Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

AmbitiousLemon

Moderator emeritus
Nov 28, 2001
3,415
3
down in Fraggle Rock
you are right of course nipsy, but it often feels that apple is being overprotective with some of the permissions.

often there are files that do not need to be protected that are.

in fact ive run into a few icons (just generic folder icons or drive icons) that i had to log in as root in order to change. i doubt changing an icon is going to hurt grandma.

apple needs those permissions but they also need to figure out how to allow permission to items that dont need protection and so far apple has done a mediocre job at best.
 

arn

macrumors god
Staff member
Apr 9, 2001
16,363
5,795
Originally posted by Nipsy


Well, active development is EXPENSIVE, as is support. So there is an extra effort on Apple's part to maintain and upgrade 9/Classic.

Truly no effort things (like HFS) mean development is frozen, no new dollars are being spent, and support is negligible.

Keeping Classic around for more than two years is pouring money down a hole. No new commercial software will be developed for Classic by then, and within that time frame, all current software will be Carbonized, with much being pure Cocoa.

Ok... testing will need to be done as well as making sure it comes with upgrades.... however... I think this effort is minimal compared to killing it.

Note: we still have 68k emulation layer built in os 9 which has maintained through to Classic. New 68k apps haven't been created for years - yet Apple maintains it...

There are people who will use Classic for years to come... despite the fact that no new Apps are created. I think Apple will keep it in existance for the foreseeable future.

arn
 

Foocha

macrumors 6502a
Jul 10, 2001
588
0
London
If it's a bug that windows can appear behind the dock in OS X, then surely it's also a bug that windows can appear behind the menu bar in OS 9.

Applications can be dock aware, as demonstrated by Office v.X. The fact that some apps are not dock aware says more about the app than the OS.
 

Nipsy

macrumors 65816
Jan 19, 2002
1,009
0
Originally posted by arn


Ok... testing will need to be done as well as making sure it comes with upgrades.... however... I think this effort is minimal compared to killing it.

Note: we still have 68k emulation layer built in os 9 which has maintained through to Classic. New 68k apps haven't been created for years - yet Apple maintains it...

There are people who will use Classic for years to come... despite the fact that no new Apps are created. I think Apple will keep it in existance for the foreseeable future.

arn

Indeed, but 68k dev is FROZEN, and you can't call Apple and expect them to help you if your 68k Imagewriter II driver is no longer working.

If Classic is to remain as an Apple layer, it first needs to be better than rootless. It needs to open apps invisibly (when you launch a 68k app in 9, you don't know its a 68k app). This is a fairly huge task, and why I think it may be formally dropped.

Apple has approached OSX better than the PowerPC switch. OSX supports (with varying success) the last three years of hardware. When we got PowerPC, we needed 68k emulation for everything, and had to give hardware puchasers time to catch up. When X was released, 75% of users had the hardware. When PPC was released, it was 0%. This changes development priorities.

With developers getting into swing, Apple should be thinking about where to freeze Classic, hopefully as a compatiblity layer. Once it is frozen, it becomes like HFS, or the 68k emulation you mentioned. If this happens, Apple forces the hand of dev shops still actively developing in Classic or Carbon modes, has more developers available for X optimization and feature addition, and can begin to phase out support of 9. If it is frozen as a compatibility layer, then leave it be. If it is frozen as an app/environment, let it go the way of MultiFinder....
 

Hemingray

macrumors 68030
Jan 9, 2002
2,926
37
Ha ha haaa!
Originally posted by Nipsy
If it is frozen as a compatibility layer, then leave it be. If it is frozen as an app/environment, let it go the way of MultiFinder....

I think Apple will freeze it as a compatibility layer, but what if they did freeze it as an app? It wouldn't be THAT bad. By the time they modify OS 9 to be non-independently bootable all the extra crap will be swept out and only the core will remain, allowing for a rather fast boot.

Either way, OS 9 will never be completely done away with. As arn said, 68k support is still in OS 9. If Apple is smart (which I believe they are sometimes), they will treat this in the same fashion and build the OS 9 into X as a compatibility layer as opposed to an app. And every time it needs modification it will be modified as a portion of the system (like "Classic, version System 10.2" as opposed to "Classic, version 9.5.1")

But either way, we'll most likely rarely have to use it.
 

ilikeiBook

macrumors regular
Jan 27, 2002
107
0
Re: Will it be farewell OS 9 on the 24th?

Originally posted by j763
Will it be farewell OS 9 on the 24th?? Just want to know what you guys think and whether you can live without OS 9 at the moment...

Nope, I think that people have invested too much money in OS9 apps to eliminate it.
 

mischief

macrumors 68030
Aug 1, 2001
2,921
1
Santa Cruz Ca
A line in the sand.

Apple will have to kill 9 as 9 soon to force expanded X development.

RE: OS X " Bugs".

GET OVER IT.

OS X will be responsive soon enough. OS 9 is a lame duck. Acting like Apple will Develop 9 for more than the next 6 months is like writing in Bill Clinton in the next election: it's had it's turn and Apple has moved on.

OS9 is on deathwatch and yer all lucky to have gotten this much support from Apple to make the transition. If you can't find a X driver complain to the manufacturer NOT APPLE.

Gods, you guys gripe like a bunch of old women!
 
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.