Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego?
Not much to say about this game that hasn't already been said - this is the original, black and white version from 1992. I got it for Christmas, I remember it came with a copy of the World Almanac that was used for copy protection.
This was a popular game and the version I have is already archived, so nothing for me to do here.
"Software for Symantec C++ Programming for the Macintosh" is the companion disk to "Symantec C++ Programming for the Macintosh", which can be read here: https://vintageapple.org/macprogramming/pdf/Symantec_C++_Programming_For_The_Macintosh_1993.pdf
This is another book I bought as a kid, some time after the ResEdit book. But I flew too close to the sun with this one - it was definitely over my head at the time. I wanted to learn C, but was spoiled by the simplicity of HyperCard and ResEdit, and this book just frustrated me.
I've managed to keep it all these years though, so one of these days I'll get around to learning C & C++ and the Mac Toolbox proper 😅
This one's already on the Garden as well, so no work for me to do here either.
This disk contains exactly what it says on the label: a copy of Math Rabbit 2.0 - the old, black & white version that doesn't run on System 7 or later. I remember playing it in elementary school.
It's already on the Garden. The Garden entry notes that they are looking for an original disk still - unfortunately my copy is just the loose application file, so there's nothing further to archive.
These disks feature the games Solarian II and Patriot Command - both games that I played quite a lot of back in the day.
I bought these disks at K-Mart (if you remember when Canada had K-Marts, sorry about your back pain 😂) from a stand called "Explore the World of Macintosh" that sold a bunch of different shareware games on disk.
Both games are archived on the Garden already, with the versions I have.
This "Games 2" disk is written in Dad's printing, so it's one of our own compilations.
In addition to KidPix, Print Shop, and SuperClock, which are written on the label - it's also got a copy of Let's Get Tanked and Morse Code Tutor.
These are all archived on the Garden already - however - the Morse Code Tutor is version 1.2, and the Garden only has 1.1, so I'll archive the newer version.
edit: v1.2 archived! https://macintoshgarden.org/apps/morse-code-tutor
These two disks are ones that I am especially excited to archive - not to the Garden, because of personal information - but just to my own personal archive.
It's a copy of my "home folder" from my childhood. Dad gave every member of the family their own folder under the hard drive root to store our documents in. Mine has old school work, greeting cards and labels I printed for family and friends, some custom icons I made, recordings of my piano practice, and lots of HyperCard stacks (some of which play recordings of my voice!)
And I even made an installer for it because I knew I was going to be a software developer someday, lol 😂
So yeah, not making this one public, but I'll share a few screenshots.
More updates to the Garden, from the Everything-You-Need System 7 disk:
New Apps:
- AntiFinder: https://macintoshgarden.org/apps/antifinder
- Finder 7 Menus: https://macintoshgarden.org/apps/finder-7-menus
- Fkey Extend: https://macintoshgarden.org/apps/fkey-extend
- FreeGeneva: https://macintoshgarden.org/apps/freegeneva
- MountAlias: https://macintoshgarden.org/apps/mountalias
- OpenFolder7: https://macintoshgarden.org/apps/openfolder7
- Trash Chute: https://macintoshgarden.org/apps/trash-chute
Added Missing Versions:
- Compact Pro 1.32: https://macintoshgarden.org/apps/compact-pro
- Helium 2.0.2: https://macintoshgarden.org/apps/helium-211
- Just Click 1.0.2: https://macintoshgarden.org/apps/just-click
- PixelFlipper 1.3.3: https://macintoshgarden.org/apps/pixelflipper
- PwrSwitcher 1.0a5: https://macintoshgarden.org/apps/pwrswitcher
- SCSIProbe 3.3: https://macintoshgarden.org/apps/scsiprobe
- VirusDetective 5.0: https://macintoshgarden.org/apps/virusdetective
Remember these two HyperCard disks I posted last week (as part of a stack of System 7 disks)?
Turns out they're not quite identical!
Oh, the contents are identical, as are the front of the labels. But if you flip them over...
...the one on the left says that "HyperCard is a registered trademark of Apple Computer, Inc." (and stops there). But the one on the right says that "HyperCard is a registered trademark of Apple Computer Inc., licensed to Claris Corporation."
So it would seem, sometime in 1991 is when HyperCard was transferred to Claris - with one of these disks being printed before the transition, and one after. Neat!
