System 7

Screenshot of System 7.5.3 Revision 2
Company/ developer:	Apple Computer
OS family:	Classic Mac OS
Source model:	Closed source
Latest stable release:	7.6.1 / April 7, 1997
Kernel type:	Monolithic
Default user interface:	{{{ui}}}
License:	Proprietary
Licence:	{{{licence}}}
Working state:	Historic, not supported
Website:	n/a

System 7 (codenamed "Big Bang") was a version of Mac OS, the operating system of the Apple Macintosh computer. System 7 was used in the early 1990s up until 1997, succeeding System 6. Features over System 6 included cooperative multitasking, virtual memory, personal file sharing, an improved user interface look, QuickTime, and QuickDraw 3D. It is still used by a dwindling number of Macintosh users who own Apple hardware of similar vintage. Apple released System 7.0 on May 13, 1991. Note that "System 7" is usually a generic term referring to all 7.x versions. Macintosh System 7. ... The term software company could be applied to; a) a company that produces software or b) a company that distributes software from a third party or c) a company that provides services for software. ... A software developer is a programmer who is concerned with one or more facets of the software development process, a somewhat broader scope of computer programming. ... Apple Computer, Inc. ... The text below is generated by a template, which has been proposed for deletion. ... April 7 is the 97th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (98th in leap years). ... 1997 (MCMXCVII in Roman) is a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... In computer engineering the kernel is the core of an operating system. ... Something that is monolithic is something created in one piece, resembling a monolith such as an obelisk. ... The user interface is the part of a system exposed to users. ... A software license is a type of proprietary or gratuitous license as well as a memorandum of contract between a producer and a user of computer software — sometimes called an End User License Agreement (EULA) — that specifies the perimeters of the permission granted by the owner to the user. ... A software license is a type of proprietary or gratiuitious license as well as a memorandum of contract between a producer and a user of computer software — sometimes called an End User License Agreement (EULA) — that specifies the perimeters of the permission granted by the owner to the user. ... The front page of the English Wikipedia Website. ... Mac OS, which stands for Macintosh Operating System, is a range of graphical user interface-based operating systems developed by Apple Computer for their Macintosh computers. ... The first Macintosh computer, introduced in 1984, upgraded to 512KB. The Macintosh, or Mac, line of personal computers is designed, developed, manufactured, and marketed by Apple Computer. ... The 1990s decade refers to the years from 1990 to 1999, inclusive. ... 1997 (MCMXCVII in Roman) is a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... System 6 was the name of a version of Mac OS, the operating system of the Apple Macintosh computer, which was used in the late 1980s prior to the introduction of System 7. ... In computing, cooperative multitasking (or non-preemptive multitasking) is a form of multitasking in which multiple tasks execute by voluntarily ceding control to other tasks at programmer-defined points within each task. ... The memory pages of the virtual address space seen by the process, may reside non-contiguously in primary, or even secondary storage. ... File sharing is the activity of making files available to other users for download over the Internet, but also over smaller networks. ... QuickTime is a multimedia technology developed by Apple Computer, capable of handling various formats of digital video, sound, text, animation, music, and immersive panoramic (and sphere panoramic) images. ... QuickDraw 3D, or QD3D for short, is a 3D graphics API developed by Apple Computer, originally for their Macintosh computers, but delivered as a cross-platform system. ... May 13 is the 133rd day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (134th in leap years). ... 1991 (MCMXCI) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... On January 24th, 1984 Apple Computer introduced the Apple Macintosh personal computer, with the Macintosh 128K model, which came bundled with the Mac OS operating system, then known as the System Software. ...

Features

Macintosh System 7 boxes

Compared with System 6, System 7 offered: Macintosh System 7 This is a copyrighted image that has been released by a company or organisation to promote their works in the media. ... Macintosh System 7 This is a copyrighted image that has been released by a company or organisation to promote their works in the media. ... System 6 was the name of a version of Mac OS, the operating system of the Apple Macintosh computer, which was used in the late 1980s prior to the introduction of System 7. ...

