Re: Best "Classic" OS?

If you gave me the
old System 7 interface on top of the OS X foundation, I would be the
happiest Mac user around.

No, I would be :-)

I've done a lot of comparison testing of different OSs on beige Macs
(mainly 75/85/9500s) so feel qualified to give my views.
Generally the newer the OS the better the stability and compatibility
with applications, but they are also slower, have bigger memory
requirements, and have dubious interface changes.
The speed issue is not definitive though - it all depends on the mac/
OS/activity combinations.
As an e.g. I ran a script on an 8500/200 that just opened up a bunch
of apps/windows and timed it with different OSs.
7.5.5: 64 secs
7.6.1: 70 secs
8.6: 95 secs
9.1: 121 secs
Conversely I find G3 machines do not slow down with 8.6+ like 604s,
they may even speed up. This test was 33 secs on a G3 333 with 8.6

7.5.5 Fast, Frugal and Free. Some freezes but better than previous
versions (admittedly the upgrade path to 7.5.5 was painful). It looks
great and is still very useable. I do rely on my favourite 3rd party
enhancements such as ApplWindows to make it better though!!

7.6.1 Very similar to 7.5.5 but more stable. Biggest problem is trying
to get hold of a copy. Wish Apple would make it freely available.

8.1 This is a good speed/compatibilty/stability compromise I would
recommend for most people, providing you don't need USB. Useful
features like context sensitive menus, and windows are easier to move.
Doesn't look as good (I hate isometric icons!). I have a freeze
problem with Retrospect.

8.6 Things start to go downhill here IMO and speed drops. The Get Info
boxes are horrible, and I don't like Navigation Services dialogs. You
do have more control in list views though. I only run this to use USB
and games that require it. 'Click there it is!' no longer works :-
( Don't get many freezes - these tend to be replaced by unexpected
quits.

9.1 This is really slow now and the only advantage I can think of is
the Window menu (functionality easily achieved with 3rd party
software). Those yellow dialog boxes are plain daft. Never had a
freeze.

Thanks, G.

.

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