For today's archiving efforts, we start with this copy of Norton Utilities. The Garden has version 2.0, but I've got a slightly newer version 2.0.6 (which someone was actually requesting in a comment) - so that's been uploaded now:
Next, a bunch of OS disks:
- a backup copy of System 7.1 - no need to archive. I actually remember my Dad making this copy, and running out of green labels on the last disk 😂
- StyleWriter 1.1 installation disks. I think these came from my aunt. The Garden only had the 1.2 installation disks, so I've uploaded 1.1: https://macintoshgarden.org/apps/stylewriter-installation-12-original-stylewriter
- HyperCard 1.2.2 installation disks. These might have came with our IIfx? The Garden only had 1.2.5, so I've uploaded 1.2.2: https://macintoshgarden.org/apps/hypercard-125
- an incomplete copy of System 6.0.3 disks. System Tools is missing, might be in another box. No need to archive these though, they were on Apple's FTP site for years and have made their way all over the net already!
I have these "Program" and "Utilities 2" installation disks for Word 4.00D - but I'm missing the "Utilities 1" disk, so it's not a complete set 😞
I've uploaded them to the Garden anyway because they didn't have any original Word 4 disks at all - and my version (4.00D) is newer than the original 4.0 copy they had in a preinstalled folder.
https://macintoshgarden.org/apps/microsoft-word
Hopefully someone can find and archive the complete set!
Next is a copy of CD-ROM Toolkit from FWB Software.
(no picture, because there's a label affixed to the label with some PII. A few of the upcoming disks have this)
My copy is version 1.09, the latest on the Garden was 1.56 so this is a much earlier version that I was able to upload!
These are the installation disks for the StyleWriter 1200. I know these ones came from my aunt, when she replaced her LC with a PowerMac G3 in the late 90s, she bought a new StyleWriter 1200 printer to go with it.
These disks are already on the Garden, so I don't have to do anything with my copy.
A couple more disks that I'm not going to post a picture of because they have sticky labels on them with PII.
The first is labelled "RAM Doubler 1.6" and contains just that. Although, if I remember correctly, RAM Doubler could only be installed from its original disk due to some copy protection, so I don't think this disk actually works. Nonetheless, it's already on the Garden, so nothing for me to do here.
The second is labelled "APPLE HD SETUP / HARD DISK TOOLKIT / 1994" in Dad's printing. And just like it says on the label, it contains a copy of Apple HD SC Setup and a copy of FWB Hard Disk Toolkit PE. I checked the versions and both are on the Garden already, so once again, I can safely ignore this disk.
This is the companion disk to the "Internet Starter Kit for Macintosh" book, which you can read online here: https://vintageapple.org/macbooks/pdf/Internet_Starter_Kit_for_Macintosh_2nd_Edition_1994.pdf
I bought the book new when it came out. Dad bought a USRobotics 14.4 modem and told me to figure out how to get on the Internet. But then he stopped me when we realized trying to use the bundled offer in the book would involve dialing long distance into the USA!
A few weeks later we got set up with a local Internet provider and then were actually able to use the software that came with the book!
The included software on the disk is:
- Anarchie 1.2
- Eudora 1.4.3
- InterSLIP 1.0.1
- MacPPP 2.0.1
- MacTCP 2.0.4
- MacWAIS 1.2.9
- MacWeb 0.98a
- TurboGopher 1.0.8b4
and I've uploaded it to the Garden here: https://macintoshgarden.org/apps/internet-starter-kit
Well, you knew this moment was going to come... pour one out for the first casualty of my archiving project. 😢
This is the companion disk for "Macintosh Programming Techniques", which can be read online here: https://vintageapple.org/macprogramming/pdf/Macintosh_Programming_Techniques_1994.pdf
I don't remember this book, so I'm not sure where I got this disk from.
Unfortunately, it doesn't work. The disk shows up in the Finder, containing one file (a self-extracting archive). Trying to image the disk with Disk Copy gives a read error roughly 90% of the way through - irregardless of which format I select. Trying to copy the archive directly from the Finder fails as well.
This disk isn't on the Garden - but I'm hoping it's archived somewhere else and just hasn't found its way there yet. Given that it came with a published book, I'm sure there's a copy floating around out there, somewhere...
For some reason, young me decided to back up the installers for the demo versions of StrataType 3D, and QuicKeys.
Fortunately, the Garden has the full versions of both apps, so I don't need to archive these.
It's funny to see that both disks have my 8-9 year old printing, crossed out, and replaced with my 12-13 year old printing 😂 (if anything, my nearly-40-year-old printing is even worse since these days we type everything!)
Super Solvers: Midnight Rescue is a game so nice, I backed it up twice!