• Built-in co-operative multitasking. In System 6, this function was optional through the MultiFinder.
• Trash was now a formal directory, allowing items to be preserved between reboots instead of being purged.
• Personal File Sharing. Along with various UI improvements for AppleTalk setup, System 7 also included a basic file sharing server allowing any machine to publish folders to the AppleTalk network.
• Aliases. An alias is a small file that represents another object in the file system. A typical alias is small, between 1 and 5 KB. It acts as a redirect to any object in the file system, such as a document, an application, a folder, a hard disk, a network share or removable medium or a printer. When double-clicked, the computer will act the same way as if the original file had been double-clicked. Likewise, choosing an alias file from within an "Open" dialog box would open the original file. (Unlike the path-base approach of Microsoft Windows 95, aliases also store a reference to the file's catalog entry, so they continue work even if the file is moved or renamed. Aliases can be best described as a cross between a hard link and a symbolic link on Unix-based systems, including Mac OS X.)
• "System Extensions" (small pieces of code that extended the system's functionality) were improved by relocating them to their own subfolder (rather than in the System Folder itself as on earlier versions), and by allowing the user to hold down the shift key during bootup to disable them. Later versions of System 7 offered a feature called "Extensions Manager" which simplified the process of enabling/disabling individual extensions. Extensions were often a source of instability and these changes made them more manageable and assisted trouble-shooting.
• The Control Panel Desk Accessory became the Control Panels folder (found in the System Folder, and accessible to the user from an alias in the Apple menu). The control panels themselves became separate files, stored within this directory.
• The Apple menu (previously home only to Desk Accessories pulled from 'DRVR' resources in the System file) now listed the contents of a folder ("Apple Menu Items"), including aliases. Desk Accessories had originally been intended to provide a form of multitasking and were no longer necessary now that real multitasking was always enabled. The Desk Accessory technology was deprecated, with System 7 treating them largely the same as other applications. Desk Accessories now run in their own address space rather than borrowing that of a host application.
• The Application menu, a list of running applications formerly at the bottom of the Apple menu under MultiFinder, became its own menu on the right. In addition, Unhide/Hide functionality was introduced, allowing the user to hide applications from view while still keeping them running.
• Balloon Help, a widget-identification system similar to tool tips.
• AppleScript, a scripting language for automating tasks. While fairly complex for application programmers to implement support for it, this feature was powerful and popular with users, and a version of it is still available to this day as part of Mac OS X.
• AppleEvents. Supporting AppleScript was a new model for "high-level" events to be sent into applications, along with support to allow this to take place over the AppleTalk network.
• 32-bit QuickDraw, supporting so-called "true color" imaging was included as standard; it was previously available as a system extension. QuickDraw was used in Mac OS for fast on-screen drawing.
• Quickdraw GX was a 2D graphics rendering and geometry engine.
• Publish and Subscribe. This feature permitted data "published" by one application to be imported ("subscribed") by another, and the data could be updated dynamically. Programmers complained that the API was unwieldy, and relatively few applications ended up adopting it.
• TrueType fonts were integrated into the operating system. Although it was initially available as an INIT for System 6.0.7, this change essentially guaranteed widespread availability of the technology.
• A new full-color user interface. Although this feature made for a visually appealing interface, it was optional. On machines not capable of displaying color, or those with their display preferences set to monochrome, the interface defaulted back to the black-and-white of previous versions. Only some widgets were colorized — scrollbars, for instance, had a new look, but buttons remained in black-and-white.
• A new Sound Manager API, version 3.0, replaced the older ad hoc APIs. The new APIs featured significantly improved hardware abstraction, as well as higher-quality playback. Although technically not a new feature for System 7 (these features were available for System 6.0.7), Sound Manager 3.0 was the first widespread implementation of this technology to make it to most Mac users.
• System 7 paved the way for a full 32-bit address space, from the previous 24-bit address space. This process involved making all of the routines in OS code use the full 32-bits of a pointer as an address — prior systems used the upper bits as flags. This change was known as being "32-bit clean". While System 7 itself was 32-bit clean, many existing machines and thousands of applications were not, so it was some time before the process was completed. To ease the transition, the "Memory" control panel contained a switch to disable this feature, allowing for compatibility with older applications.

