ephraim@think.COM (Ephraim Vishniac) (03/08/89)
Yesterday, I asked about cheap spreadsheets to replace Multiplan. The returns are already in. Everyone who'd heard of MacCalc ($79 at MacConnection) said it's a better spreadsheet than Multiplan was. For a full review, one respondent directed me to the April 1989 MacUser (now on your newstand) for a comparative review of half a dozen commercial spreadsheets. Two left-coasters pointed out that there's a shareware spreadsheet comparable to MultiPlan. BiPlane comes as both an application and a DA, has many of the same functions as Multiplan and reads SYLK files. The shareware terms allow a 30-day free trial, then it's $40. (You can, of course, pay up sooner if you want to get the complete manual. The documentation supplied is very sparse.) BiPlane is available on disks from both BCS and BMUG or by downloading from Compu$erve and GEnie. One of my officemates has the complete BCS disks, so I had a copy instantly available. To salvage my Multiplan files, I booted with the oldest system I could find (system 3.2, finder 5.3, conveniently located on my original Multiplan disk) and saved my spreadsheets in SYLK format. BiPlane read them without sneezing. Some formatting information was lost, but the data and formulas seem to be OK. I also did some investigation into what's wrong with Multiplan. I think the problem is that it's bashing low memory, specifically the notorious $02B6. Alas, the popular patch ($02B6 -> $0A78) can't be used because the ApplScratch area at $0A78 is already used. So far as I can see, all twenty bytes of ApplScratch are used. This leaves Multiplan needing a low-memory long somewhere. Any ideas, hackers? Ephraim Vishniac / Internet: ephraim@think.com / AppleLink: ThinkingCorp Thinking Machines Corporation / 245 First Street / Cambridge, MA 02142-1214 "Arlo Guthrie, it seems, has found what he was looking for: God, and the Macintosh." (Boston Globe)
bayes@hpfcdc.HP.COM (Scott Bayes) (03/09/89)
MultiPlan works just fine on my SE running the latest System/Finder (not MF). I have 1 MB, 20MB disk, INITs are (from memory): SoundMaster, Moire, SuperClock, Font/DA Juggler, Virus Rx. No problems whatever. I print only to an IW II. I have a bazillion fonts and DAs open under F/DA juggler. What kind of problems are you seeing? Scott Bayes
davidl@intelob.intel.com (David Levine) (03/15/89)
Quote without comment:
"According to Chris Espinoza, advanced technology marketing manager,
five-year old Macintosh applications software not only still operates
on the newest Mac system, but also takes advantage of its enhanced
memory, 68030 processor and large-screen displays. The Macintosh
software automatically adjusts applications to the new enchanced Mac
II environment.
"As a demonstration, Espinoza took his own copy of Microsoft MultiPlan
(purchased in spring 1984) and slid it into the new IIcx. The
spreadsheet opened to the full megapixel limit of the attached Mac
page display and allowed full spreadsheet access to the Mac IIcx's 4
Mbytes of system RAM.
"`That's our design philosophy here at Apple,' said Espinoza. And
while he won't guarantee that every Mac software vendor wrote code as
cleanly as Microsoft [sic], he points out that this kind of
compatibility is [not] available with the competing 386 PC systems."
Excerpted from "Mac IIcx: Smaller size, smaller price", EE Times,
March 13, 1989, page 14. Presumably the IIcx was running System
6.0.3.