"In this game, the Master of Mischief plans to use disappearing paint to make the Shady Glen School vanish into thin air. Disguised as one of his five robot helpers, he hopes to complete his mischief by midnight. Only your best deductive reasoning and reading skills can save the school in before midnight."
This version is already on the Garden, so no need to wait for me to upload, go play it yourself: https://macintoshgarden.org/games/super-solvers-midnight-rescue
I don't know what this unlabelled disk is doing with all my Mac stuff, it's formatted for DOS and contains a shareware copy of Jazz Jackrabbit 😂
(and now the Jazz Jackrabbit theme is playing in your head, you're welcome)
Number Munchers (heck, the whole Munchers series) is another really fun edutainment game: https://macintoshgarden.org/games/number-munchers
You run around a board gobbling up numbers that match some condition (i.e. "multiples of 3" or "prime numbers") while trying to avoid the Troggles who are also running around the board trying to gobble you up!
I was starting to archive these disks (since the labels read 1.1, and the version on the Garden is 1.2). But when I actually tried installing the game from my images, it installed version 1.2. So the disks themselves have an updated version, but an old label! That's just the kind of mischief a Troggle would cause!
This is the companion disk to the book "Desperately Seeking Solutions", which can be read online here: https://vintageapple.org/macbooks/pdf/Desperately_Seeking_Solutions_1993.pdf
It contains the following software:
- Disinfectant 2.9
- SCSIProbe 3.5
- TattleTale 1.6
- System Errors DA 3.1
- System Picker 1.0
This disk goes with another book that I definitely remember owning at some point, but I don't remember what happened to the book. I do remember it being pretty easy for a kid to follow, and it certainly helped develop my troubleshooting skills!
I've uploaded it to the Garden here: https://macintoshgarden.org/apps/desperately-seeking-solutions
This disk contains a copy of After Dark 2.0x - and not just the Fish and Flying Toasters modules, but all of the standard ones. I don't recognize the printing, so I'm not sure where I got this disk from.
Of course, it's archived on the Garden already so I don't need to touch it.
The three companion disks to the second edition of Macworld's Mac & Power Mac Secrets - one of the few Mac books that I still have my copy of!
Some of the programs I originally discovered on these disks I still use with my Macs to this day, notably DriveLight and Open-Wide.
These disks are already on the Garden, so I don't need to archive my copies.
Lastly, we have these mysterious six disks!
I know exactly what these are, though. One of my friends in elementary school also had a Mac, and one year he gifted me these six disks as a birthday present. They're full of shareware and freeware games!
These ones will take a bit more time to go through, to see if any games are missing from the Garden (or particular versions are missing), so I probably won't do that tonight. But the images are up on my GlobalTalk share if you want to explore them.
And with that, we've completed exploring and archiving the first of my four floppy disk containers! So I'm calling it a night here. Only three more to go... 😅
EDIT: I lied, there were only three games in this collection that needed missing versions uploaded, so I just went ahead and did them now:
Per.Oxyd - added version 4.0 https://macintoshgarden.org/games/per-oxyd
Dome Wars - added version 1.0.3 https://macintoshgarden.org/games/dome-wars
Koji the Frog - added version 1.0.2 https://macintoshgarden.org/games/koji-the-frog
On the top: a set of installation disks for MacDraw Pro 1.5v2.
On the bottom: a set of installation disks for AutoCAD Release 12.
Both needed to be archived - the Garden had MacDraw Pro 1.5v1 and 1.5v3 only, and it's copy of AutoCAD R12 had patch c3 installed, my copy was of the original release.
And both of these were a huge pain in the ass - because Dad decided to rename the disks when he originally made these backups, which caused the installers to break when running under emulation.
In the case of MacDraw Pro - when the installer is looking for a disk named "Install", but sees a disk called "MACDRAW PRO INSTALL" instead, it will eject that disk and prompt you to insert the correct disk. Now, on a real Mac with physical disks, you simply re-insert the disk, and it will ignore the name as long as the contents are correct. So I can install this on my IIfx just fine - but when working with disk images, you can't "re-insert" the disk in the middle of the installation, so it gets stuck.
The solution is to create the disk images in DiskCopy 6 format as read/write, mount them, change the disk names to the expected names, unmount them, then convert the images back to DiskCopy 4.2 read-only format.
AutoCAD is more challenging and I don't have a great solution for it. It has all the same problems as MacDraw Pro's installer - but once you rename the disks to the correct name, it gives you a new error that says "This is not the correct installation disk". Works fine with the actual physical disk, and you can just reinsert it again - but doesn't work at all when running from Disk Copy.