It has been suggested that this article or section be merged into Computer_multitasking#Cooperative_multitasking. ... MultiFinder was the name of a piece of extension software for the Apple Macintosh introduced in System 5 and featured in System 6. ... File sharing is the activity of making files available to other users for download over the Internet, but also over smaller networks. ... The user interface is the part of a system exposed to users. ... AppleTalk is a suite of protocols developed by Apple Computer for computer networking. ... AppleTalk is a suite of protocols developed by Apple Computer for computer networking. ... In System 7 and later, an alias is a small file that represents another object in the file system. ... In computing, a file system is a method for storing and organizing computer files and the data they contain to make it easy to find and access them. ... Look up Redirect on Wiktionary, the free dictionary Redirect can refer to a number of things: In law, a redirect is the reexamination of a witness by the lawyer who originally called them to testify -- that is, the one who delivered the direct examination. ... For the R.E.M. album, see: Document (album) A document is a writing that contains information. ... Application software is a loosely defined subclass of computer software that employs the capabilities of a computer directly to a task that the user wishes to perform. ... A Folder is a machine that is used for folding. ... Typical hard drives of the mid-1990s. ... A network share is a location on a computer network, typically allowing multiple computer users on the same network to have a centralized space on which to store files (i. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... Double click may refer to Double click, an action performed with a computer mouse or touchpad. ... Dialog boxes are special windows which are used by computer programs or by the operating system to display information to the user, or to get a response if needed. ... Microsoft Windows is a series of popular proprietary operating environments and operating systems created by Microsoft for use on personal computers and servers. ... Windows 95 (codename Chicago) is a hybrid 16-bit/32-bit graphical user interface-based operating system released on August 24, 1995 by the Microsoft Corporation. ... In computing, a hard link is a reference, or pointer, to the physical data on a volume. ... A symbolic link (often symlink, especially in verb form, or soft link) is a special type of directory entry in modern Unix (or Unix-like) filesystems that allows almost transparent references to another directory entry, typically a file or a directory. ... Wikibooks has more about this subject: Guide to UNIX Unix or UNIX is a computer operating system originally developed in the 1960s and 1970s by a group of AT&T Bell Labs employees including Ken Thompson, Dennis Ritchie, and Douglas McIlroy. ... Mac OS X is an operating system developed and sold by Apple Computer which is included with all currently shipping Apple Macintosh computers. ... Extension (Mac OS) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia /**/ @import /skins-1. ... The System Folders icon The System Folder is the directory in classic versions of Mac OS (those prior to OS X) that holds various files required for the system to operate, such as fonts, system extensions, control panels, and preferences. ... Categories: Technology stubs | Technology ... Early Macintosh Desk Accessories In the operating system for the Apple Macintosh computer, a Desk Accessory (DA) was a piece of software, originally written as a device driver, conforming to a particular programming model. ... In the operating system for the Apple Macintosh computer, a Desk Accessory (DA) was a piece of software conforming to a particular programming model. ... Balloon help was a tooltips-type help system introduced by Apple Computer in their System 7 operating system release. ... AppleScript is a scripting language devised by Apple Computer, and built into Mac OS. More generally, AppleScript is the word used to designate the Mac OS scripting interface, which is meant to operate in parallel with the graphical user interface. ... Scripting languages (commonly called scripting programming languages or script languages) are computer programming languages initially designed for scripting the operations of a computer. ... Mac OS X is an operating system developed and sold by Apple Computer which is included with all currently shipping Apple Macintosh computers. ... Apple Events are the canonical high-level interprocess communication mechanism in Mac OS, first appearing in System 7 and supported by every version since then, including Mac OS X. The starting point is a dynamically-typed, extensible descriptor format called an AEDesc, which is just an OSType code specifying the... AppleTalk is a suite of protocols developed by Apple Computer for computer networking. ... Two quickdraws. ... Mac OS, which stands for Macintosh Operating System, is a range of graphical user interface-based operating systems developed by Apple Computer for their Macintosh computers. ... QuickDraw GX was a replacement for the QuickDraw graphics engine and Printing Manager, initially released in about January 1995. ... Publish and Subscribe was a document linking model introduced by Apple Computer in System 7. ... Data is the plural of datum. ... API may refer to: In computing, application programming interface In petroleum industry, American Petroleum Institute In education, Academic Performance Index This page concerning a three-letter acronym or abbreviation is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ... TrueType is an outline font standard originally developed by Apple Computer in the late 1980s as a competitor to Adobes Type 1 fonts used in PostScript. ... init is the program on Unix and Unix-like systems which spawns all other processes. ... The user interface is the part of a system exposed to users. ... An application programming interface (API) is the interface that a computer system, library or application provides in order to allow requests for service to be made of it by other computer programs, and/or to allow data to be exchanged between them. ... Ad hoc is a Latin phrase which means for this [purpose]. It generally signifies a solution that has been tailored to a specific purpose, such as a tailor-made suit, a handcrafted network protocol, and specific-purpose equation and things like that. ... Hardware abstractions are sets of routines in software that emulate some platform-specific details, giving programs direct access to the hardware resources. ... In computer science, a pointer is a programming language datatype whose value refers directly to (points to) another value stored elsewhere in the computer memory using its address. ...