David D. Levine BBBBBBBBB IIII IIII NNN NNNN TM
Senior Technical Writer BBBB BBBB iiii iiii NNNN NNNN
BBBBBBBBB IIII IIII NNNNNNNNN
UUCP: ...[!uunet]!tektronix!biin!davidl BBBB BBBB IIII IIII NNNN NNNN
MX-Internet: <davidl@intelob.intel.com> BBBBBBBBB IIII IIII NNNN NNN
ARPA: <@iwarp.intel.com:davidl@intelob.intel.com>ephraim@think.COM (Ephraim Vishniac) (03/17/89)
In article <DAVIDL.89Mar15090405@intelob.intel.com> davidl@intelob.intel.com (David Levine) writes: >Quote without comment: >"According to Chris Espinoza, advanced technology marketing manager, >five-year old Macintosh applications software not only still operates >on the newest Mac system, but also takes advantage of its enhanced >memory, 68030 processor and large-screen displays. The Macintosh >software automatically adjusts applications to the new enchanced Mac >II environment. >"As a demonstration, Espinoza took his own copy of Microsoft MultiPlan >(purchased in spring 1984) and slid it into the new IIcx. The >spreadsheet opened to the full megapixel limit of the attached Mac >page display and allowed full spreadsheet access to the Mac IIcx's 4 >Mbytes of system RAM. Well, here are *my* comments. I don't believe this for several reasons. 1. The version of Multiplan distributed in 1984 was copy- protected. I'd be amazed if the copy-protection scheme still worked. 2. As part of the copy-protection, Multiplan would eject the startup volume (if it wasn't the key), then ask for the key disk in the interal floppy drive. The stupidity of this became evident when you ran Multiplan from your hard disk or ramdisk. 3. If you call MS Tech Support on the telephone and ask them about compatibility, they will tell you that Multiplan works under System 4.1 and earlier. Not 6.0.2. 4. When I start Multiplan 1.11 on my Mac II by double- clicking a document, I get a bomb 01. If I open the application first, then the document, I can't enter certain formulas without getting a bomb. But I'm open-minded. When I get home tonight, I'll go through my files and find my oldest Multiplan key disk (circa January 1985). Maybe it works better than the "current" version. Or maybe the demo was rigged... Ephraim Vishniac / Internet: ephraim@think.com / AppleLink: ThinkingCorp Thinking Machines Corporation / 245 First Street / Cambridge, MA 02142-1214 "Arlo Guthrie, it seems, has found what he was looking for: God, and the Macintosh." (Boston Globe)
bmug@garnet.berkeley.edu (BMUG) (03/17/89)
In article <37578@think.UUCP> ephraim@think.com (Ephraim Vishniac) writes: >In article <DAVIDL.89Mar15090405@intelob.intel.com> davidl@intelob.intel.com (David Levine) writes: (Espinosa story omitted) > >Well, here are *my* comments. I don't believe this for several >reasons. > > 1. The version of Multiplan distributed in 1984 was copy- > protected. I'd be amazed if the copy-protection scheme > still worked. > (other points omitted) > >But I'm open-minded. When I get home tonight, I'll go through my >files and find my oldest Multiplan key disk (circa January 1985). >Maybe it works better than the "current" version. Or maybe the demo >was rigged... > >Ephraim Vishniac / Internet: ephraim@think.com / AppleLink: ThinkingCorp >Thinking Machines Corporation / 245 First Street / Cambridge, MA 02142-1214 Well, one explanation for the success Mr. Espinosa had with his demo could be that the version of Multiplan he was using wasn't pure vanilla, in that the copy protection could have been patched with HD Util (from FWB Software) or the numerous other utilities which proliferated in the days when it was not uncommon to copy protect productivity software. Apple warned developers from early on that most copy protection schemes would almost certainly ensure that the software would break under future System/CPU releases, and sure enough, such came to pass in the intervening years. Perhaps somebody from Apple who's familiar with this demo could tell the truth of the tale. Junk for the benefit of the Pnews police: aslkdjfawoijq kljqjasdadflkv oiquwroijsdfkjjqroijdjasdlkqwoijasd klasdjf dkjqlwkjqrkljfelkjaejalajdfljlkekl klajdflkjqwekl adkljflkqwlk askldjfj aldkjflk akldjlqwoieu klqqjwerjfoij lqjf;lajsdlkfj l;ajflkjsdlkf John Heckendorn /\ BMUG ARPA: bmug@garnet.berkeley.EDU A__A 1442A Walnut St., #62 BITNET: bmug@ucbgarnet |()| Berkeley, CA 94709 | | (415) 549-2684 | |
ephraim@think.COM (Ephraim Vishniac) (03/17/89)
