[G4] Need "handholding", cont'd.

[John Erdman]

On Dec 28, 2005, at 8:30 AM, Sy wrote:

> Thanks for the feedback John.
>
> I'm using System 9.1 so you're saying I MUST upgrade
> to 9.2.2 first?
>
> I'm not clear about this "Classic" stuff.  When you
> have OSX is "Classic" within OSX  or is it still it's
> own autonomous OS?  Also, is partitioning a
> requirement as you suggested?

SY -
	Yes you must upgrade to 9.2.2. You ought to do that anyway. It's  
free from the Apple support site. It's much more stable (ie less  
likely to freeze up) than the earlier versions.
  If I remember correctly the system requires some parts of 9.2.2,  
even for some simple things such  enabling you to designate your  
start-up disk from either OS.   OS 9.1 is not particularly OS X aware  
and doesn't work at all.

"Classic" is usually the designation for the version of OS 9 that is  
run from within the OSX framework (shell).  I haven't yet found any  
software that wouldn't work on classic, but would work in 9.2.2. In  
your terminology Classic is not an autonomous OS.

	If you have a separate disk or partition containing your version of  
OS 9, it is possible to designate the partition as your "Start-up  
drive" in which case if you start your computer up it'll be just like  
your old system and it won't "know" anything about OSX. It'll be a  
free standing OS 9 system for what that's worth. I never had any real  
use for it except that it was a comfort during the period that I was  
getting used to OSX and proving to myself that Classic didn't have  
any drawbacks or nasty glitches.

	It is possible to have OSX use that same OS 9.2.2 (in the different  
partition from the OSX) as the code for running Classic from.   
Ultimately you should target having no partitions and using OSX  
exclusively. Use Classic as the bridge to help you get there. I  
retain the ability to run classic but rarely do anymore now that my  
last critical app has now been updated to an OSX friendly version.

I'm pretty sure that it is not necessary to have OS9 in a separate  
partition unless you want to retain the ability to boot directly into  
OS9. However if you do continue  to run in OS 9.2.2, you'll find that  
keeping all your internet, ethernet, TCP/IP and Apple talk data a bit  
of a hassle. At least I did because at the time I was frequently  
changing locations and ISP connections. OS x and OS9 handle those  
chores a bit differently. If you operate from within Classic then the  
OSX manages all that for you.

	To access Classic,  all you do is to start up one of your old apps.  
The computer recognizes it's an OS9 app and will start up OS9  
automatically. The great advantage of Classic over booting directly  
from 9.2.2 is your ability to switch quickly between OSX and  
Classic.   How would this help? For instance, Safari browser is far  
superior to anything I ever used in OS 9. It is possible to cut and  
paste between apps running on OSX and older apps running in Classic.  
Handy say because I wasn't ready to upgrade my Photoshop and MS Word  
and Excel, but I wanted to browse for images and text that I wanted  
to manipulate in an old app.  You can't do that if you cold boot up  
into OS 9.2.2.

HTH,
John