csnjr@its63b.ed.ac.uk (Nick Rothwell) (02/25/88)
Well, after several months of following comp.sys.mac and trying to get genned up on the folklore, It looks as if I'll be able to buy myself a Mac+ at last. I intend to buy it pretty soon for various reasons (including tax!), but won't be able to afford any add-ons (memory, HD, etc.) for a while. I do want to have a go at Mac programming, though. So, my question is: what will I be able to do with my 1Meg 1 floppy Mac+ whilst saving up for more memory/HD? Can I run Lightspeed C from a single floppy? I don't mind too much if it's a little painful as long as I can get some experience writing fairly small Toolbox programs. Is it copy-protected, or can I back it up? Will I be able to shift my copy onto a hard disk later? Can I run multifinder? I'd like to get familiar with it, even if I can't switch between enormous tasks. Wot about Hypercard? I'm not fussed about creating large stacks (I can be patient for that), but I wouldn't mind having a bash at writing a few scripts, for familiarisation. ...am I being too ambitious for a basic machine? Or will it be fine for getting up to speed? Thanks a lot for any help! Nick. -- Nick Rothwell, Laboratory for Foundations of Computer Science, Edinburgh. nick%lfcs.ed.ac.uk@nss.cs.ucl.ac.uk <Atlantic Ocean>!mcvax!ukc!lfcs!nick ~~ ~~ ~~ ~~ ~~ ~~ ~~ ~~ ~~ ~~ ~~ ~~ ~~ ~~ ~~ ~~ ~~ ~~ ~~ ~~ "Nothing's forgotten. Nothing is ever forgotten." - Herne
greely@teak.cis.ohio-state.edu (J Greely) (03/01/88)
In article <1017@its63b.ed.ac.uk> nick%ed.lfcs@uk.ac.ucl.cs.nss (Nick Rothwell) writes: > So, my question is: what will I be able to do with my 1Meg 1 floppy Mac+ >whilst saving up for more memory/HD? Quite a bit, actually. I ran this way for about 6 months, before picking up a hard disk. First, and most importantly, get a decent ramdisk program (RamStart comes to mind). If you create a 400k ramdisk, and use it as your startup disk, things are a lot smoother. One thing you'll probably have to do (I did) is have two disks for each major application: one to start the system, one to hold working files (never, *never* trust a ramdisk!). > Can I run Lightspeed C from a single floppy? Yes. But you'll need a ramdisk, and you might have to settle for version 2.01 (I'm not sure of the space requirements of 2.1[135]). > Is it copy-protected, or can I back it up? Will I be able >to shift my copy onto a hard disk later? No copy protection. When you add a hard disk, you're better off copying the master disks to it, rather than the stripped down version you'll be using on floppy. If you're curious, send me e-mail, and I'll describe my old configuration in detail. > Can I run multifinder? I don't have it yet, but I believe you can. Others will know better how much you can do with it, but it should work. > Wot about Hypercard? I'm not fussed about creating large stacks (I can >be patient for that), but I wouldn't mind having a bash at writing a few >scripts, for familiarisation. HyperCard *will* run on a 1Mb, 1 floppy Mac+. You'll have to go in with ResEdit and remove the sounds, and keep to a minimum of fonts and DAs, but a 300k ramdisk will work as your startup drive, and you can have a few stacks at a time (any Apple-supplied stacks you use once in a while can be stuck on the ramdisk when you need them). > ...am I being too ambitious for a basic machine? Or will it be fine for >getting up to speed? It should do fine. I lasted through it, but *boy* was I glad to get my hard disk. While you're at it, I recommend Dark Castle. Best time-waster ever made. -=- -j, greely@satcom3.cis.ohio-state.edu The Ohio State University, somewhere in Ohio. (Just look for the bars, you'll find it) "Sir Francis Drake circumsized the world with a 100-foot clipper."
peter@aucs.UUCP (Peter Steele) (03/02/88)
in article <1017@its63b.ed.ac.uk>, csnjr@its63b.ed.ac.uk (Nick Rothwell) says: > So, my question is: what will I be able to do with my 1Meg 1 floppy Mac+ > whilst saving up for more memory/HD? > Can I run Lightspeed C from a single floppy? I don't mind too much if it's I would recommend TurboPascal 1.1; you'll be really cramped with LSC on a 1 floppy machine. TurboPascal is fast and version 1.1 supports the lastest ROMs. For beginning programming on a Mac, its a good choice. My opinion of course... -- Peter Steele Acadia Univ Wolfville NS Canada B0P1X0 (902)542-2201x121 UUCP: {uunet|watmath|utai|garfield}dalcs!aucs!Peter BITNET: Peter@Acadia Internet: Peter%Acadia.BITNET@CUNYVM.CUNY.EDU