Software

System 7 was the first version of the Mac OS that required a hard drive for installation as a full installation was too large to fit on the capacity of a 1.44 MB floppy disk. It did not come bundled with major software packages itself, but newly purchased Apple Macintosh computers often included bundled software such as Millie's Math House, Power Pete, HyperCard and ClarisWorks. PowerPC Macintoshes included Graphing Calculator, previously not available in System 6. System 7 also included networking and file sharing software in the form of system extensions and control panels. Typical hard drives of the mid-1990s. ... A floppy disk is a data storage device that is composed of a ring of thin, flexible (i. ... The first Macintosh computer, introduced in 1984, upgraded to 512KB. The Macintosh, or Mac, line of personal computers is designed, developed, manufactured, and marketed by Apple Computer. ... Power Pete is a computer game developed by Pangea Software and published by the Interplay Entertainment Corporation under the MacPlay brand name. ... HyperCard HyperCard is an application program and a simple programming environment produced by Apple Computer which runs natively only in Mac OS versions 9 or earlier (it can still be used in Mac OS Xs Classic mode). ... Apple Works 6 Starting Points Window AppleWorks is an office suite of software applications sold by Apple Computer. ... PowerPC is a RISC microprocessor architecture created by the 1991 Apple-IBM-Motorola alliance, known as AIM. Originally intended for personal computers, PowerPC CPUs have since become popular embedded and high-performance processors as well. ... A graphing calculator is a special kind of scientific/engineering calculator that is able to display and/or analyze mathematical function graphs. ... System 6 was the name of a version of Mac OS, the operating system of the Apple Macintosh computer, which was used in the late 1980s prior to the introduction of System 7. ...

The basic utilities that came as default with a System 7 installation included SimpleText for basic text editing tasks and reading Readme documents. Also additionally available on an additional "Disk Tools" floppy disk are Disk First Aid for disk optimization and repairing tasks and Apple HD SC Setup for initializing and partitioning disks. SimpleText is the native text editor for classic Macintosh Operating System. ... A readme (or read me) file contains information about other files in a directory and is very commonly distributed with computer software. ... A floppy disk is a data storage device that is composed of a ring of thin, flexible (i. ... Disk First Aid on Mac OS 9 Disk First Aid is a software utility made by Apple Computer, bundled with the Mac OS, which verifies and repairs the directory structure of any HFS or HFS+ hard disk or volume. ... Apple HD SC Setup is a small software utility that is bundled with various versions of the Mac OS made by Apple Computer. ...

Later versions of System 7, specifically System 7.5 and 7.6, come with a dedicated "Utilities" folder and "Apple Extras" folder including: AppleScript, Disk Copy, QuickDraw GX Extras and QuickTime Movie Player. More extras and utilities are available on the System Software disc to optionally install manually. AppleScript is a scripting language devised by Apple Computer, and built into Mac OS. More generally, AppleScript is the word used to designate the Mac OS scripting interface, which is meant to operate in parallel with the graphical user interface. ... Disk Utility application icon Disk Utility is the name of a utility for performing disk-related tasks in Mac OS X. These tasks include: the creation of disk images; mounting, unmounting, and ejecting disks (including both hard disks, removable media and disk images); enabling or disabling journaling; verifying a disk... Two quickdraws. ... QuickTime is a multimedia technology developed by Apple Computer, capable of handling various formats of digital video, sound, text, animation, music, and immersive panoramic (and sphere panoramic) images. ...

Third-party software

When Apple moved to the PowerPC processor, 68k applications were emulated on the new processor, while fat binaries allowed software to run natively on both 68k and PowerPC systems, similar to the Universal Binaries for the current PowerPC to Intel transition happening as of 2005. See also: Mac 68K emulator. PowerPC is a RISC microprocessor architecture created by the 1991 Apple-IBM-Motorola alliance, known as AIM. Originally intended for personal computers, PowerPC CPUs have since become popular embedded and high-performance processors as well. ... This article is about emulation in computer science. ... A universal binary is an executable file that runs natively on both PowerPC- and Intel-based Macintosh computers, which was first introduced in WWDC 2005 to ease the transition from the former architecture to the latter in 2006 and 2007. ... PowerPC is a RISC microprocessor architecture created by the 1991 Apple-IBM-Motorola alliance, known as AIM. Originally intended for personal computers, PowerPC CPUs have since become popular embedded and high-performance processors as well. ... Intel Corporation (NASDAQ: INTC, SEHK: 4335), founded in 1968 as Integrated Electronics Corporation, is a U.S.-based multinational corporation that is best known for designing and manufacturing microprocessors and specialized integrated circuits. ... The Mac 68K emulator was a software emulator built into all versions of the Mac OS for PowerPC. This emulator permitted the running of applications and system code that were originally written for the 680x0 based Macintosh models. ...

