Mac OS 9

Mac OS 9 (code name "Sonata"), released on October 23, 1999, is the latest version of Apple’s flagship operating system. It is the sixth in a planned set of six or seven bi-yearly reference system software releases from Apple.

Information Systems & Computing (ISC) supports Mac OS 9 for its clients, including off-campus students.

ISC recommends an upgrade to Mac OS 9 only for PCI-based Power Macintoshes that have at least 48 megabytes of RAM. Please note that Mac OS 9 is the first version of the Macintosh operating system that ISC does not recommend for NuBus-based Power Macintoshes (6100s, 7100s, and 8100s) or PowerPC-based clones. Please refer to ISC's Mac OS System Specifications to find out which version of Mac OS is recommended for your Macintosh computer. The full installation of Mac OS 9 uses between 250 and 500 megabytes of hard disk space, depending on the particular type of Power Macintosh being used and the choices made during the installation.

Problems

There are many known problems with Mac OS 9, several of which that will be especially relevant to Penn’s Macintosh users:

• A conflict between Network Associates’ Virex 6.0 and Mac OS 9. ISC suggests using Norton AntiVirus 6.0.2 or Virex 6.1.
• A conflict between Mac OS 9 and Aladdin’s StuffIt Expander 5.1.3 or below (StuffIt Expander is included with many products, including Netscape Navigator and Communicator). Apple and Aladdin suggest using StuffIt Expander 5.1.4, available on the Mac OS 9 CD-ROM, or StuffIt Expander 5.5, available from Aladdin.
• A conflict between Mac OS 9 and Adobe's Adobe Type Manager (ATM) 4.0.2 or below. Adobe suggests updating to ATM 4.6.

How to get it

Apple is making Mac OS 9 available as a full version, available from the Computer Connection at approximately $50 for the CD-ROM.

What's new in Mac OS 9

• Sherlock 2 3.0. Sherlock 2 introduces 'channels' for organizing related search sites. Sherlock 2 can also search and rank sites by price and availability.
• HindSight. HindSight is a suite of system-level Internet access and security services, including the Apple File Security 2.0, Keychain Access 2.0 and Multiple Users 1.0 control panels, and an update of the AppleShare client.
• FileSharing 9.0. FileSharing 9.0 adds support for Personal File Sharing over TCP/IP. This is an especially relevant addition given the recent de-routing of AppleTalk at the University.
• PlainTalk 2.0. The first major revision of PlainTalk in several years supports voice control with significantly improved speech recognition and Voiceprint Password.
• Software Update 1.0. Software Update finds and installs scheduled system software updates from the Internet.
• ColorSync 3.0. ColorSync has been updated and its feature set has been significantly extended.
• Major System file changes. The System file now includes native support for Type 1 Postscript fonts, support for long Unicode file names, better identification of "special" folders, significantly improved USB support, and improved multitasking and multiprocessing support. This System file update also includes many bug fixes and speed enhancements.
• Carbon support. Almost all applications that run on Mac OS 9 will also run on Mac OS X. AppleScript 1.4 has also been rewritten to be Carbon-compliant.
• Other new features included in Mac OS 9:
• Finder 9.0 can support files of up to 2 terabytes in size and the maximum number of open files has been increased to 8169.
• Monitors and Sound control panels are now separated.
• Open Transport 2.5.2 contains better DHCP support and updated UNIX STREAMS implementation.
• The Date & Time control panel now defaults to showing a four-digit year. Note that this is only a display issue - the Mac OS is Year 2000-compliant.
• Minor changes have been made to the Appearance, Extensions Manager, File Exchange, Memory, Mouse, and Personal Web Sharing control panels.
• Minor changes have been made to the Find By Content and LaserWriter extensions.