September 1997: Passion
(or How I Learned to Beat The Heat with System 8)

by Scott Rose, President of ScottWorld
(Note: Much of this editorial is outdated, but due to popular demand, we have left it here for entertainment purposes.)

Hello again, everybody! I certainly hope that you're enjoying the non-stop, sweltering heat which reminds us daily that, all frameworks of civilization aside, Los Angeles is (and will always remain) a desert. For those of us without air conditioning, it's funny how refreshing a sub-zero blizzard in Chicago sounds right about now.

To combat the 90-degree-plus temperatures inside my home, I have found myself traveling to a myriad of air-conditioned coffee houses (with trusty PowerBook in hand) to get some work accomplished. Of course, this drastic measure of actually leaving my computer hutch for the first time in 5 years has opened my eyes like never before. I came to the sudden realization that, by George, there's women here in Los Angeles... and I'm a single man!

So the majority of my summer has now turned into my scrambling around, figuring out how to best arouse passion in these newfound L.A. women. And, believe it or not, my buddy Robert Sterling and I have actually discovered a simple phrase that seems to attract women of all ages with unparalleled success: "I'm a producer with several projects in various stages." I haven't yet figured out what elements of that phrase work, but I think it's the seductive tone of my voice that gets women to coo with pleasure every time they hear it.

I know, I know. As my clientele, many of you do not fall into the "single man with seductive voice" category, so you can't use my amazing revelation to your benefit. So, I'll make a compromise here... I'll arouse new passion in you for your computer like never before, and you can pass along that passion to all the referrals that you'll be sending my way. Fair?

That's right, gang: Welcome to the passion issue.

Love Potion Number 8

At long last, Mac OS 8 (Operating System 8) is finally here! Apple Computer has called this "the most significant upgrade to the Mac operating system since 1984," and I wholeheartedly agree. When you upgrade to System 8, not only will your computer go through a major 3-D face-lift that will leave you gasping with delight, but also the improved reliability, speed increases, and brand new features will leave your spine tingling. Of course, if it tingles for more than 72 hours, be sure to see your chiropractor.

Beginning users will find themselves learning the Mac quicker than ever before, and experienced users will wonder how they ever got along with System 7's "lack of features." I highly recommend System 8 for everyone

More Than A Pretty Face

Imagine turning on your computer and feeling just like you did when you discovered the Mac for the first time. That's what System 8's face-lift is all about: It adds a fresh, modern, and jaw-dropping interface to something that you have already come to love.

You now have new desktop photos, and a fresh new platinum look on your machine, yet there are more than just cosmetic changes in System 8. More importantly than how it looks, System 8 is more reliable than previous systems. It crashes less often, yet when it does crash, not only does it tell you exactly what application caused the problem, but in most cases it gives you the opportunity to save all your work in other applications before restarting your computer.

You Can Count On Me

Also, about 95% of your existing applications will work without modification on the new system. This means that in most cases, you will be up and running almost instantaneously after installing System 8 (see "Finally Diving Into It", later in this issue).

How Fast Should We Go?

System 8 is much more responsive (read: faster) than previous systems, especially on PowerPC machines, and it's Internet speeds are noticeably snappier as well. Even using the notoriously slow Microsoft Word 6 on my old LC 575 has become almost enjoyable. I'm telling you, System 8 has given my faithful old computer a new lease on life.

You'll Love My Features

I could go on for pages about System 8's new features, but here's just a few highlights.

For Beginning Users:

Assistants: New assistants talk you through configuring your computer's settings in plain English, and they help you set up your Mac for Internet Access. I've used these assistants, and they're a snap.Moving Windows: Now you can drag a window by clicking on any of its sides, not just the title bar.

Simple Finder: Switching your computer to "Simple Finder" mode eliminates over 50% of all menu choices, making the computer much easier for new users to get around! Even experienced users will appreciate these new uncluttered menus.

Button View: If you love the launcher, now you can turn any window into a launcher-like display with single-click icons.

Sticky Menus: Following in the footsteps of Microsoft, all menus now conveniently stay open when you click on them. You will absolutely love this newfound simplicity!

Eject Disk: The Eject Disk command now works as it always should have, without leaving a ghosted image behind that confused new users.

For Intermediate Users

Pop-Up Contextual Menus: Hold down the control key when clicking on a file or folder, and you'll get a pop-up menu of almost everything you could possibly do to that item.

Tabbed Windows: Drag any window to the bottom of your screen, and it instantly becomes a convenient tab, tucked out of your way until you need it again.