With support for color displays, shareware developers also started to develop more realistic arcade games for the Macintosh such as Pac-man clones and later first-person shooters such as Tomb Raider and Marathon. Although 3D rendering technology was not available as a standard system feature until the introduction of QuickDraw 3D, many of the most innovative titles of the time were produced for System 7, using their own 3D engines. Pac-Man is an arcade game developed by Namco and licensed for distribution by Midway Games in 1979. ... Doom, one of the games that defined the first-person shooter genre. ... Tomb Raider is a video game developed by Core Design and published by Eidos Interactive. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... QuickDraw 3D, or QD3D for short, is a 3D graphics API developed by Apple Computer, originally for their Macintosh computers, but delivered as a cross-platform system. ...

Microsoft Windows Compatibility

System 7.5 and up could access MS-DOS (FAT) formatted CDs and floppies with a control panel called PC Exchange, which was bundled freely with 7.5. Versions earlier than 7.5 could not access DOS disks, except for System 7.1 Pro, which included PC Exchange, AppleScript, and a few other extra features for an additional charge. Microsofts disk operating system, MS-DOS, was Microsofts implementation of DOS, which was the first popular operating system for the IBM PC, and until recently, was widely used on the PC compatible platform. ... This article is in need of attention from an expert on the subject. ... Categories: Technology stubs | Technology ... PC Exchange was a Macintosh capatibilty utility, that let you use MS-DOS-format disks on a Macintosh. ... AppleScript is a scripting language devised by Apple Computer, and built into Mac OS. More generally, AppleScript is the word used to designate the Mac OS scripting interface, which is meant to operate in parallel with the graphical user interface. ...

Miscellaneous Info

At the time of its release, many users noticed that performance suffered as a result of upgrading from System 6 to System 7, though newer hardware soon made up for the speed differential. Another problem was System 7's large "memory footprint": System 6 could run on a single floppy disk and took up about 600 KB of RAM, whereas System 7 used well over a megabyte, and could no longer be usefully run from floppy-only machines. (Versions up to 7.5 could boot from a floppy, but there would be no room for other applications, although it was possible to access an AFP server on an AppleTalk network.) It was some time before the average Mac shipped with enough RAM built in for System 7 to be truly comfortable. Offsetting this was the inclusion of a hard disk as standard in most Mac models; only the long-lived Mac Plus did not ship with one. System 6 was the name of a version of Mac OS, the operating system of the Apple Macintosh computer, which was used in the late 1980s prior to the introduction of System 7. ... A floppy disk is a data storage device that is composed of a ring of thin, flexible (i. ... A kilobyte (derived from the SI prefix kilo-, meaning 1000) is a unit of information or computer storage equal to either 1024 or 1000 bytes. ... Sharma Ram (disambiguation) Ram Sharma is an amazing, talented teenager that lives in Canada His talents include rapping, comedy, and cooking He is bound to success! ... A megabyte is a unit of information or computer storage equal to approximately one million bytes. ... The Apple Filing Protocol (AFP) is a network protocol that offers file services for Mac OS X and Classic Mac OS. In Mac OS X, AFP is one of several file services supported including CIFS/SMB, NFS, FTP, and WebDAV. It currently supports Unicode file names, POSIX and Access Control... The Macintosh Plus computer was introduced two years after the original Macintosh. ...

System 7.0 was adopted quite rapidly by Mac users, and quickly became one of the base requirements for new software. Until the advent of OS X, System 7 was by far the largest shake-up and revamp of the Mac OS since its inception. Mac OS X is an operating system developed and sold by Apple Computer which is included with all currently shipping Apple Macintosh computers. ...

The engineering group within Apple responsible for System 7 came to be known as the "Blue Meanies", named after the blue index cards on which were written the features that could be implemented in a relatively short time. In comparison, the pink index card features were handled by the Pink group, later becoming the ill-fated Taligent project. The Blue Meanies of Apple Computer was an engineering group primarily responsible for the architecture of System 7 during the early 1990s. ... An index card is a piece of heavy paper stock, cut to a standard size and often used for recording individual items of information that can then be easily rearranged and filed. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ...

