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To memory what really messed with OS stability when browsing the internet on System 7.5.3 (the first Mac OS I used) up through 9.2.2 were browser plugins. Earl

To memory what really messed with OS stability when browsing the internet on System 7.5.3 (the first Mac OS I used) up through 9.2.2 were browser plugins. Earlier on, Java applets were by far the most notorious troublemakers in this realm. I remember as a kid bumping around the internet on a Performa 6400 with Netscape looking for online games, and that machine could never go long without the browser crashing or the dreaded "Sorry, a system error occurred." dialog popping up after browsing a few pages with applets. Shockwave and Flash were reasonably stable for the most part, until 3D Shockwave games started appearing… those were almost as messy as applets were.

GeekyBear 4y ago
> To memory what really messed with OS stability when browsing the internet on System 7.5.3 (the first Mac OS I used) up through 9.2.2 were browser plugins. OS Extensions in general were a source of instability. It's like kernel extensions on Macs or kernel drivers on Windows today, there is no safety net and coding errors can take down the entire system. You really needed to weigh the reputation of a company for stability before adding an extension from them.
- giantrobot 4y ago
  > You really needed to weigh the reputation of a company for stability before adding an extension from them. And the interaction between different extensions. You could be fine with some set of extensions, fine with a different set of extensions, but then have an unusable system if both sets were active.