In article <37578@think.UUCP> ephraim@think.com (Ephraim Vishniac) writes: >In article <DAVIDL.89Mar15090405@intelob.intel.com> davidl@intelob.intel.com (David Levine) writes: >>Quote without comment: > >>"According to Chris Espinoza, advanced technology marketing manager, >>five-year old Macintosh applications software not only still operates... >>"As a demonstration, Espinoza took his own copy of Microsoft MultiPlan >>(purchased in spring 1984)... >Well, here are *my* comments. I don't believe this for several >reasons. [reasons cited include copy-protection, brain-damage, personal experience] >But I'm open-minded. When I get home tonight, I'll go through my >files and find my oldest Multiplan key disk (circa January 1985). >Maybe it works better than the "current" version. Or maybe the demo >was rigged... Well, figure this. I tried it and it worked. That is, Multiplan 1.02, dated May 1984, works smoothly on my two-monitor color Mac II with virtual memory under System 6.0.2. Multiplan 1.11 dies a horrible death and is useless. Maybe I should call MS Tech Support and point out this workaround for their compatibility problem! Do I need inews fodder? Are there enough follow-up lines? Maybe. Maybe not. I'll add more. OK? Ephraim Vishniac / Internet: ephraim@think.com / AppleLink: ThinkingCorp Thinking Machines Corporation / 245 First Street / Cambridge, MA 02142-1214 "Arlo Guthrie, it seems, has found what he was looking for: God, and the Macintosh." (Boston Globe)
jdevoto@Apple.COM (Jeanne A. E. DeVoto) (03/18/89)
In article <37578@think.UUCP> ephraim@think.com (Ephraim Vishniac) writes: [Chris Espinosa demoed a 1984 version of MultiPlan that still works on the IIcx.] [Ephraim doesn't believe it... > 1. The version of Multiplan distributed in 1984 was copy- > protected. I'd be amazed if the copy-protection scheme > still worked. If I remember correctly, early Microsoft copy protection used the simple- minded "invisible file" scheme: there was an invisible file with a special name on the key (which obviously wasn't copied when you copied the application, unless you knew about it and used ResEdit). So it's quite possible that the copy protection still worked. jeanne a. e. devoto jdevoto@apple.com
fiddler%concertina@Sun.COM (Steve Hix) (03/21/89)
In article <37578@think.UUCP>, ephraim@think.COM (Ephraim Vishniac) writes: > Well, here are *my* comments. I don't believe this for several > reasons. > > 1. The version of Multiplan distributed in 1984 was copy- > protected. I'd be amazed if the copy-protection scheme > still worked. Well, the "copy protection" on early MS Mac software wasn't what you'd call pathological, exactly... Somewhere on the disk was a file, with no data, invisible and locked (or maybe invis/protected) with an odd name. Word had one name, Multiplan's another, and so on. If the application couldn't find the file in question on its disk, then it assumed the disk was a copy and spit it out. Wouldn't stop anyone determined to run the program, and only irritated paying customers who wanted to use their software on a hard disk or the like. As for other reasons it might break on newer machines and/or versions of the finder/system, I won't speculate. seh
pv9y@vax5.CIT.CORNELL.EDU (03/30/89)
In article <DAVIDL.89Mar15090405@intelob.intel.com> davidl@intelob.intel.com (David Levine) writes: >Quote without comment: > >"According to Chris Espinoza, advanced technology marketing manager, >five-year old Macintosh applications software not only still operates >on the newest Mac system, but also takes advantage of its enhanced >memory, 68030 processor and large-screen displays. The Macintosh >software automatically adjusts applications to the new enchanced Mac >II environment. No quote with comment: Try MacPaint 1.5. It either won't print at all to the LaserWriter + or it gives a System Error when it tries to print. Adam
pasek@ncrcce.StPaul.NCR.COM (Michael A. Pasek) (03/31/89)
In article <18247@vax5.CIT.CORNELL.EDU> pv9y@vax5.cit.cornell.edu (Adam Engst) writes: > > Try MacPaint 1.5. It either won't print at all to the LaserWriter + >or it gives a System Error when it tries to print. > I don't know about the LaserWriter +, but I use MacPaint 1.5 on a MacII and can print just fine to a LaserWriter IINT. M. A. Pasek Switching Software Development NCR Comten, Inc. (612) 638-7668 CNG Development 2700 N. Snelling Ave. pasek@c10sd3.StPaul.NCR.COM Roseville, MN 55113