Eep is an onomatopoeia sound most commonly associated with the Apple Macintosh computer system alert sound "Wild Eep" which was introduced with the System 7 Mac OS, but removed in OS 9. According to Jim Reekes [1] (who was on the Mac OS sound development team at the time), to the best of his knowledge: Look up onomatopoeia in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... A schematic representation of hearing. ... The first Macintosh computer, introduced in 1984, upgraded to 512KB. The Macintosh, or Mac, line of personal computers is designed, developed, manufactured, and marketed by Apple Computer. ... A computer is a machine for manipulating data according to a list of instructions - a program. ... Macintosh, also known as Mac, is a family of personal computers manufactured by Apple Computer, Inc. ... Look up Os on Wiktionary, the free dictionary Cest de la grosse merdasse en boite qui pue du cul!!!!! tas de cons fredhoulmette tu pue caca Os or OS may refer to: The os is each end of the cervix, internal (to the uterus) and external (to the vagina...

"When System 7 was being created, I collected new sounds. Some of them I made, and some of them I took from a contest. (Chris "CK" Haun, in charge of Apple's Developer group), submitted one which I think was Wild Eep. It was voted one of the keepers, and we gave him a CD ROM drive.

From what I can recall, he told me it wasn't actually submitted by him but by someone else. So he came to me one day telling me it was actually used for some game and was recorded by his wife imitating a monkey. We named it Wild Eep in the meeting when we voted on keeping it. Cynomolgus Monkey at Batu Caves, Malaysia Monkeys, Mori Sosen (1749-1821) A monkey is any member of two of the three groupings of simian primates. ...

That's the best I can recall, as this was over ten years ago."

Version History

Soon after the initial release of System 7, the 7.0.1 minor update was released in October 1991. A patch, called "System 7 Tune-Up" also followed, which fixed the "disappearing files" bug in which the system would lose files. See TidBITS #120 [2]. In August 1992, the 7.1 update was released which introduced the Fonts folder, allowing users to organize their fonts in the Finder, this replaced the Font/DA Mover application used in System 6. Quadra 800 Quadra was the name used by Apple Computer for most of its Macintosh computers built around the Motorola 68040 CPU. The product manager for the Quadra family was Frank Casanova who was also the Product Manager for the Macintosh IIfx. ... The PowerBook is a laptop computer line manufactured by Apple Computer; a portable version of the Macintosh aimed at the professional market. ... A Macintosh Performa in the form of an All-In-One desktop similar to the iMac. ... Powerbook Duo 280c The PowerBook Duo was a small yet powerful laptop from Apple Computer. ... The PowerBook is a laptop computer line manufactured by Apple Computer; a portable version of the Macintosh aimed at the professional market. ... An Apple Power Macintosh 6100/60 (1994) The Power Macintosh 6100 was Apple Computers first computer to use the new PowerPC RISC type processor co-created by IBM and Motorola. ... A Macintosh Performa in the form of an All-In-One desktop similar to the iMac. ... TidBITS is an award-winning electronic newsletter and web site dealing primarily with Apple Computer and Macintosh-related topics. ...

The first major upgrade was System 7.1.1, also known as System 7 Pro. This release was a bundle of 7.1 with AppleScript tools, QuickTime and Apple Open Collaboration Environment (AOCE). While System 7 had troubles running in slightly older machines due to memory footprint, System 7 Pro barely fitted into any Macintosh computers at the time. It was most commonly used for its minor bug fixes rather than its new functionality. QuickTime is a multimedia technology developed by Apple Computer, capable of handling various formats of digital video, sound, text, animation, music, and immersive panoramic (and sphere panoramic) images. ... Apple Open Collaboration Environment, or AOCE (sometimes OCE), was a collection of messaging-related technologies introduced for the Mac OS in the early 1990s. ...

Apple joined the AIM alliance (Apple, IBM and Motorola) shortly after the release of System 7 in 1991, and started work on PowerPC-based machines that later became the Power Macintosh family. Support for these machines resulted in System 7.1.2,. AIM was an alliance formed in 1991 between Apple Computer, IBM and Motorola to create a new computing standard based on the PowerPC architecture. ... PowerPC is a RISC microprocessor architecture created by the 1991 Apple-IBM-Motorola alliance, known as AIM. Originally intended for personal computers, PowerPC CPUs have since become popular embedded and high-performance processors as well. ... Power Macintosh, or Power Mac, is the name of a line of Apple Macintosh personal computers based on various models of PowerPC microprocessors. ...