I uploaded it to the Garden anyway, since you can write the images back to physical disks and it should work fine. Or, maybe someone can crack the installer to not care if the disk is perfectly original or not.
Anyway, enjoy the uploads:
https://macintoshgarden.org/apps/claris-macdraw-15v1
https://macintoshgarden.org/apps/autocad
Next up is a copy of MacDraw II and the extremely rare Claris Graphics Translator.
Unfortunately this copy is mislabelled and possibly corrupted. The MacDraw II disk itself is OK, as is one of the Claris Graphics Translator disks. However the second CGT disk is a copy of the first one, and the third one just comes up blank.
Fortunately, the Garden has both of these archived already, so I don't need to take any action. Although the Garden's copy of CGT isn't on its own page, it's on the page for Claris CAD (download links #8 and #9). And they've got the same version as me already.
But the thing that's really interesting to me about these disks is that Dad labelled them Oct/Nov 1991. I didn't think we got our IIfx until 1992, but clearly we had it the year before. I was just 6 years old then so it's no surprise my memory from that time isn't quite as sharp 😁
https://macintoshgarden.org/apps/claris-macdraw-ii-11v2
https://macintoshgarden.org/apps/claris-cad
So when I started this archiving project, this is one of the two programs in mind that I 100% knew weren't on the Garden.
It's an early CRM solution from Symantec called "ACT!". It's mostly a contact management database, but it also includes a calendar, event scheduler, text editor with basic mail merge features, and a phone dialer.
The Garden has version 2.5 and version 2.8 uploaded already. This is version 1.1, which is much older, so it definitely needs to be archived. But there's something about this copy that makes it even more special and important to archive:
This version is the CANADIAN EDITION 🇨🇦 Yes, that's right, ACT! is one of the few apps that actually sold a separate version in Canada than in the USA. Now, I'm not sure what's different between this and the US version, as it doesn't seem to be documented anywhere (maybe postal codes instead of zip codes?), but it says it's the Canadian Edition in the About dialog 😁
Now uploaded here: https://macintoshgarden.org/apps/act-25
Ah, PowerPoint 2.0. I used this quite a bit in the later years of elementary school.
The Garden had version 2.01D, but I've got a later version 2.01F, so up it goes!
White Knight is an early piece of telecommunications software from the author of Red Ryder. Back in the day we used it to dial into the public library to put books on hold and search the catalogue.
(this disk is mislabelled, it's version 11.0 not 2.0)
Already on the Garden, so nothing for me to do here!
https://macintoshgarden.org/apps/white-knight
Symantec Anti-Virus (SAM) 3.5.1 was one of those apps which we had both at home and at school - it was a pretty popular antivirus product back on the day.
Although I remember being particularly annoyed by it as a kid because every time I inserted a floppy disk, the disk would have to go through a virus scan before you could use it from the Finder. And the scans were so slow.
Never managed to pick up a virus though - at least not that I can remember, so it did its job!
Already on the Garden here so I don't need to archive my copy: https://macintoshgarden.org/apps/sam-av-35
(note: the page says 3.5 but the download is actually 3.5.1, yes I checked)
This next one I'll need some help from the community:
4th Dimension is a relational database management system and application development platform. My copy is of version 3.2 (three installation disks, plus an update disk to update to 3.2e).
The Garden has quite a few versions up - 1 and 2, 3.5, 4.2, 6.5, and 6.8. But they don't have version 3.2, so this one needs an upload.
Unfortunately, it has really aggressive copy protection. You can install it just fine from a set of backup disks, but when launching it for the first time it makes you insert the original installation disk - which I don't have - so I can't actually run my own copy!
The Garden has a crack that bypasses this protection for version 3.5, but it doesn't work with 3.2, so hopefully someone in the community is able to find or create one.
No disk photos because there's PII on the labels.
Archived to the 3.5 page here: https://macintoshgarden.org/apps/4th-dimension-35
America Online? These disks were sent out unsolicited in the mail, of course they're going to be already archived...
...wait, what do you mean the Garden doesn't have version 2.0.1? Seriously? I need to actually archive an AOL disk? 🤯
Sigh... I've added it here: https://macintoshgarden.org/apps/america-online-20
This is a copy of FWB Hard Disk Toolkit 1.6 PE.
It came with one of the two hard drive upgrades we got for the IIfx, although I can't remember which one (we went 80 MB -> 250 MB -> 500 MB over the years) - because the standard Apple HD SC Setup utility would only format Apple/Quantum hard drives, so we had to use this instead to set up the new drive.
