If you are still using your old Apple IIgs, then you may be relieved to know that after about 22 years, a much needed software update is available for it. The Apple IIgs was released in 1986, and ran as part of Apple’s lineup until 1992, during which it ran a version of Apple’s GS/OS operating system, a precursor to the Mac OS that was developed for a while alongside Apple’s flagship operating system. The development of GS/OS officially ended with version 6.0.1, but enthusiast groups have been keeping the system alive and have just released version 6.0.2.
The new update fixes a number of stability bugs and adds a few features to the system, includes new hotkeys for navigating your files, and an Ethertalk driver for the system’s Appletalk card.
- The Animation tool (tool037) is now included. It allows fast animation on the Apple IIgs.
- The TextEdit bug when more than 1024 styles were used is fixed.
- The Font Manager bug is now squashed.
- Some bugs in the Window Manager were removed.
In addition, a tool called QuickerGraph that accelerates drawing routines have been included; however, it is currently unfinished and may be an unstable feature of this release.
System Software 6.0.2 is now available after over 22 years of waiting (image credit: callapple.org)
If you are interested in installing this update, then you can get it from the CallApple enthusiast Web site. It is available as zip file downloads of about 8 half-density diskette images in both 2MG and PO disk image formats.
Obscurity reigns – really? >8-o
The IIgs was my personal bridge between the Apple II and the Macintosh. My first Mac was the Power Mac 8100.
Here’s to hobbyists and enthusiasts everywhere. When they no longer prosper, we’ll know our culture is defunct. The first scientists were amateurs, historians, geologists, paleontologists, chemists, mathematicians, physicists, etc., who often worked outside “official” centers of knowledge. That’s how the myth of the “mad” scientist was born in literature – a man laboring away in a secret lab somewhere, hatching nefarious and demented schemes. From Dr. Frankenstein to Captain Nemo and Dr. No they haunted romantic fiction and later popular cinema. These days the real demented scientists are often computer hackers, with ambitions for both good and ill. Their less notorious compatriots labor on in the Open Source community and various enthusiast groups around the world who preserve – and sometimes improve – outdated tech. Keep up the good work, guys!
I can’t believe no one else has said it yet, so I will: Apple ][ Forever!