Re: IIgs min. System Requirements?

[spec@vax2.concordia.ca (Mitchell Spector)]

In article swolfe1@mail.gcnet.net (The Basement) writes...

>Anyone remember what the highest version  the gs system software is
>that can be run on a Rom 01 IIgs with 256k of ram?  Thanks!

    You can run up to System 2.0 with that amount of memory, though
there will not be enough memory left to launch any programs (not to
mention the Finder didn't exist in this era, so instead you got the
Apple IIe/IIc MouseDesk program). Even with ample memory installed,
System 1 and 2 are fairly useless.

    You will also be able to partially run System 3.1 and 3.2, in the
sense it will boot directly into the Apple IIgs Mini Launcher rather
than the Finder. Once again though, you will not have enough memory
to launch anything. If you upgrade the IIgs with at least 512K of RAM,
you can run up to System 5.0.2, though the absolute bare minimum any
Apple IIgs should have is 1.125 MB RAM. This will run all versions of
System Software and the majority of programs out there (2 to 4 MB of
RAM is a good idea if you plan to do anything once applications are
loaded into memory, and really, the current standard today).

    You can probably pick up a fully populated 1 MB board for under
$5, or a used fully populated 4 MB board for around $25. I highly
recommend adding memory or you can forget about running any native
GS-specific programs.

Mitchell Spector
spec@vax2.concordia.ca