Apr 27 2009
RetroMac Special– a Look Back at 9
Steve Jobs may have held the funeral service, but the OS now termed a classic is far from dead.
Years of Mac OS programming has left us a legacy of great software and freeware for Mac OS 9. This week we’ll take a look at a few of my picks…
Most of these enhancements mimic what were envied Windows features that have since been incorporated into OS X. The first of which is FileCM by Andy Finnell. This indispensable add-on comes in the form of a Contextual Menu item.
When installed, FileCM adds the ability to copy files from one folder and paste them into another with a “right” or control click.
Going one step beyond OS X, it also allows you to cut a file from one location to paste elsewhere and allows you to paste items as an alias. Nice.
This control panel adds the ability to open Windows “Joliet” formatted CDs without file name truncation. This may not seem like a big deal, but when you have to rename a dozen or so GRAPH~01.JPG files, you won’t be laughing.
Another quirky little feature of OS 9 was it’s habit of listing numbered files out of order.
As cute as that was, it’s nice to see things in their “natural order”. This System Extension by Stuart Cheshire fixes the Finder’s and other applications’ dialogue boxes to list numbered files like this:
Essential? No, but it is a great fix. This is the first and only of today’s utilities that will function in the “classic mode” of OS X.
Before you get scared by the idea of a “patch”, know that Jerry has this down to a science. This self applying patch to your Finder adds useful keyboard shortcuts for things like sleep and shut down along with a slew of other enhancements. Jerry’s redefined Finder also has a larger memory heap and a “quit finder” command.
Install it for yourself to find its many more features, but remember, should something go wrong and cause you to lose your data (including your 700 megs of ABBA mp3′s) it’s not our fault. I claim no responsibility for your music tastes. Having said that, I have never had a problem with this patch, or ABBA.
Until next time, keep it real with the Classic OS.
Brian