Spring-Loaded Folders: Instantly burrow yourself through hierarchies of folders without opening any windows. To activate this, double-click on a folder but don't release the mouse button (this is called a click-and-a-half). This feature also activates whenever you move an item over a folder and hold the item there.

Move To Trash: Instantaneously move files to the trash by pressing command-delete.

For Advanced Users:

Multi-Threaded Finder: No more waiting for tasks to complete! You can now copy files, empty the trash, launch applications, quit applications, and search through folders all simultaneously.

Show Original: Click on an alias and type command-R, and you'll automatically be taken to the original item's folder.

Keyboard Shortcut Improvements: Just command-option-drag any file or folder, and System 8 will automatically create an alias in the new location. Just option-drag any file or folder to copy that item.

Personal Web Sharing: Any folder on your hard drive containing HTML files can instantly be hosted over a TCP/IP network (such as the World Wide Web), with just the click of one button! I've used this, and it is truly amazing.

The "R" Word

Of course, with any summer passion, there's always one word that causes us single men to take pause and truly consider the situation that we've gotten ourselves into. In the case of System 8, that word is resources.

Hard Disk: You will need a whopping 95 MB of free disk space in order to install System 8!

Memory: If you plan on ever using the Internet, you must have a minimum of 20 MB RAM to use System 8. However, as in previous newsletters, I strongly recommend at least 36 MB of RAM, and preferably 64 MB of RAM for all of your computers. Memory requirements are always increasing, so do yourself a favor: Upgrade now to at least 64 MB of RAM and finally unleash the full power of your Mac!

CPU: Oh, by the way, System 8 comes with an obsolete clause. Any computer that does not have a 68040 or PowerPC processor can not run System 8! The new features of System 8 demand the speed and processing power of only the newest chips. If you have a 68030 processor or earlier (see list below) and you use your computer on a daily basis, it's truly time to upgrade your computer anyways.

Finally Diving Into It

As you can see, System 8 gives us Mac users another reason to rejoice in our computers. System 8 is a major step forward in technology, all without losing the Mac's legendary ease-of-use. It definitely gives Windows 95 users a run for their money.

Because this is such a major upgrade, I highly recommend that you only perform a clean install of System 8 on your hard drive. This is *so* important that I must repeat it one more time for those of you who are already dreaming of your new 3-D icons: Only perform a clean install of System 8. Do not, under any circumstances, attempt a regular install!

A clean install is a very complicated procedure which can take several hours to perform successfully on just one computer, so only extremely advanced users should try this themselves.

What Is A Clean Install?

A regular install (which I do not recommend) simply patches the old system with new code, and simply updates old control panels & extensions. Any possible corruption from old preferences & system resources is potentially still there to wreak havoc on your system. On the other hand, a clean install ensures that your system not only runs at its optimized speed, but more importantly, it prevents any corruption in your previous system from crossing over into System 8.

A clean install creates a brand new system folder on your hard drive, and renames the old system folder "Previous System Folder." Over time, you'll need to reinstall any old extensions and control panels that you need, but only if you're 100% sure that they're System 8-compatible and that they're not corrupt. In most cases, you'll want to obtain the latest versions of those extensions and control panels to ensure 100% compatibility, and reinstall them from the original disks. All your preferences will need to be re-created from their originating applications (don't try transferring over preferences, because they may be corrupted), and all of your control panel settings will need to be restored.

Don't be in a rush to transfer things over: Take it slowly to ensure a smooth upgrade.

Why a Clean Install?

After I performed a regular install of System 8, the first thing that happened was that my computer crashed with a sad MAC (the worst possible error). After I restarted, my computer kept freezing and crashing mysteriously, and it wouldn't even launch time-tested programs like Claris Emailer. Finally, I went back and performed a clean install, and now everything is running peacefully.

Reports like this are rampant all over the Internet: Users who performed a clean install are enjoying happiness with System 8, while "regular-install" users are having a variety of trouble.

Extra Installation Notes

Before clean installing System 8, I recommend running Norton Utilities Disk Doctor and fixing all the errors on your hard drive. After a successful installation, make sure you zap your PRAM using the utility TechTool (available online).

You won't believe the differences System 8 will make in your computing environment, and I can't wait to hear your enthusiastic reactions to it!

Summer Lovin'

Well, gotta run... Robert just called me with a new line that's supposed to drive the women absolutely crazy! Something about the bull market & being independently wealthy.

Catch ya at Starbucks!

Happy romancing,
Scott