This was followed quickly with System 7.1.3, primarily a bug-fix release.

System 7.1.2 for PowerPC Macs should not be confused with the last iteration of 7.1 for 68K Macs, called System 7.1.2P. This version added IDE drive support, and "Performa" features "Launcher," "Control Strip," and others that were later included with System 7.5. This is the last version of the Mac OS to ship with purely 68K code, later versions shipped as "FAT," with both 68K and PowerPC code in the binaries.

System 7.1.2 was never offered for retail sale: it shipped with the first batches of the 68LC040/68040 based 630 series (LC630, Performa 630, Quadra 630) Macs. Later shipments of the 630 series shipped with Mac OS 7.5 instead.

The next major release was System 7.5, which included bug fixes from previous updates and added several new features including:

• an updated startup screen featuring a progress bar
• a new interactive help system called Apple Guide
• a clock in the menu bar (this was based on the free "SuperClock" control panel by Steve Christensen)
• an Apple menu item called Stickies (formerly a third-party application called "PasteIt Notes") which provided virtual Post-It Notes
• WindowShade (another former shareware control panel which provided the ability to condense a window down to its title bar)
• the Control Strip (a fast way to change the system volume, control the Apple Audio CD player, manage file sharing and printers and change the monitor resolution and color depth)
• the Extensions Manager (enabled the user to turn extensions and control panels on and off. Also based on a formerly third party control panel.)
• PowerTalk, the predecessor to Mac OS X's Keychain system and also a system-level system for handling email
• the Launcher, a special Finder window containing shortcut buttons for frequently-used programs (in a manner somewhat akin to the Dock of Mac OS X)
• a hierarchal Apple menu. Folders within the Apple Menu Items folder would expand into submenus showing their contents.
• systemwide Drag & Drop for text and other data. Selections could be simply dragged with the mouse and dropped to their new destination, bypassing the clipboard.
• the Finder was made scriptable with the AppleScript language.

System 7.5.1 was primarily a bug fix on 7.5, but also introduced a new "Mac OS" startup screen in preparation for Mac clones. Apple Guide was Apple Computers online help and documentation system, added to the Mac OS in System 7. ... Screenshot of Stickies from Mac OS X Stickies is a Macintosh application for putting Post-it note-like windows on the screen, with short reminders, notes and other clippings. ... A pad of fan-folded Post-it pop-up notes, shown still glued together A Post-it note (or just Post-it), manufactured by 3M, is a piece of stationery with a readherable strip of adhesive on the back, designed for temporarily attaching notes to documents, computer displays and so... Apple Open Collaboration Environment, or AOCE (sometimes OCE), was a collection of messaging-related technologies introduced for the Mac OS in the early 1990s. ... Mac OS X is an operating system developed and sold by Apple Computer which is included with all currently shipping Apple Macintosh computers. ... A keychain is a small chain, usually made from metal or plastic, that connects a small item to a keyring. ... Mac OS X Dock Window Maker dock, similar to the NeXTSTEP dock The Dock is a graphical user interface feature first introduced in the NeXTSTEP and OPENSTEP operating systems, and radically changed and refined in Mac OS X, where it has gained the behaviour of Newtons Newton OS Dock. ...

System 7.5.2, released only for the first PCI-based Power Macs, was notable for introducing Apple's new networking architecture, OpenTransport. 32-bit PCI expansion slots on a motherboard 64-bit PCI expansion slots inside a Power Macintosh G4 The Peripheral Component Interconnect standard (in practice almost always shortened to PCI) specifies a computer bus for attaching peripheral devices to a computer motherboard. ... OpenTransport was the name given by Apple Computer to their implementation of the Unix-originated SysV Streams. ...

Minor versions followed up to System 7.5.5.

Mac OS 7.6 was the last major update, released in 1997. With 7.6, the operating system was officially called "Mac OS" instead of "System". Mac OS 7.6 introduced several features that were also included in Mac OS 8 including a revamped Extensions Manager, more native PowerPC code for PowerMacs, more bundled internet tools and utilities, an overall more stable Finder. In this version, the PowerTalk feature added in 7.5 was removed due to poor application support. Mac OS 8 is a series of versions of the Mac OS that, although they introduced few remarkable new user features, supported a transition through major changes in the Apple Macintosh hardware platform. ...