Already available on the Garden from here: https://macintoshgarden.org/apps/fwb-hard-disk-toolkit-v16-v163-update
This is a copy of FaxSTF 3.1. It came with our USRobotics 14.4 Sportster Mac&Fax modem.
I should have the original disks actually, but I'm not sure where they are.
We actually used this surprisingly quite a bit back in the day, although it was a bit clunky as we only had one phone line. But Dad would send and receive faxes from work a fair bit, and it was a decent piece of software.
Eventually though he bought a real fax machine for the home, with thermal paper and all.
Anyway, this is already on the garden, so I don't need to archive my copy: https://macintoshgarden.org/apps/faxstf-31
SuperPaint 2.0 is a hybrid (vector & raster) graphics editor from Silicon Beach Software - perhaps better known as the folks who brought you Dark Castle.
Fun fact: after Silicon Beach sold to Aldus in 1990, the founder partnered with one of the devs to start FutureWave software which went on to create Flash (which later sold to Macromedia, then Adobe).
I really liked messing around with this as a kid, it was more advanced than KidPix but not as complex as Photoshop - it felt just right for my skill level at the time. And I was blown away by the fact that it did both vector ("draw mode") and raster ("paint mode") graphics combined!
Already available on the Garden here: https://macintoshgarden.org/apps/superpaint
Last one for the night (we're now halfway through my second box of disks):
A few days ago I posted the Mac Shareware 500 (see: https://oldbytes.space/@smallsco/114175088099390837) - but the disk images I posted were from the second edition of the book, not the first edition that I actually own.
Well, I found the disks from the first edition - 4 800k disks, matching what it says on the book. So I have gone ahead and uploaded those to the Garden as well:
https://macintoshgarden.org/apps/the-mac-shareware-500
Enjoy!
Attached: 1 image "The Mac Shareware 500" is a book that reviews 500 different pieces of Macintosh shareware. And it comes with a number of companion disks full of wonderful shareware for you to play with as well! I remember buying this from the bookstore as a kid and being super excited because it also came with software 😂 Still have the book in my collection too! You'll notice that it reads "4 diskettes enclosed" in the top right corner of the book, but there's only two here (labelled 1 of 2 and 2 of 2). The two 1.44MB disks here are from the second edition of the book, the first edition contained 4 800k disks. I am still tracking down the 800k disks from the first edition...they're in another box, I think. Surprisingly, I can't find this collection on the Garden either, so it's going to get archived/uploaded as well. I'm making a lot of work for myself with this project and we're only 1/4 through the first box of disks! 😅 Oh - and despite the labelling, disk 2 doesn't _just_ contain AOL, it's got other goodies as well.
Going through the next batch of disks to archive, fortunately these ones are all on Macintosh Garden already.
- SoftAT 2.5.2, which was my first ever exposure to DOS: https://macintoshgarden.org/apps/softat-25
- Norton Utilities 3.1, which saved our hard drive from corruption a few times: https://macintoshgarden.org/apps/norton-utilities-313
- RAM Doubler 1.6 (not AOL), because our IIfx only had 8MB and RAM for that machine was expensive and rare (and still is!): https://macintoshgarden.org/apps/ram-doubler-161-152
The last disk is labelled "SUM #2", but instead of a copy of the Symantec Utilities for Macintosh, instead it has a copy of the Moire screensaver 2.22: https://macintoshgarden.org/apps/moire
More disks that are already archived on the Garden:
- Microsoft Works 4.0: https://macintoshgarden.org/apps/microsoft-works-40
- SimCity 2000: https://macintoshgarden.org/games/simcity-2000-v10-11
- SuperPaint 3.0: https://macintoshgarden.org/apps/aldus-superpaint-35
- Type Twister: https://macintoshgarden.org/apps/aldus-type-twister
- After Dark 2.0v: https://macintoshgarden.org/apps/after-dark-20
- More After Dark: https://macintoshgarden.org/apps/after-dark-more-after-dark (this is the original version with Virex-D)
With the After Dark disks in the previous post, there were also a couple of disks that had a loose collection of modules on them. All the modules were just copies of the default modules that you get in an After Dark installation - except for one, which I couldn't find archived anywhere:
Barney Blaster.
Not to be confused with the game of the same name, or the similar game "Barney Carnage" that lets the user shoot Barney on their own - in this screensaver you can sit back and watch as Barney hops across your desktop only to get shot...and then explode.
I've uploaded it to the Garden here: https://macintoshgarden.org/apps/barney-blaster-screensaver
Here's one I'm excited about, because I know there's a lot of retro Mac (and retrocomputing in general) enthusiasts who are also MIDI enthusiasts!
