is gonna be something, just because that is the time requiere for a system to be fully developed (if such thing ever hapend).

[MacBandit]

Originally posted by mymemory
Just yesterday After Effects closed on me without any warning or anything (under OSX) I do not know what I did wrong, no mesages, nothing!

But it didn't affect your system or any other open program one iota. Isn't it great!!! Also that is hardly a problem with OSX.