OSX disadvantages
in [Mac Systems]
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From: Bob Harris on 10 Sep 2005 12:42 In article <100920051001245512%chenrich(a)monmouth.com>, "Christopher J. Henrich" <chenrich(a)monmouth.com> wrote: > In article <1h2ob69.jxz65g1xs2ghsN%nonesuch(a)place.com>, Adrian > <nonesuch(a)place.com> wrote: > > > Roger Johnstone <rojaws(a)orcon.net.nz> wrote: > > > > > Make sure you're using high density floppy disks. USB floppy drives > > > don't support the old Apple 800KB disks, although that's not normally a > > > problem anyway since Mac OS X requires a least a megabyte of disk space > > > for a minimum bootable system. I shudder to think what will happen in a > > > few years if the OS continues to grow and won't fit on a floppy disk > > > anymore! > > > > Indeed. This is why I have produced a utility called PunchTapeConverter. > > You really can't beat having a genuine hard copy of your OS on punched > > tape. It is important to store your backup tape carefully, but I have > > found that the tapes containing a full OS X Tiger copy can be fitted > > into a double garage quite easily. Having your car out on the drive is a > > small price to pay for the peace of mind you get. > I've found that it is important to store the tapes in plastic or metal > boxes, not cardboard. Otherwise they attract carpenter ants and > termites. > > After all, you don't want bugs in your OS. Don't forget to use acid free paper. I can not tell you how frustrated I have been when I unroll a tape and it just crumbles from age. Bob Harris
From: Peter Teeson on 10 Sep 2005 13:14 In article <nospam.News.Bob-D3503B.12423410092005(a)news.verizon.net>, Bob Harris <nospam.News.Bob(a)remove.Smith-Harris.us> wrote: > In article <100920051001245512%chenrich(a)monmouth.com>, > "Christopher J. Henrich" <chenrich(a)monmouth.com> wrote: > > > In article <1h2ob69.jxz65g1xs2ghsN%nonesuch(a)place.com>, Adrian > > <nonesuch(a)place.com> wrote: > > > > > Roger Johnstone <rojaws(a)orcon.net.nz> wrote: > > > > > > > Make sure you're using high density floppy disks. USB floppy drives > > > > don't support the old Apple 800KB disks, although that's not normally a > > > > problem anyway since Mac OS X requires a least a megabyte of disk space > > > > for a minimum bootable system. I shudder to think what will happen in a > > > > few years if the OS continues to grow and won't fit on a floppy disk > > > > anymore! > > > > > > Indeed. This is why I have produced a utility called PunchTapeConverter. > > > You really can't beat having a genuine hard copy of your OS on punched > > > tape. It is important to store your backup tape carefully, but I have > > > found that the tapes containing a full OS X Tiger copy can be fitted > > > into a double garage quite easily. Having your car out on the drive is a > > > small price to pay for the peace of mind you get. > > I've found that it is important to store the tapes in plastic or metal > > boxes, not cardboard. Otherwise they attract carpenter ants and > > termites. > > > > After all, you don't want bugs in your OS. > > Don't forget to use acid free paper. I can not tell you how > frustrated I have been when I unroll a tape and it just crumbles > from age. > > Bob Harris Paper tapes can be more fragile than the familiar punched cards. Inspired by your PunchTapeConverter I produced PunchCardConverter. One of the options you can set in preferences is whether the holes should be the usual IBM/Hollerith rectangles (default) or the Burroughs/PowerSamas round holes. You can still use the venerable 029 (what a work horse this beauty is) to do the actual punching. It can be driven from an Mac using the special adapter cable and the Modem or USB port. What a great use for those empty storage racks on the upper levels of your house namely to hold the card trays. And who can forget the sensuous feel of sorting those cards and watching them drop into the buckets in such a fascinating rhythmic way? Thank goodness we had the foresight to keep this technology alive. respect... Peter P.S. PunchCardConverter is released under the GPL licence.
From: David Magda on 10 Sep 2005 13:38 John Drako <jbravo556(a)gmail.removethis.com> writes: > Current Macs don't support booting from USB. They support booting > from firewire drives. That is the opposite of Windows; it boots from > USB but not from firewire. Is it a 'glitch' in windows or complete > lack of support? This isn't a fuction of Windows as much as the BIOS. As long as the PC's BIOS recognizes it should be able to start up the boot loader. FireWire isn't that big in the PC world (Intel invented and is the main cheerleader for USB), so there's more support for USB booting. Apple created FireWire (later IEEE 1394) and so it's no surprise that on Macs it can do some of these things. It will be interesting to see how the the Mactel thing works out with regards to what type of firmware will drive the new machines (Open Firmware? BIOS? EFI?). This is also why SCSI cards have to load code to extend the BIOS to allow booting off of SCSI disks (and tape and optical media). -- David Magda <dmagda at ee.ryerson.ca> Because the innovator has for enemies all those who have done well under the old conditions, and lukewarm defenders in those who may do well under the new. -- Niccolo Machiavelli, _The Prince_, Chapter VI
From: =?ISO-8859-9?Q?Kir=E1ly?= on 10 Sep 2005 14:39 In comp.sys.mac.system John Wolf <johnw_94020(a)yahoo.compda> wrote: > I like OSX but hate how much diskspace and RAM it eats up. I also dislike > how I cannot boot from a zip disk,or boot with the os from a CD-ROM. On the > old Mac OS I could also boot with the os,but not just an app. Download BootCD from VersionTracker. Bootable CDs with a full-functioning OS and desktop! K.
From: Adrian on 10 Sep 2005 14:44
Christopher J. Henrich <chenrich(a)monmouth.com> wrote: > In article <1h2ob69.jxz65g1xs2ghsN%nonesuch(a)place.com>, Adrian > <nonesuch(a)place.com> wrote: > > > Roger Johnstone <rojaws(a)orcon.net.nz> wrote: > > > > > Make sure you're using high density floppy disks. USB floppy drives > > > don't support the old Apple 800KB disks, although that's not normally a > > > problem anyway since Mac OS X requires a least a megabyte of disk space > > > for a minimum bootable system. I shudder to think what will happen in a > > > few years if the OS continues to grow and won't fit on a floppy disk > > > anymore! > > > > Indeed. This is why I have produced a utility called PunchTapeConverter. > > You really can't beat having a genuine hard copy of your OS on punched > > tape. It is important to store your backup tape carefully, but I have > > found that the tapes containing a full OS X Tiger copy can be fitted > > into a double garage quite easily. Having your car out on the drive is a > > small price to pay for the peace of mind you get. > I've found that it is important to store the tapes in plastic or metal > boxes, not cardboard. Otherwise they attract carpenter ants and > termites. > > After all, you don't want bugs in your OS. Hey, if those bugs go to work in an organised fashion they could end up doing a little additional programming themselves. -- Adrian |