The Book of MIDI...well, I'll let it describe itself:
"The Book of MIDI is edutainment—a way to teach yourself about MIDI that's both educational and entertaining. It's also an introduction to interactive multimedia; interactive means you control the learning process, and multimedia means the information is presented in many different ways. There are normal text and pictures, of course, but there are also experiments, sounds, hypertext (for jumping to definitions), a game, the ability to control one or more synthesizers from the program, and movies (if you have 2 Megabytes or more of RAM). The movies will run much better under Finder rather than MultiFinder."
I'm not actually sure where we got this from. It wasn't from Dad's work, that's for sure. As a kid, my brother and I played piano and we had the piano hooked up to the IIfx through a MIDI interface. We used EZVision to record ourselves playing songs to the computer, and we used Band-In-A-Box to have the computer play songs on the piano. But this - this was like an instruction manual and sandbox for experimenting with MIDI. It's hard to describe, but there's fun minigames and stuff (and a great easter egg in the Pachebel bit)
The installation process is a bit confusing. There's an installer on Disk 1 which will extract the HyperCard stack only. Disk 2 also contains part of the HyperCard stack, as well as the documentation. Disk 3 contains the movies which need to be extracted separately (they have their own installer) and the stack placed in the same directory as the movies for everything to work correctly.
Now, a word of warning, while _technically_ this will run on any Mac with HyperCard, you really don't want to run it on anything newer than System 7.1 or so - the animations and sound will either be corrupted or not work at all. It runs best on System 6, without MultiFinder enabled. And you may need to increase the memory allocated to HyperCard for the animations to work correctly. 32-bit addressing should be disabled as well.
I couldn't find this one archived at all, so here it is uploaded to the Garden:
https://macintoshgarden.org/apps/the-book-of-midi
Last archiving post for the night - and last set of disks from box #2 of my collection is this giant stack of disks from Apple:
- The original System 7.0 install floppy disks in 800k format. These are already on the Garden - though I couldn't find the "Before You Install System 7" or "Macintosh Networking Basics" disks on their own, only the installation disks themselves. I _did_ find them as images on the Garden's 7.0 CD-ROM upload. I'm not sure if they're worth a separate upload (or if I just didn't look hard enough for the disk images in the various floppy uploads that already exist)? Let me know. https://macintoshgarden.org/apps/system-7-floppy-sets
- System 7 Tune-Up version 1.1.1, which is already archived here: https://macintoshgarden.org/apps/some-system-701-essentials
- More copies of HyperCard (this is my 4th and 5th copy), already archived:
- version 1.2.5: https://macintoshgarden.org/apps/hypercard-125
- version 2.1: https://macintoshgarden.org/apps/hypercard-21
- Personal LaserWriter NTR installation disks. The Garden only had these in Italian, so I've uploaded my copy here: https://macintoshgarden.org/apps/personal-laserwriter-npr-installation-disks-italian (these were the original disks that came with the printer my dad bought to go with our IIfx)
After a long, multi-month break, it’s time to get back to archiving my collection of vintage Mac floppies!
Tonight I’ve got a couple more disks from VMUG, my local Mac user’s group. The first disk is a Christmas disk-of-the-month that has some exclusive icons and cursors - which, as far as I know, don’t exist anywhere online (until now). The second has a number of assorted games, mostly card games but a few others as well. These are both from the ‘96/‘97 timeframe.
Here’s my new additions to the Macintosh Garden from these disks:
InCDius GH - https://macintoshgarden.org/apps/incdius-gh
Pema’s Cursors - https://macintoshgarden.org/apps/pemas-cursors
Pema’s Christmas Icons - https://macintoshgarden.org/apps/pemas-christmas-icons
Monte Carlo Solitaire - https://macintoshgarden.org/games/monte-carlo-solitaire
Fortress - https://macintoshgarden.org/games/fortress
Romi (already existed on the Garden, I added version 1.7.0) - https://macintoshgarden.org/games/romi
I’ve got a LOT more coming over the next few days, with at least one rare program that isn’t possible to run under emulation (as far as I know), so stay tuned!
This disk has some very, very old copies of Reader Rabbit (v2.1) and Print Shop (v1.2). While both these apps were already on the Macintosh Garden, they only had newer versions, so I’ve uploaded these ones.
