3 ms·

I've got a G3 iMac running macOS 9.2 that I recently restored sitting on my desk. Of course it's a lot of fun to play the old games but even browsing through ap

I've got a G3 iMac running macOS 9.2 that I recently restored sitting on my desk. Of course it's a lot of fun to play the old games but even browsing through applications, sifting through menus, and playing with the old UI patterns is just so refreshing. It's technically slow but latency feels so much better than modern machines. Sure, the OS is technically inferior, and an infinite loop can freeze the entire machine, and my goodness that filesystem with all the goofy metadata is infuriating. There are all sorts of hidden resource metadata on each file that makes even program to file association bonkers. But otherwise there's a lot I like about it and a lot it gets right compared to modern operating systems. Older operating systems are just such a thin layer on top of the machine, compared to the mountains of abstractions and complexities of modern operating systems.

rgreekguy 2y ago
If you haven't, look around. Macintosh (was still called I believe?) 9 has (had?) a crazy following still. There was a fork of some old Firefox being updated and maintained up until 2-3 years ago. macos9lives.com is a site I have handy.
BaculumMeumEst 2y ago
So jealous! God I loved that machine. Used them a lot in libraries and always wanted to have my own.
TacticalCoder 2y ago
> ... and my goodness that filesystem with all the goofy metadata is infuriating. There are all sorts of hidden resource metadata on each file that makes even program to file association bonkers I was doing typesetting, using QuarkXPress (before InDesign ruled the day) on Mac G3 running MacOS 9. Good memories but, geez, what a turd that filesystem was. Basically the only way to exchange files and stay sane was to stay in MacOS land. Having a G3 with a built-in ZIP drive did help though.
cesaref 2y ago
It's easy to pick up a bit of an old computer habit. I'm in the process of putting a machine I used to own back together, a Mac IIcx with Trinitron monitor, running Emagic Logic (a midi sequencer) as this was a hugely influential machine when I was getting into audio. In the process of finding the right bits for this, i've ended up with an SE/30, a Mac LC and a Mac II, basically in order to get hold of other bits, and the price was good. They are now all running, and i've got no real use for any of them, but it's great to convert broken doorstops into fully functional doorstops :)
- deltarholamda 2y ago
  I used an SE/30 well past its sell-by date as a dedicated writing/programming appliance using an old version of BBEdit, and then later as a local mail server using NetBSD. Of the two, the writing/programming appliance turned out to be more useful. With a PDS Ethernet card and a cheap wifi AP, it's even wireless, sort of. The SE/30 was truly an insanely great machine. Topped out at 128MB of RAM! And I really enjoy the toaster Mac format.
- NegativeLatency 2y ago
  A/UX lan?
  - cesaref 2y ago
    Yeah, that's definitely an option. I've got an ethernet board for the SE/30, and also for the IIcx, and enough RAM to keep A/UX happy.
robinsonb5 2y ago
Arguably MacOS 9.2 was peak UI - it's visually attractive, maintains clarity throughout and doesn't waste screen real estate. Playing with it today is quite the antidote to the flat, boring monochromatic UIs that dominate now.
- geerlingguy 2y ago
  And it was fast. It's insane there are still moments where opening a window, or changing tabs, takes more than 1s on modern hardware. Usually it's apps like Photoshop that have web UIs instead of native windows...

rgreekguy 2y ago

If you haven't, look around. Macintosh (was still called I believe?) 9 has (had?) a crazy following still. There was a fork of some old Firefox being updated and maintained up until 2-3 years ago. macos9lives.com is a site I have handy.

BaculumMeumEst 2y ago

So jealous! God I loved that machine. Used them a lot in libraries and always wanted to have my own.

TacticalCoder 2y ago

> ... and my goodness that filesystem with all the goofy metadata is infuriating. There are all sorts of hidden resource metadata on each file that makes even program to file association bonkers I was doing typesetting, using QuarkXPress (before InDesign ruled the day) on Mac G3 running MacOS 9. Good memories but, geez, what a turd that filesystem was. Basically the only way to exchange files and stay sane was to stay in MacOS land. Having a G3 with a built-in ZIP drive did help though.

cesaref 2y ago

It's easy to pick up a bit of an old computer habit. I'm in the process of putting a machine I used to own back together, a Mac IIcx with Trinitron monitor, running Emagic Logic (a midi sequencer) as this was a hugely influential machine when I was getting into audio. In the process of finding the right bits for this, i've ended up with an SE/30, a Mac LC and a Mac II, basically in order to get hold of other bits, and the price was good. They are now all running, and i've got no real use for any of them, but it's great to convert broken doorstops into fully functional doorstops :)

deltarholamda 2y ago
I used an SE/30 well past its sell-by date as a dedicated writing/programming appliance using an old version of BBEdit, and then later as a local mail server using NetBSD. Of the two, the writing/programming appliance turned out to be more useful. With a PDS Ethernet card and a cheap wifi AP, it's even wireless, sort of. The SE/30 was truly an insanely great machine. Topped out at 128MB of RAM! And I really enjoy the toaster Mac format.
NegativeLatency 2y ago
A/UX lan?
- cesaref 2y ago
  Yeah, that's definitely an option. I've got an ethernet board for the SE/30, and also for the IIcx, and enough RAM to keep A/UX happy.

robinsonb5 2y ago

Arguably MacOS 9.2 was peak UI - it's visually attractive, maintains clarity throughout and doesn't waste screen real estate. Playing with it today is quite the antidote to the flat, boring monochromatic UIs that dominate now.

geerlingguy 2y ago
And it was fast. It's insane there are still moments where opening a window, or changing tabs, takes more than 1s on modern hardware. Usually it's apps like Photoshop that have web UIs instead of native windows...