Re: Need advice

[pubpc1@library.ucla.edu]

"Tim in Town" <timf@rmi.net> wrote:
>I've just unpacked my GS after several years and am now wanting to use it
>to browse the Internet and research/write papers for college.  I've been
>reading the various FAQs and posts for a few weeks, but I'm overwhelmed by
>the "technicalease."  Can anyone give me straightforward suggestions on how
>to upgrade my GS and where to get the upgrades.

Short answer: check out the following web sites for GS upgrades.
                Alltech Electronics (http://www.allelec.com/)
                Sequential Systems (http://www.sequential.com/)

Long answer:

Tim, you are in for a treat.  GS software has come a long way
since the time when the "desktop" was an optional program.  The
GS's native OS is GS/OS, a modular OS that can accept drivers and
foreign filesystems with ease and has an integrated GUI that is
almost identical to MacOS.  It is not a precursor to MacOS, but
an independent creation of Apple.  The latest version can read
and write Macintosh disks and read MS-DOS disks (with the right
drive).

Even more good news, if you are a linux fan, you may like to
investigate the version of UNIX called GNO/ME for the GS.  Sold
by EGO Systems, GNO/ME will give you a UNIX style shell and
command line that you are familiar with.  And yes, it implements
pre-emtive multitasking of processes.

All this progress comes at a cost.  Modern GS software requires
4MB to 8MB of memory.  The good news is that if you have any 1MB
SIMM modules lying aroung, you can use these with the Sirius
memory board for the GS.  You should also get a hard drive for
the computer (it can use both SCSI and IDE/EIDE hard drives with
the right controller card).

Hop over to Alltech Electronics (http://www.allelec.com/) and
Sequential Systems (http://www.sequential.com/) to find the
needed upgrade peripherals.  I recommend you get a Sirius memory
board from Alltech Electronics and fill it with your spare 1MB
SIMM modules to boost your GS computer's memory to 8 megabytes.
You might also want to pick up a 500 megabyte Focus hard disk
drive from Alltech.  Alltech sells the Focus drive preformatted
with GS/OS with System 6.0.1, so you get the OS preinstalled.

For software, I recommend AppleWorks GS v1.1, also from Alltech.
They carry it for $15 and it includes a nice graphical GUI
word processor, a draw/paint program, spreadsheet, a nice DB
module that supports graphics, and a page layout module that
resembles an early version of PageMaker.  With the right addon,
you can use TrueType fonts on the GS.

For printers, consider a high resolution ink-jet printer
(DeskWriter, DeskJet, Canon BJC, or Epson Stylus) or even a
laser printer (Postscript or HP LaserJet compatible).  Just
get the Harmonie printer driver(s) to drive it and the Pointless
addon to use TrueType fonts.

If you have an SCSI CD-ROM drive lying around, there are CD-ROMs
for the GS!  Look for them at Joe Kohn's Shareware Solutions II
organization at its web site (http://www.crl.com/~joko/) and
Sequential Systems (http://www.sequential.com/).

As you well know with your PCs, more memory and hard drive space
is better.  The same thing applies on the GS.  Have fun!


>I'm also curious about the GNO/ME platform and what pluses/minuses
>it has over the native GS/OS environment.

Tim, GNO/ME does not replace GS/OS.  It uses GS/OS in that everthing
is filtered through GS/OS drivers (to control devices) and filesystem
translators (to access, for example, Macintosh, Apple II, and MS-DOS
disks).

What it does do is provide a UNIX style command line interface as
an alternative to the Finder's GUI.  It will even do pre-emptive
multitasking of processes.  However, only one of these processes
can be a desktop application.  This means that you should be able
to run your desktop word processor with the full GUI interface in the
foreground while you are sending a file from your modem using "sz"
in the background (I believe).

The GS version of TCP/IP will require GNO/ME.


>I've been using a PC (Pentium 166 w/33.6 modem, Win95) to browse, and am
>wondering how a "super-GS" would compare.  Also, I've read about Spectrum's
>browser and understand that there is another browser available under
>GNO/ME.  Has anyone compared these two?  Is the GNO/ME browser similar to
>Internet Explorer?