Re: Apple IIgs enthusiast wannabe

[supertimer@aol.com (Supertimer)]

wbdesnoy@acs2.acs.ucalgary.ca (Byron Desnoyers Winmill) wrote:

>Supertimer (supertimer@aol.com) wrote:
>
>: Hmm...rereading the user's post, I think he wants to know
>: how to transfer software downloaded from ftp sites from his
>: PC to his IIGS without the IIGS first having a terminal
>: program.  I'm pretty sure there is a way to do this, but I'm
>: not familiar with it.
>
>Done.

Thanks for helping the user get his IIGS up and running.

>: ... for 8-bit IIe software run on the IIGS under IIe emulation
>: mode, 1MB is a HUGE amount of memory.  Thanks for
>: metioning that, Byron.  I guess I saw "web browser, games,
>: music software for musicians" and automatically thought of
>: running IIGS side software which requires more MBs of
>: memory and mass storage.
>
>Hi Supertimer,
>
>It is getting to that point over here as well.  But then I remembered
>those days not so long ago (what was it, two or three weeks), when I
>was resisting the urge to spend too much money on such an old machine.
>
>Then I remembered how frustrating it was to be told that I was going
>to have to dump a fortune here and a fortune there, simply to hear the
>one thing that I wanted to hear: the IIgs play music.

Sad, but true.  It was always this way, even for old time
IIGS users who bought the IIGS when new.  ;-(  Originally,
Apple shipped the IIGS with 256k of memory!  Imagine
how frustrated the IIGS user was in 1986 when they
bought back this machine with fantastic potential to find
out it would not run any of the special software that
powered the great sound and graphics that the name
"GS" promised.  The IIGS users from that time I talked
to all ran back to Apple within a week to buy an additional
256k of memory, which was JUST enough to run the
early 16-bit titles.  So Apple finally started shipping IIGS
units with 512k.  But by that time, minimum memory
requirements were typically 768k to 1MB.  And that was
what the ROM 3 IIGS was a response to.

Then AppleWorks GS came out (think equivalent of
early Microsoft Works for Mac) which didn't particularly
like 1MB.  Followed by HyperCard and other "Mac-style"
applications.  HyperCard won't run in 1MB at all!  The
IIGS was designed to run this kind of stuff, but it was
hampered by Apple's short sightedness (or deliberate
neglect) in terms of RAM and storage.

But after the ROM 3, Apple just about abandoned the
IIGS.

I do not think Apple really paid enough attention to
what kind of memory and storage this computer really
required to run its software.  This is why many IIGS
units are now stranded with not enough memory and
that's what causes new users of old IIGSes to be
frustrated.  ;-(  Ugh!  I can imagine what it is like to
browse the ground ftp server with all that free IIGS
stuff only to find out that they all require more
memory!

>(BTW - I have tried that kennygntgs tune, *nice*.

Excellent!  Isn't it amazing that this old dog (the
IIGS) can learn so many new tricks?  ;-)

>Though I'm more into HyperCard at this point.  :-)

HyperCard is a great application.  The included
HyperTalk language is great for writing custom stuff
for the IIGS.  I also find that once you learn
HyperTalk, learning JavaScript becomes a lot easier.

You might also want to download the free version
of GS BASIC from the ByteWorks web site:

http://www.hypermall.com/byteworks

This language is the next generation Applesoft and
is designed to allow you to program IIGS style
(ie. Mac style) applications with windows and
menus.