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Software versions for the various OS versions, and canned hard drive images

pcamen

Well-known member
Software versions

I've almost exclusively just used what was installed on whatever systems I've gotten over the years, meaning, rather than start from scratch, I just have various configurations archived that came on hard drives I got with different systems, and I clone them for additional systems.  I really didn't want to go through the pain of installing from scratch while I was also battling hardware issues.

But now I want to start installing stuff from scratch for both the experience and a cleaner setup. 

But that brings up some good questions:

- What exactly should I be installing on various systems in terms of control panels, extensions, useful utilities, etc?

- What are the best versions of the various software packages like Photoshop, Office, Pagemaker, etc. for the various macOS versions. 

I'm thinking of starting a Google sheet for all this and eventually turning it into a page or collection of pages on vintageapple.org that also links to the downloads on Macintosh Garden, etc. 

Anyone have notes about stuff like this that might be a good starting place? 

Anyone want to be a contributor to this? 

Canned images

When I was first getting started, it was really frustrating that there weren't better canned installs to start with, especially for emulators.  I'd like to start putting together a really good suite of canned installs appropriate for various systems, as well as some better canned virtual machines for Mini vMac, Basilisk, SheepShaver, and QEMU.  It would be so much easier for noobs to have an easier starting place. 

The thought is, want to quickly bring up a Mac Plus with an external SCSI2SD hard drive running 6.08 ... download an appropriate image, flash it to the CD card using DD, and you are up and running with a solid config with a lot of appropriate stuff for that specific scenario. 

I think this will be particularly useful for difficult stuff, like networking.  For example, I've got a bunch of Asante SCSI ethernet adapters that I've never really gotten to work.  Would be nice if I could just download a 7.5.5 (or whatever) image that has the networking and drivers for these adapters already installed and working. 

I know there are copyright issues that people often bring up as a point against stuff like this.  But ... with what is happening with vintage software on Archive.org, is it possible that we are past that point now? 

 

dcr

Well-known member
What are the best versions of the various software packages like Photoshop, Office, Pagemaker, etc. for the various macOS versions.
That's going to be somewhat subjective, I would think.  My thought is that a compatibility chart might be better?

I know there are copyright issues that people often bring up as a point against stuff like this.  But ... with what is happening with vintage software on Archive.org, is it possible that we are past that point now?
I doubt we're past that point.  It will be decades before the copyright expires on software titles.  I think most sites probably rely on the notion that the copyright holders on older software titles probably won't sue over the distribution of largely obsolete software.

 
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