Comments on: Is Classic Really, Seriously, Dead?

By: Max Roberts

Max Roberts — Fri, 07 Sep 2007 12:18:31 +0000

I don’t think that “Is Classic Dead” is the right question. Its been a long time coming, a very slow journey, but really, you should ask “Is the Macintosh dead?” With Intel chips, a completely different interface, a Unix operating system, and no more Os9, the only similarity with Macs of ten years ago is the Edit menu, cut, copy, paste and clear. I haven’t just bought an Apple Macintosh, I’ve bought an Apple 6, what name should it have?

[Apple I, Apple II, Apple III, Apple Lisa, Apple Macintosh]

Still running my B&W G3 tower though, built like a battleship, it will never break down. Too much legacy software that works perfectly and never crashes, plus I hate today’s bloatware.

By: BlackJackBonny

BlackJackBonny — Tue, 28 Aug 2007 03:20:14 +0000

I’ve upgraded my G4 iMac this week to 10.4.10 (PPC) so that I can use any software available today. I use the Classic environment for (1) old games that I still love to play (2) old applications that work faster or more stable in Classic than their OSX counterparts (3) because I have been working on a Mac of some description for 20 years (since the MacPlus) and I want to be able to access any document that I have created in that time.

I use a range of game emulators (PCSX, MAME, SMS Plus, Genesis Plus, Power64, etc.) so that I can play any arcade or console game I remember. I use Mac OS emulators (vMac, BasiliskII, SheepShaver) to run systems from 9.0.4 down to 6.0.4 so that I can open legacy programs that will not run in later systems.
NOTE: SheepShaver is difficult to configure, slower and less stable than Classic - but it will work on both PPC and Intel.

I bang my head every month or two when I can’t open my old PC work disks because of the Joliet CD format (I can use an applescript hack, but unstable), and I’m yet to find a solution to opening password protected WinZip files.

My point - I want access to my own intellectual property and it is very frustrating when I can’t open/refer to/reuse something that I created in the past. It’s like mourning a lost treasure.

And if you haven’t experienced this yet, you haven’t lived long or done enough.

By: hardcore old time gamer

hardcore old time gamer — Thu, 23 Aug 2007 01:15:28 +0000

Two reasons:
(1) Master of Orion (original is way better than the sequels, I like to play it while listening to podcasts)
(2) Majesty

I’m not abandoning Classic, even if my main machines all become intels, I’ll still keep a classic box around. Heck, I have an old windows/linux box whose only purpose in life is to play the original Command & Conquer.

By: Lordmike

Lordmike — Fri, 17 Aug 2007 09:12:10 +0000

I definetly hope that the old versions are dead and buried. Why anyone want to use old systems is something I will never understand, unless you need a program on the old system which the maker never ported to the new system. Then and only then can I understand the usage of an older obsolete system.

By: sbjcal

sbjcal — Mon, 13 Aug 2007 06:17:58 +0000

One word - Hypercard!

By: Tom von Schwerdtner

Tom von Schwerdtner — Tue, 07 Aug 2007 04:54:28 +0000

HotBot was the jam back when Wired was still hip and cool.

By: Charles Gaba

Charles Gaba — Tue, 07 Aug 2007 00:29:05 +0000

I still use Classic once in awhile for exactly two things:

1. When I do Search Engine Optimization, I still use an old SEO program called VSE BeFound. The developers (out of Germany) kept promising an OS X version, but never got around to it and eventually disbanded.

2. Once in awhile I like to play an old D&D-style adventure game called Realmz. No OS X version was ever developed.

By: Paul Westbrook

Paul Westbrook — Mon, 06 Aug 2007 22:17:59 +0000

I still use Classic on our kids iMac. There are still a bunch of Mac OS 9 games for younger kids.

By: Billy K

Billy K — Mon, 06 Aug 2007 21:54:37 +0000

I moved to all Intel machines (24″ iMac/MacBook) over the last year, but there is one app I still need OS 9 for - Mastering Tools. It’s shareware and the author quit writing for Mac apparently. I have yet to find a replacement, so I bought a cheap 600Mhz Snow iMac for when I absolutely need it.

(I really wish I could find a reasonably easy-to-use audio mastering app for OS X)

By: joecab

joecab — Mon, 06 Aug 2007 20:57:05 +0000

(er DTP biz that is)

And I do wonder if there are still schools running those same OS 9 apps they were 5-10 years ago…

By: joecab

joecab — Mon, 06 Aug 2007 20:56:05 +0000

Still using Quark 4 here, mate! Can you believe it? (People in the STP biz sure will.)