Reader Rabbit - https://macintoshgarden.org/games/reader-rabbit-1987
The Print Shop - https://macintoshgarden.org/apps/the-print-shop
It’s also the only disk in my collection where the label glue has completely dried up and the label’s fallen off - I had to stage it to take this photo 😅 Surprised the others have held up as well as they have…
Next up, a few disks that didn’t need archiving:
1. Pyro! 4.0 - A screensaver for System 6 / early System 7. This disk came from @billgoats with my SE! Download: https://macintoshgarden.org/apps/pyro
2. Mario Teaches Typing 1.0 - I already archived this from the original disks a while back, and this backup copy is the same original 1.0 version. Download: https://macintoshgarden.org/games/mario-teaches-typing
3. Vette! 1.0.1 - A racing game for System 6 / early System 7. These disks came from my aunt’s collection and for some reason they’re absolutely filthy. They work just fine, though. Download: https://macintoshgarden.org/games/vette
4. A boot disk containing what I think is a stripped down version of Mac OS 8.1.
Next up is a set of disks that were originally installation disks for CompuServe & Prodigy. But each has a number written on it - what could this be?
I popped the first one into my IIfx and immediately had a laugh - it’s a software collection that I made for my cousin, it might have been a birthday gift for him, inspired by the similar one I received from another friend (see: https://oldbytes.space/@smallsco/114227019966008785 earlier in the thread) But it came back into my possession when my aunt got rid of her Mac and my cousin moved out!
It uses an InstallerMaker installer, complete with an absolute cringe-worthy README in which I tried to emulate readme files from shareware compilations of the time. As for the software itself, it’s a mix of random QuickTime video clips, MIDI files, some sounds and shareware games, and some “utilities” for Diablo and Warcraft II (which we played online quite a bit back then).
Now, all the apps are archived already - except for one - a utility for Warcraft II called “TheB|ade”, which modifies the preferences file to allow you to change the colours used in your player name. I couldn’t find this one on the Garden (or _anywhere_, for that matter).
But when I went to install it… unfortunately, the first disk in the set has succumbed to corruption. It mounts and I can launch the installer, but I can’t image the disk, or copy the installer to another volume, or complete the installation, which chokes early on in the install process. I threw a bunch of utilities at it but got disk read errors. Boo-urns.
Fortunately, however… “TheB|ade” just happened to be in the area of the disk that was not corrupted, and it would successfully install that before the installer crashes at a later point. And I don’t care about what’s on the rest of the disks because that’s all available online already.
Anyway, long explanation aside, here’s “TheB|ade” now available for download on the Garden: https://macintoshgarden.org/apps/thebade
From first glance, it looks like I made a second compilation for my cousin as well.
But no, it’s just a copy of the Mac OS 8.5.1 update split onto 5 disks 🤦♂️
Anyway, for those of you located outside Canada - did y’all know that “AOL Canada” was a thing (and had its own logo)? I like the reflective label on the last disk 😎
It seems some PC disks got mixed in with my Mac disks :\
Remember 98Lite? It’s a shame that we still need debloating scripts for Windows in this day and age.
The Writing Center is a word processor from The Learning Company. We used it on the Macs in my elementary school. It’s infamous for playing a jingle when you launch it (hear it in action here: https://oldbytes.space/@smallsco/109367148497730093)
It was already archived on Macintosh Garden, but they only had version 1.05. I uploaded version 1.02 from my disks, and you can download it here: https://macintoshgarden.org/apps/the-writing-center
Alright, now for the disk you’ve been waiting for 😎
“Looking Inside the Macintosh IIfx” is an interactive presentation created with VideoWorks II. It came with our IIfx when we bought it used - but I’m not sure if it originally came bundled with all IIfx’es from Apple, or if this was some kind of sales demonstration.
It shows you a picture of the logic board, and you can click on individual components on the board to see what they do and how they communicate with the rest of the system.
This thing is an absolute nightmare to get running under emulation - until Snow came along, that is, due to its strict hardware and software requirements:
- OS must be at least 6.0.5, but no later than 6.0.8
- MultiFinder disabled
- RAM Cache disabled
- At least 4 MB of RAM in the system
- A video card supporting 8-bit colour
- 32-bit colour QuickDraw
BasiliskII and QEMU won’t run anything earlier than System 7, so those are out right away. Mini vMac (running with the Mac II emulation enabled) _almost_ works, but fails on the video card check despite the fact that it does run with 8-bit colour 🤷
However, with Snow’s Mac II emulation combined with its Mac Display Card 8•24 emulation… well, initially it fails on the 32-bit colour QuickDraw check. But we can address that in software by installing the “32-Bit QuickDraw” extension from the System 6.0.8 install disks, and then… it runs! 🎉
Ironically, this doesn’t even use colours - the app is entirely in greyscale!
