Apple2History.org reminds us of a time before floppy disks when the cassette tape was the standard way of writing and retrieving data from an Apple ][.
The earliest Apple II owners did what most of the microcomputer hobbyists of the day did – they used the lowly cassette to save the programs they wrote, or possibly to load software that was purchased. And even after the Disk II did appear in 1978, it was still $495. Although this was less costly than floppy disk drives for other micros of the the day[1], it was still about one third of the cost of the entry level Apple II ! For many who pioneered the use of the Apple II, it was simply not affordable to get that expensive (though highly desirable) Disk II drive, at least not for a couple of years. From 1977 until around 1982, there were a significant number of software titles that were sold on cassette, because it was the most affordable way to use the computer.
I love that Apple still keeps Apple ][ Cassette interface instructions in its knowledge base.
The “Print Directory…” command made its first appearance in System Software 6. Renamed “Print Window” in later versions of Mac OS, this command could be used to print the contents of a Finder window. It was removed with the advent of Mac OS X, but can be restored using this free utility. It is funny to think of Mac users referring to their folders as directories.
System Software 6.0.8 supports four Apple branded printers out of the box, each with its own options and preferences. Here is the page dialog box with the Apple LaserWriter selected.
The original LaserWriter was released in 1985. Being the key feature of the “Macintosh Office” it was targeted at small businesses. Another feature of the Macintosh Office was Apple’s new AppleTalk LAN technology making the LaserWriter Apple’s first network printer. Just like Macintosh in 1984, the Macintosh Office was announced with a commercial during the fourth quarter of SuperBowl XIX (‘Lemmings’). Worth approx. $7,000 U.S. the LaserWriter was in comparison with the competition rather inexpensive.
The 77 lbs. LaserWriter could print eight 300 DPI pages per minute with a 12 MHz Motorola 68000 processor and half a megabyte of RAM.
A look at Find File in action.
Find File:
To search for a file, type its name or parts of its name, then click the Go button or press Return. To search a specific disk or folder, use the Search Here command. You can work in another window while Find File is Searching.
To see information about a file that has been found, select the file by clicking its name in the list.
The next time you choose the Open command from an application, the Open dialog box will show the folder that contains the last file you selected in Find File.
Find File by David Goldsmith
Copyright © 1986, 1987 Apple Computer, Inc.
Find File in System Software 6 is a far cry from Sherlock and Spotlight, and leaves a lot to be desired. You could search for a file by name on any mounted volume or destination and move it to the desktop. You couldn’t even open what you were looking for from the Find File dialog box.
The Chooser got a facelift in System 6 that would be the basis for its appearance all the way through Mac OS 9.
The default size of the System Software 1.1 System Folder.
The default size of the System Software 6.0.8 System Folder.
The System Folder in System 6 expanded quite a bit from the original 173K System Folder released in 1984. Added to the folder were additional printer drivers, the MultiFinder, Accessibility, Fonts, Keyboard, Mouse, and Sound. The total size of this System 6 System Folder is 1,330K, more than can fit on a 800K floppy!
