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Re: New to Apple II again...
Koichi Takagi writes ...
>
> I had a //c in 1985, and now a PowerMac 7200.
>
> I just found an unused IIGS at a friend's house, and want to get
> word-processing and modem access to the University with it for him.
>
> I know these must be tired questions, so just try point me in the right
> direction:
>
> Where can I get a modem,
A standard modem (e.g. a Zoom 14.4, 28.8, etc. model) is fine. You
will want a "High-Speed" hardware handshaking modem cable. For the modem
cable, heck with Intrec ...
Intrec Software (888-PROTERM; http://www.intrec.com )
or Alltech ...
Alltech (760-724-2404; http://allelec.com )
> AppleWorks (did they make that for IIGS?)
Scantron Quality Computers (800-777-3642 http://www.sqc.com ) has
been the official vendor for Appleworks stuff. Supposedly they sell the
current version of Appleworks (v5.1) as well as a product called
"Appleworks-GS". Unless your friend's GS has 4MB of Expansion RAM and an
accelerator board, Awks-GS is not recommended. (Actually, it is not
recommended anyway.) The standard word processor for the GS is classic
Appleworks 5.1.
> and some
> terminal software for it? How much?
The best for-GS telecom program is Spectrum from ...
Seven Hills Software (850-575-0566;
http://www.sevenhills.com/applesoftware )
Retail price $85
Requirements
Apple IIGS running GS/OS 6.0 or later [i.e. System 6.0.1]
At least 1.25MB of memory
Two 3.5" disk drives although a hard drive is strongly recommended
A very good telecom program which does not require System 6 is
ProTERM A2 from Intrec Software ($59.95). ProTERM A2 comes with an
excellent manual and is the favorite of many GS and other Apple II
users.
> What else can the IIGS do?
The GS can support three major 'environments':
DOS 3.3- usually Beagle's Prontodos or some other speeded version of the
original DOS 3.3. This is the 5.25" diskette-based disk operating system
used for years on earlier Apple II's. It's commands are designed for use
from BASIC programs or from the keyboard. Many old Apple II games and
other wares are on 5.25" diskettes which boot DOS 3.3.
ProDOS 8- e.g. ProDOS v2.0.3. This is a disk operating system which
supports a variety of devices (e.g. 3.5" drives, hard drives, etc.) and
allows sub-directories. Commands are very similar to DOS 3.3 and are
designed for use in BASIC programs or from the keyboard. BASIC and
'system' programs can also utilize direct CALLs to well-defined ProDOS
Machine Language Interface routines.
GS/OS- usually System 5.04 or System 6.0.1. This is the desktop,
Windows-like environment utilizing super-res displays. Both ProDOS 8
programs and 'GS Applications' (i.e. wares that need GS/OS to run) can
be started from the desktop. The program which runs the desktop is
usually called the "Finder".
As to what kinds of things the GS can do ...
It can play Apple II and IIgs games.
It can be used to compose and play music. If you have a 'Stereo
Board', it can play two-channel and stereo music.
It can talk via Talking Tools from Byte Works ...
Byte Works (505-898-8183; http://hypermall.com/byteworks/bwad.html
email: mikew50@aol.com)
It can be used to create graphics using painters such as Platinum
Paint.
It can be used for desktop publishing via wares like Awks-GS,
Medley, etc..
With a CD-ROM drive and interface, it can access major Apple II
wares archives such as the Golden Orchard CD from DigiSoft Innovations
...
DigiSoft Innovations (
http://www.hypermall.com/cgi-bin/ssis/digisoft/digisoft email: Jim
Maricondo at digisoft@hypermall.com)
and it can play standard music CD's. It can access text, sound, and
graphics on Disc Passage format CD's via Disc Quest software.
It can record sounds and do 'Reverse Speech'. (To record sounds you
need a 'Stereo Board' with an input or a separate sound input module
such as the Ace board or the Hyperstudio card from Roger Wagner.)
It can be programmed in BASIC (Program Writer makes this much
easier), Pascal, C, (via the ORCA packages from Byte Works) and 65816
assembly language (via Roger Wagner's Merlin-16+ or ORCA/M from Byte
Works).
It can be used to create interactive sound-graphics presentations
via Hyperstudio or HyperCard
...