(It’s possible that this can run under MAME as well - but I can’t figure out for the life of me how to set MAME up, it’s not a user friendly experience and it doesn’t seem to support DiskCopy floppy images).
I was so excited when I got this to run yesterday - first on my real IIfx and then on my MacBook running Snow. I hadn’t seen it running since I was around 8 years old!
Anyway, this wonderful piece of Mac history is now preserved on the Garden here: https://macintoshgarden.org/apps/looking-inside-the-macintosh-iifx
I’ve got one more disk to share from the current batch. This is the guided tour disk that came with my family’s Mac IIfx back in the day. Note that while the disk itself is titled “Macintosh Basics”, it doesn’t actually include the familiar Macintosh Basics tour from the 90’s - rather, this is a revision of the earlier tour that came with the Mac Plus and SE.
This one’s also a pain to get running under emulation - you have to boot from the tour disk in order to run the tour - and the tour disk was installed using a “Minimum System” install that won’t boot on anything that doesn’t present itself as a IIfx. Fortunately I was able to get it to run using the MAME emulator.
Now available on the Garden here: https://macintoshgarden.org/apps/apple-tour-of-the-macintosh-iifx
@mainframed767 @smallsco its name always made me laugh.
I mean it could've been Canada Online.
Or was that someone else's BBS already?
@splorp I think all of my “AOL Canada” disks ended up being re-purposed for other means, like these ones.
I do have a couple original “America Online” disks from before they rebranded in Canada - one example from earlier in the thread (https://oldbytes.space/@smallsco/114254756829293795) which I had to end up archiving because, somehow the Macintosh Garden didn’t have that particular application version 😂
Attached: 1 image America Online? These disks were sent out unsolicited in the mail, of course they're going to be already archived... ...wait, what do you mean the Garden doesn't have version 2.0.1? Seriously? I need to actually archive an AOL disk? 🤯 Sigh... I've added it here: https://macintoshgarden.org/apps/america-online-20
Fifth Generations Systems. Now that's a name I haven't heard in a long time. :)
@onegeekarmy 1998 eh? It’s very possible that I was in that meeting with you!! I was the only scrawny 13-year old there, pretty hard to miss haha 😂 My dad and I were regular attendees from early ’94 through the end of ’98.
I used to love attending their yearly “garage sale” as well - pity they don’t do those any more. You could get old hardware and software for cheap, great for a kid to tinker around with.
I figure you’ve been through the thread already - but if not - I archived a bunch of VMUG disks earlier (see here: https://oldbytes.space/@smallsco/114180933531927516 ) and you can find the images of those disks on my GlobalTalk share. The software from those disks that wasn’t already on the Garden can be found here: https://oldbytes.space/@smallsco/114207591658316951
And thanks again for Disk Jockey - it’s a big help with my archiving efforts 😁
Attached: 1 image Today's #MARCHintosh archiving effort is this pile of 12 disks. These disks come from my local Macintosh User Group, VMUG, that Dad and I used to attend back in the day. At the monthly meetings, they would sell a "disk of the month" or "DOM" for $5.00. We bought a few back in the day, if the disk had any goodies we were interested in. They're archived on my #GlobalTalk share in the "GlobalTalk Public -> Disk Images -> VMUG DOMs" folder. I expect most of the individual apps to be archived on the Garden already, but I'll double check and of course upload anything that may be missing. I'm not going to bother uploading these compilations as-is there, though.
@smallsco we very may have bumped into one another some errmmm 27 years ago. I don't recall a 13-year old but then again this was my first MUG ever, having just moved there from Belgium and I was just soaking it in :)
I'll go through the archive - I haven't looked at it yet!
And thanks for the kind words. If there are possible improvements to DJ that could help your work, let me know.
@smallsco I love this series of old disks you’re posting!
Little-known, and even more little-cared, fact: As a recent college grad but major SimCity fan, I contributed several cities to the #SC2K CD. As I recall, the compensation was a free CD and nothing more. Thirty years later, I understand more about how companies leverage free labor and would insist on something more than a CD and About screen credit. :-)
@brentsleeper Nice! I never had the CD version, just the original floppy version you see here, so I never played any custom cities.
Hindsight is 20/20, eh? Still, it's cool that you got to be part of the CD and a bunch of people got to play your cities!
Scott Small 🇨🇦
Miguel Arroz
CM Harrington
Krupo
Soldier of FORTRAN 
dan 💾
Karl Baron
Kévin ⏚
Uli Kusterer (Not a kitteh)
Grant Hutchinson
R.L. Dane 
🍵 
keen456
keen456
Jean-Michel Durand
Brent Sleeper