Re: System 6.whatever

[dempson@swell.actrix.gen.nz (David Empson)]

In article <90yc9B1w164w@qrm.UUCP> dan@qrm.UUCP (Dan Kozisek) writes:
> Can any one tell me what changes where made over system 
> 5.whatever. I am trying to decide if it is worth it to track down 
> the upgrade software. Thanks in advance for all replies.

Consider this: the changes from System 5.0.4 to System 6.0 required a
468 page manual to document all of the new features for programmers!

There are too many changes to describe them all here, but I'll list a
few.

To run System 6.0, you need at least 1 megabyte of RAM and two disk
drives (one of which must be a 3.5" drive).  I would strongly
recommmend a hard drive - Finder needs the system disk so often that
you have to leave it in a drive most of the time.

The most important point is that a lot of new software will be relying
on features in System 6.0 or later, and will not run in System 5.0.4
or earlier (or may not provide access to certain features).

Major new features:

- Media Control Toolset.  This provides a standard interface to several
multi-media devices (laserdisc players, CD-ROM drives, etc.) using
device drivers.

- MIDI Synth Toolset.  This is a new toolset for playing and recording
music.  It supports interfacing with MIDI devices, and also
controlling the IIgs sound chip.  Several sample tunes are included
with the system software, along with SynthLab, a program to play tunes
and perform simple operations with the toolset.

- HFS File System Translator.  This allows you to read/write Macintosh
3.5" disks and hard drives.  You can also set up HFS partitions on
your own hard drive.  HFS allows much larger partitions than ProDOS,
and has much more flexible file naming conventions.

- DOS 3.3 and Pascal File System Translators.  These allow you to read
disks formatted by DOS 3.3 and Apple Pascal (but not write onto them).

- MS-DOS File System Translator (System 6.0.1).  With a compatible
disk drive (floptical or SuperDrive), this allows you to read files
from an MS-DOS disk.

- Many major improvements to the Finder.  It now supports "Finder
Extensions" which are programs which add additional capabilities to
Finder.  System 6.0.1's Finder also provides keyboard navigation.
System 6.0 has improved keyboard navigation in "standard file" dialog
boxes.

- Sound control panel supports attaching sounds to system events such
as disk insertions, alert boxes, etc.

- Universal Access tools (CloseView, Easy Access and Video Keyboard)
provided with the system software.

There are a _lot_ of new toolbox calls.  Programs relying on these
calls will not work with System 5.0.4 or earlier.
-- 
David Empson                                                               
dempson@swell.actrix.gen.nz                                                
Snail mail: P.O. Box 27-103, Wellington, New Zealand