Re: Newbee Questions

[Michael Kent <michael@syndicomm.remove.this.com>]

oldchip <oldchip@sdf.lonestar.org> wrote:

> I am a Newbee to apple2 computers and I have a few questions.

Welcome to the club.  This is a good place to ask questions.

As others have already answered some of your first questions, I'll skip
forward a bit...

> Does Apple2 have a harddrive?

Not out of the box, no, but numerous mass-storage add-ons exist.  The
three most common types are SCSI, IDE, and Compact Flash.  Apple released
several SCSI cards for the Apple IIe and IIgs, the two most popular being
the Rev C SCSI card and the DMA ("High-speed") SCSI card.  A popular
third-party SCSI card was the RAMfast SCSI card.  All three of these cards
connected to external SCSI hard drives, CD-ROM drives, tape back-up drives,
SCSI Zip drives, and scanners.  They are no longer in production but can be
found from time to time on eBay.

The Focus card was a popular third-party IDE card to which you could attach
IDE hard drives.  Since the hard drive was attached directly to the card,
it resided completely within the IIe and IIgs case, saving on desk space.
The Focus card is no longer in production either but can also be found
from time to time in the used computer market.

The most popular recent mass storage device has got to be the Compact
Flash For Apple II (CFFA) card.  It's a card that takes the same compact
flash memory cards used in digital cameras and other modern consumer
electronics and, like the Focus, resides entirely in the IIe and IIgs case.
It's technically not in production either, but the waiting list just topped
its target and is likely to re-enter production in the near future.

Another option if you have an Apple IIgs and an older Macintosh is to
hook them together in an AppleTalk network and use the Mac's hard drive
across the network through AppleShare.  This will also allow you to print
to network laser printers and do other network tasks.

> Can Apple2 go the Internet?

Oh yes.  My Apple IIgs has been on the internet nearly every day for over
nineteen years.

The easiest way to get online is to get a modem and a dial-up shell account.
The IIgs can use any Macintosh external modem.  Other modems are available
for the classic Apple IIs, and they'll work on the IIgs as well.

If you have a home Ethernet network, you can hook a IIgs up to your network
with a LANce GS card or an Uthernet card and run a TCP/IP stack called
Marinetti.  Many common internet applications are available including
telecom software (Spectrum), telnet, ftp (SAFE and SAFE II), POP3/SMTP
mail (SAM), a Usenet newsreader (SNAP), an IRC client (Samurai), a file
server (Silver Platter), and a couple of web browsers (SIS and Arachnid).
Due to the limited screen resolution of the Apple II the web browsers are
rather limited compared to modern machines, but they do work.

There is also a TCP/IP stack for the IIe called Contiki, but applications
for it are much more limited compared to those for the IIgs.

> Can it run a UNIX shell?

Not true Unix, no, but the IIgs can run a multi-tasking Unix-like shell
on top of GS/OS called GNO/ME.  A number of Unix-type applications have
been ported to it and it is close enough to 16-bit Unix to be interesting
to vintage computer geeks.  Since it's a shell for GS/OS it works well
with most IIgs software inluding, I think, Marinetti.

> I like vintage computers.  If I were to get an Apple2, I would like to 
> be able to get the one that has the most features and run the most 
> software.  Which one should I look for?

The Apple II that is the most expandable and runs the most software is the
Apple IIgs.  It can do almost everything the other Apple II's can do, but
it can also do a lot of things the other II's can't (such as Marinetti,
GNO/ME, and a usable GUI).  It's also the easiest to use for a beginner.

There are some 8-bit purists here that will disagree :-) but if you can
get only one Apple II, the Apple IIgs is the best choice.  If you find
yourself wanting to go even more retro than the IIgs, IIe's are still
pretty plentiful on eBay.

Good luck.

Mike