But that’s the last OS 9 we still use, so hopefully within a year we’ll be 100% switched over to InDesign.

By: Eric

Eric — Mon, 06 Aug 2007 18:27:00 +0000

Actually, one of my publishing clients still uses QuarkXPress 5 running in Classic mode, and have a scanner and photoshop station on a G3 running OS 9. They publish 5 national magazines in the UK. They are currently upgrading to InDesign CS 3, but Quark in Classic is still used by over 20 people every day. I look forward to removing Classic when it is no longer needed.

By: Webomatica

Webomatica — Mon, 06 Aug 2007 17:11:52 +0000

On our increasingly long in the tooth G4 iMac, for a while I would run classic to use Streamline (like Mattshu) which is now no longer needed.

I now have a MacBook which doesn’t have Classic and I don’t miss it one bit.

Hopefully this year we’ll ditch the G4 and move to an Intel iMac or MacMini, leaving Classic totally behind.

By: mattshu

mattshu — Mon, 06 Aug 2007 17:03:40 +0000

Up until CS3 I still booted into classic to run Adobe Streamline. Now that Illustrator’s tracing abilities are better, I likely won’t ever again.

By: Travis Bell

Travis Bell — Mon, 06 Aug 2007 16:27:06 +0000

It’s funny how different people’s uses are.

I have owned a Mac for 5 years (OS 10.2), and not once (NOT A SINGLE TIME) booted into Classic.

Aside from Quark, I can’t even think of a single reason why you ever would have…

By: ShavenYak

ShavenYak — Mon, 06 Aug 2007 14:41:19 +0000

Unfortunately, there are lots of educational titles and kids’ games that require Classic. Some of them even mention System 7 in their requirements (these tend not to run well even in Classic, so I stay away from them). Luckily, we now have an Apple retail store nearby which carries a wide enough selection of software that it is possible to find OS X native titles. Still there’s the odd kids’ package on their shelves that would require Classic to run, even though there’s not a machine under their roof capable of running it.

By: Louis Gray

Louis Gray — Mon, 06 Aug 2007 14:19:13 +0000

@pluto: You’re right. No Classic on Intel Macs forces the obsolescence just a tad more, doesn’t it?

By: R_K

R_K — Mon, 06 Aug 2007 14:03:30 +0000

Um, there is no way to play Warcraft II rather than in Classic environment. Yes, yes, I know there’s Warcraft III, I still like this classic game of old ages.

By: Scott

Scott — Mon, 06 Aug 2007 13:36:53 +0000

At work, we still have an old G4 that boots up into Classic. The main reason we have it: We print to the Epson RIP software. In the past it was impossible without the RIP to print EPS files. But, today, that is not an issue. However, printing without the Epson RIP gives us inaccurate colors. I’ve tried other color settings without the RIP and still the colors aren’t close to matching. We also have an old Epson Stylus 3000 printer that uses an older type of ink.

If anyone has a better solution using OSX with or without a newer RIP solution, I’m all ears… I just haven’t found any that don’t cost a fortune.

By: Ryan Stone

Ryan Stone — Mon, 06 Aug 2007 13:33:23 +0000

It’s really sad. My work still boots Classic on a daily basis. I work for a paper in a small town near Charleston, SC. We still lack a website and forget to upgrade to new OS’s. I bring my Macbook into work with my own updated software because running Classic maybe “fun” but not productive.

By: Twist

Twist — Mon, 06 Aug 2007 13:29:41 +0000

The last few times I have tried to run Classic it crashed faster than Windows 95. The last time I tried it was to play Riven which would run for a few minutes and then drag the whole Classic environment down with it. Before that I wanted to play around with an old audio app called MixMan but it wouldn’t work. If it wasn’t so tiny I think I would have deleted my Classic System Folder years ago.

By: Raven

Raven — Mon, 06 Aug 2007 13:28:35 +0000

I miss it, a little. But give up my Intel MBP to get it back - ? Never!

By: pluto198

pluto198 — Mon, 06 Aug 2007 13:24:50 +0000

Considering none of the Macs that Apple currently sells will run Classic… yes I’d say that it is really, seriously, dead.

By: Ralfy

Ralfy — Mon, 06 Aug 2007 12:58:59 +0000

The only uses I have for Classic now are to open v6 Quark docs in v5 to convert to v4 for use in InDesign and to check the occasional font in Fontographer.