Comments on the Macintosh

[Tim May <tcmay@got.net>]

At 4:03 AM -0700 5/30/97, frissell@panix.com wrote:

>At 12:33 AM 5/30/97 -0700, Bill Stewart wrote:
>
>>- PGP 5.0 with fancy user interface for Win32 only.
>
>Note that 4.5 is Win/32 only but 5.0 is also available for (the latest)
>Macintosh OS.  [So "latest" that Tim May can't run it.]
                                ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Newsflash: With the prodding and help of Vinnie M., I took a day last week
and installed the latest versions of all of my major applications.  I
successfully ran the installation on my bootleg copy of PGP 5.0 (obtained
from my friendly spy), but have not yet spent time integrating it with
Eudora Pro 3.1, which I understand is possible.

(Please: No helpful suggestions. All of the information I need to do this
is apparently contained in the docs...I just haven taken the time off from
doing other things to do this.)

For those who know and care: System 7.5.3, MT Newwatcher 2.3.1, Eudora Pro
3.1, Netscape Navigator Gold 3.01, and various UUdecoders, helper apps, etc.

To again paraphrase my .sig: "There's something wrong when it takes a day
or more to upgrade apps to be compatible and there's no visible
productivity improvement."

Actually, I used to follow the Macintosh technical stuff more closely. I
read "MacWorld" and "MacUser" cover to cover every month, I sometimes read
"Mac Technical Journal" and other technical sources, I messed around with
ResEdit, had a couple of volumes of "Inside Macintosh," had C and C++
avialable, and all that stuff. Upgrading from one version of a system to
another was not too stressful.

However, in the last several years, probably echoing the path many of you
have taken, my focus has shifted to a more "platform-agnostic" path,
centered on the Net and Web and on writing messages and participating in
Net virtual communities (like Cypherpunks).  I just want my main Internet
apps to keep working as they have, and don't much care about Apple's stuff
like "CyberDog" and PowerQuickToolsPro, or whatever.

Sadly, the Mac OS is now very bloated, and I no longer have the time or
interest to read the details and upgrade the many apps to the minor rev
levels needed to ensure compatibility. (So sue me.) Once a "constellation"
of apps is running smoothly, I am reluctant to change any of them unless
the benefits are very clear.

(And I could see no significant changes in going from System 7.1.3 to
7.5.3...the Mac OS is of course still missing basic OS features such as
multitasking and memory protection.)

Vinnie M. tells me I should do the upgrade to System 7.6...I think I'll
pass on this for now.

--Tim May



There's something wrong when I'm a felon under an increasing number of laws.
Only one response to the key grabbers is warranted: "Death to Tyrants!"
---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:----
Timothy C. May              | Crypto Anarchy: encryption, digital money,
tcmay@got.net  408-728-0152 | anonymous networks, digital pseudonyms, zero
W.A.S.T.E.: Corralitos, CA  | knowledge, reputations, information markets,
Higher Power: 2^1398269     | black markets, collapse of governments.
"National borders aren't even speed bumps on the information superhighway."