Through this period Apple had been attempting to release a completely new "modern" operating system, named Copland. When the Copland project was abandoned in 1996, Apple announced plans to release an OS update every six months until Rhapsody (which would later evolve into OS X) shipped. Two more releases were shipped, now officially branded as the "Mac OS" — Mac OS 7.6, and the minor bug fix 7.6.1. Future versions were released as Mac OS 8 and Mac OS 9. Copland was a project at Apple Computer to create an updated version of the Macintosh operating system. ... 1996 (MCMXCVI) was a leap year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International Year for the Eradication of Poverty. ... a desktop showing a QuickTime movie and a drawing application Rhapsody was the code name given to Apple Computers next-generation operating system during the period of its development between Apples purchase of NeXT in late 1996 and the announcement of Mac OS X in 1998. ... Mac OS X is an operating system developed and sold by Apple Computer which is included with all currently shipping Apple Macintosh computers. ... Mac OS 8 is a series of versions of the Mac OS that, although they introduced few remarkable new user features, supported a transition through major changes in the Apple Macintosh hardware platform. ... Mac OS 9 was the last version of what has since become known as the classic Macintosh Operating System (Mac OS), introduced by Apple Computer on October 23rd, 1999. ...

Available Versions

Apple created and published an "Older Software Downloads" webpage on their AppleCare Support website on July 17, 2001. Since then diskette images to install System 7.0, System 7.0.1, and System 7.5.3 as well as the System 7.5.5 Update have been available as free downloads for legacy Macintosh users and those who want to emulate the older Mac OS. In addition to System 7 related downloads are also At Ease downloads and Mac OS 8 updates. All of the diskette image files are in MacBinary format and are accompanied by a descriptive .txt file. July 17 is the 198th day (199th in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian calendar, with 167 days remaining. ... 2001: A Space Odyssey. ... At Ease was an alternative to the Macintosh desktop developed by Apple Computer in the early 1990s. ... Mac OS 8 is a series of versions of the Mac OS that, although they introduced few remarkable new user features, supported a transition through major changes in the Apple Macintosh hardware platform. ... Due to the Mac OS forked file structure, transferring Mac OS files to non-Macintosh computers is problematic. ...

Mac OS 7.5.3 and the 7.5.5 (US English) update can be downloaded for free: http://download.info.apple.com/Apple_Support_Area/Apple_Software_Updates/English-North_American/Macintosh/System/.

Other lauguages and English versions can be found at:http://download.info.apple.com/Apple_Support_Area/Apple_Software_Updates/.

See also

• Mac OS
• Mac OS history
• Mac OS 9
• A/UX
• List of Macintosh software
• Inside Macintosh
• System 6
• Macintosh
• Macintosh Finder

Mac OS, which stands for Macintosh Operating System, is a range of graphical user interface-based operating systems developed by Apple Computer for their Macintosh computers. ... On January 24th, 1984 Apple Computer introduced the Apple Macintosh personal computer, with the Macintosh 128K model, which came bundled with the Mac OS operating system, then known as the System Software. ... Mac OS 9 was the last version of what has since become known as the classic Macintosh Operating System (Mac OS), introduced by Apple Computer on October 23rd, 1999. ... A/UX (from Apple Unix) is Apple Computers implementation of the Unix operating system for some of their Macintosh computers. ... // This list of Macintosh software shows prominent Mac OS computer programs. ... Inside Macintosh is the name of the developer documentation manuals published by Apple Computer, the APIs and machine architecture of the Macintosh computer. ... System 6 was the name of a version of Mac OS, the operating system of the Apple Macintosh computer, which was used in the late 1980s prior to the introduction of System 7. ... The first Macintosh computer, introduced in 1984, upgraded to 512KB. The Macintosh, or Mac, line of personal computers is designed, developed, manufactured, and marketed by Apple Computer. ... The Finder is the default application program used on the Mac OS and Mac OS X operating systems that is responsible for the overall user-management of files, disks, network volumes and the launching of other applications. ...

References

• Harry McQuillen, 10 Minute Guide to System 7 (1991), ISBN 0672300338
• Stuple, S.J., Macintosh System 7.5 For Dummies Quick Reference (1994), ISBN 1568849567
• Bob Levitus, Macintosh System 7.5 for Dummies (November, 1994), ISBN 1568841973

External links

• System 7 Today
• Online System 7 Emulation
• System 7 Add-ons
• Installing Appearance Manager on System 7
• The Compact Mac Trio: System 6 or 7?
• System 7 Manuals from Apple
• System 7.0 and System 7.0.1 downloads from Apple
• System 7.5.3 download from Apple
• System 7.5.5 update download from Apple