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Internet Archive Adds Early Macintosh OS and App Emulators (macstories.net)
An anonymous reader writes: The Internet Archive has added a curated collection of Mac operating system and software emulators from 1984 through 1989. The Internet Archive already hosts browser-based emulators of early video games and other operating systems, but this is its first foray into Mac software. The collection includes classic applications like MacPaint, programming tools such as MacBasic, and many games including Dark Castle. Each app can be run in an in-browser emulator and is accompanied by an article that chronicles its history. It's fun to play with the apps in the collection and realize just how far apps have come since the earliest days of the Mac. It's also remarkable how many computing conventions used today were introduced during those earliest days.
It's also remarkable how many computing conventions used today were introduced during those earliest days.
What would be remarkable is if people actually acknowledged that most of those conventions existed well before the Macintosh. Instead, what we'll most likely get are a lot comments from clueless Mac fanboys who think Apple invented everything in the computer except the electricity.
It will be interesting to see if I can open some of those .pict files I have lying around that don't seem to open on anything anymore.
And what's with the AC's bashing of Jobs and Woz. 2 of the first 4 posts are whining about Apple worship before anything goes up. If you're gonna whine, be a man (or a woman, or something) and get an account, so we can see who you really are. Or, at least, some reasonable facsimile.
This takes me back to the time of my Mac 512 and the book Basic Computer Games. This was a better time for computing.
-- Thou hast strayed far from the path of the Avatar.
The real cause of the decline of software and user interfaces in particular is actually the pressure to continually release new versions and propel the continual upgrade cycle. A fully mature, bug-free, usable piece of software that does everything its users want it to do flawlessly is a very unprofitable piece of software because people will buy it once and use it forever without ever upgrading it. The answer is to keep adding useless features and revise and clutter up the UI with more and more crap to create the illusion that people are making productivity leaps by plunking down money on new versions, when in reality they are simply treading water or even going backwards as it becomes more difficult to do simple tasks that were once trivial and impossible to figure out how to do new things due to the overwhelming number of baubles and options.
Somehow archive.org gets away with a lot of stuff that most lawyers would tell you to stay far away from. I wish I understood their secret, possibly of a magical nature.
That said, IA is the most important library of its kind. And humanity is enriched by its continued existence. When IA gets shut down, we'll all lose history and culture that cannot be easily replaced.
“Common sense is not so common.” — Voltaire
There used to be a great version of the board game Risk for MacOS that I used to play in the '80s on a friend's Mac. I found a copy of it around 2000, but, it wouldn't run on OS 9 on my girlfriend's iMac nor in the Classic emulator on early versions of OSX. Miss that game.
Hopefully they're using webassembly, but even without it, I'm sure JS could handle it pretty easily on a modern machine. 68k is basically like a pocket calculator compared to modern CPUs.
Web browsers today have UIs that are worse than the early Mosaic and Netscape Navigator UIs.
That may be true, but having a web browser crash today is a rare occurrence. I'll take the cluttered UI over the numerous daily browser crashes from the old browsers.
> "....realize just how far apps have come since the earliest days of the Mac" In a question for historical accuracy, the archive should be calling these programs 'applications', not the lazy contraction of 'apps'.
Its runs in the client browser.
This isn't anything new, to be honest. You can get DOSBox, Amiga, etc. in a browser and all sorts.
https://js-dos.com/
http://scriptedamigaemulator.n...
A 68000 isn't that special in these terms,
Early iterations of MacOS made a distinction between aplications and desk accessories; one notable difference being that only one of the former could be run at a time while the latter included small utilities such as a calculator and stickies that could be run simultaneously. Features that we take for granted such as multithreading, hierarchical file systems with folders, and a command line came later, and have since become ubiquitous. Well, except on iOS which has removed some of that functionality... it's interesting how things have come full circle.
I'm pretty sure that the Woz is still alive, and actively posting to /. Mr. TheWoz, can you confirm????
Copyright is now effectively indefinite. After a few valuable properties slipped into the public domain in the 70's and 80's, they was a big push to make sure that major players don't suffer that again. Now you'll see the copyright get extended every time something important is about to expire. Congress will act quickly to preserve some stupid 100 year old cartoon, yet drag their feet on Medicaid. I suspect you only have to follow the money for the answers to that one.
“Common sense is not so common.” — Voltaire
They're like a library. When it is non-profit and not in any way involved in competing with anything commercial, then its uses are inherently more fair.
Teenagers pirating movies to watch at home for personal use is not-for-profit. Given that teenagers are broke they probably aren't competing with anything commercial as the alternative might to be find something else that is zero cost. And while I believe it is fair and reasonable to pay to see movies, I do firmly believe if piracy was impossible that people would see fewer movies.
Lawyers often tell people to "stay away" from things that are allowed, but would be expensive to defend.
This is the best answer I've heard. Thank you!
“Common sense is not so common.” — Voltaire
I mainly am filled with dismay seeing how bad modern UI have fallen after reaching a state of maturity. Now high IQ morons churn features, adding steps to operation, making commonly used things less accessible. Exhibit A, the chrome menu system...
If you're interested in Mac abandonware, Macintosh Garden is for you.
My favorite is Lunar Rescue which runs in the Mini vMac emulator.
That that is is that that that that is not is not.
I mean, it's nice that it's there, but DOS had such a huge impact in comparison to the tiny Apple user base. it seems rather ridiculous that they have done this.
Congratulations on the absolutely most stupid anti-apple screed ever written! You sir, make the anonymous coward's drivel sound like the writings of Einstein by comparison. They did it because they can.
To use your logic, we shouldn't write about Windows, only Android. It's called history, silly. and as much as it rises your blood pressure, Apple is a pretty important part of computing history.
Not that you would understand that in the least.
And We're anxiously waiting for your reply to prove my point. 3....2....1..
The shepherds did so well protecting the flock that the sheep no longer believed that wolves existed.