How much a particular GS can do depends, mainly, upon installed
memory and whether or not a hard drive is connected. Alltech sells the
handy, easy to install Focus 'Hard Card' hard drives-- at least 80MB is
recommended-- as well as expansion memory boards-- 4MB is recommended.
Alltech sells the System 6 diskettes (recommended for modern GS
setups with 4MB and a hard drive) as well as System 5.04 diskettes
(recommended for small 256k - 1.25MB GS systems). I'm pretty sure that
Alltech includes System 6 on their Focus hard drives.
Note: You can download System stuff from Apple's web site and transfer
it to the GS. However, if the GS is a pretty 'bare bones' system, you
save a lot of hassle for just a little cost by getting the System
diskettes from some place like Alltech or getting a hard drive with
System already installed.
> And
> what's up with emulation on the Mac? ....
At present, there are three major GS-on-Mac emulators. Most of the
info presented below comes from ...
http://www.emulation.net/apple2/index.html
Bernie ][ The Rescue
>>
Bernie ][ The Rescue (formerly Fast Eddie) is the most promising
source of Apple IIgs emulation. Bernie ][ The Rescue is a third-party
product delivering completely accurate IIgs emulation via a low-level
emulator implementation ("emulating metal"). It's fast, stable and runs
almost every Apple IIgs software program effortlessly. It's also very
useful as an Apple II emulator, since the IIgs was backwards compatible
with the older Apple II series.
Bernie ][ the Rescue is also the only IIgs emulator which can run
Wolfenstein 3D ....
<<
ref. Andre Horstmann and Henrik Gudat, authors of Bernie ][ The Rescue
http://www.magnet.ch/emutech/Bernie/index.html
XGS-Mac
>>
XGS is a port of a Unix-based Apple IIgs emulator, which is free
and in the public domain. It includes tools for conversion of DSK and
DiskCopy disk images, and should work well with most Apple IIgs
applications.
XGS has definitely improved from its first incarnation. Ensoniq
support works suprisingly well in a number of titles, and the disk image
conversion process has been made much easier. The GS Finder boots up
very well under XGS, although not quite as quickly as Bernie (which has
been tuned for PowerPC, unlike XGS, a more portable application).
<<
ref. Joshua M. Thompson, author of XGS and Michael Bytnar, who ported
XGS to Macintosh.
http://www.jurai.org/~funaho/emulators/XGS/
http://classicgaming.com/xgsdos/
http://www.cen.uiuc.edu/~m-bytnar/XGS-Mac/
GUS
>>
Gus is an Apple IIgs emulator for Power Macintoshes. It is an Apple
project that many feel is a great Apple IIgs emulation package.
Currently, Apple is giving away copies of Gus to schools who will sign a
non-disclosure agreement.
<<
http://www.apple.com/ (good luck!)
Since Bernie appears to be the current GS-on-Mac front-runner, here
is some additional information from the F.E.Systems EmuTech web site:
>>
Bernie is the result of a major engineering effort. Optimized for Power
Macintosh� computers, Bernie combines compatibility and speed in an
easy-to-use package. This unique software-only emulator coexists with
MacOS� and runs virtually any Apple II and 16-bit Apple IIGS software.
In both the MacOS� and Apple II world, Bernie is a reliable tool that
gets your job done - on the Mac but still using your favorite software:
AppleWorks� Classic, AppleWorks� GS, GraphicWriter as well as hundreds
of other applications, games and tools. ....
Bernie's core module is a speedy 65816 emulator running at speeds far
beyond that of a stock Apple IIgs (approx. 6 Mhz on 601/66Mhz machines,
well beyond 25Mhz on high-end Macs).
Bernie is distributed as shareware. For a fee of $25, you can register
your copy and acquire a license for forthcoming versions 1.x for the
Macintosh.
<<
For more Apple II stuff information, you can ask more questions
and/or check our newsgroup's Frequently Asked Questions files. These are
maintained on the world's largest Apple II resources site at URL's
already mentioned in this thread.
Other worthwhile Apple II FAQs groupings include ...
Dr. Tom's extensive "A2 FAQ Collective" at
http://209.100.61.57/A2.FAQ/
and Nathan Mates's fine "Official FAQs" collection at
http://www.visi.com/~nathan/a2/faq/csa2.html .
Rubywand