This month, MacSense begins an in-depth look at Apple’s new System 7.5. Part I (presented here) examines the many Finder enhancements and AppleGuide. Part II, to follow next month, will examine the benefits and costs of running System 7.5’s major system additions: AppleScript, PowerTalk and QuickDraw GX.
Installation
I had been using a beta copy of System 7.5 for about a week before my shiny new 7.5 CD arrived. Well, I hadn’t really been using the beta copy – I tend to get a little nervous when it comes to using anything labeled ‘beta’. It was thus with glee that I popped the CD into my LC 575 and installed System 7.5.
Installation was simple and straight forward. Using Apple’s great new installer, I hurriedly chose the “Custom Install” option and highlighted which components I wanted loaded into my system. There were only a few items that I didn’t want installed: Ethernet network stuff, printer drivers I didn’t need, and AppleScript (QuickDraw GX and PowerTalk come with separate installers). With one final click, I began the installation procedure. “Soon,” I thought to myself, “I’ll be running System 7.5! Wow!” I could hardly wait.
I had no choice in the matter. I had to wait. Installation from the CD took almost 15 minutes, with the whole installation procedure clocking in at about 30 minutes – and I hadn’t even installed QuickDraw GX yet. I thanked my lucky stars that I didn’t have to sit by the machine and continuously feed it disks. Nevertheless, when a dialog box popped up stating “Installation was successful. You must now restart your Macintosh.”, I eagerly rebooted the computer.
First Impressions: The Enhanced Finder
The first obvious difference about System 7.5 is the start-up procedure. Inside of the simple dialog box which proclaims "Welcome to Macintosh" every time a Macintosh is booted, you’ll now find a thermometer gauge which shows how far along the boot procedure is. In addition, the system software loads your desktop pattern almost immediately, so you no longer have to sit and watch your Macintosh boot up with a dull gray background. Not a significant change, but a nice touch. Of course, it won’t be long before we start seeing the new Mac OS logo when we boot up…
When you finally arrive at the Finder, there are only two obvious changes: the presence of a menu clock, and the new AppleGuide icon (in place of System 7.1’s Balloon Help icon). A quick look in the Apple Menu, however, and the differences between 7.1 and 7.5 become more apparent – hierarchical menus, a new Find File, Jigsaw Puzzle, Recent Applications folder, Recent Documents folder, Stickies, and Shut Down. Closer inspection will reveal both a new Note Pad and Scrapbook. And double-clicking on title bars of open windows activates the WindowShade feature, which ‘rolls up’ the whole window to just the title bar, allowing you to see behind that window without actually closing it.
While I cannot go into detail about each feature, I will share some brief thoughts about many of these new items. It’s really a breath of fresh air to have a number of excellent shareware utilities incorporated into System 7.5. Many such touches add much needed convenience to the daily tedium of working with the Finder, such as hierarchical menu items, a menu clock and quick access to recently used items via the Apple Menu. The ‘Shut Down’ option in the Apple Menu allows you to shut down from within any application, and the new Find File accessory puts System 7.1’s Find command to shame. A welcome addition to the Finder is a keyboard command for making aliases (⌘M), whose previous omission had caused me to curse Apple on a number of occasions.
Neat-oh!
I must admit, I love Stickies. This has got be one of the most ingenious additions to System 7.5 – on-screen Post-it Notes! I’ve always thought that those little pieces of paper were a great convenience, but I’d lose them in the blink of an eye. Well, not anymore. With Stickies I can remind myself of things to do in seven different colors and any font I want.
Wade into the System Folder and you’ll find a number of new and enhanced controls panels: Date & Time now offers you a wide variety of options for both time zones and the menu clock; Extensions Manager allows you to turn on and off system software components; WindowShade allows you to turn window collapsing on and off; and General Controls allows you to protect the System Folder from modification. In addition, you’ll find both PC Exchange 2.0 and Macintosh Easy Open to help you easily work with DOS and Windows files.
Of all the new control panels, Desktop Patterns is my favorite. Mac users can finally get larger, more colorful desktop patterns without resorting to a third-party utility. You can create your own patterns in a paint program and simply paste them into the Desktop Patterns control panel. The patterns don’t have to be square, either. I am currently using a brick-style pattern which is 32 pixels wide by 512 pixels long, and it gives my desktop quite a different look.
Updated Classics
At long last, Apple has updated both the Note Pad and Scrapbook. The new Note Pad allows you to add more pages as you need them; you are no longer stuck with eight tiny sheets. In addition, the new Note Pad is fully resizeable (you can drag the window to any size), you can choose the default font, and you can print your notes.
The new scrapbook’s major difference is that it is also fully resizeable. At the bottom of the Scrapbook you will now find a more complete information dialog box which tells you the dimensions, memory size and type of data displayed.
Drag and Drop
If my early enthusiasm is any indication, drag-and-drop will prove to be one of the most useful enhancements to the Mac OS. The basic idea of ‘drag and drop’ extends the notion of dragging data around within an application to dragging data between applications. For instance, if you had a both a paint program and a word processor that supported drag and drop, you could simply select your picture in the paint program and drag it onto the word processor window, placing it where you like. This would relieve you from the tedium of continuously copying and pasting.
An application must be drag and drop aware in order to use this feature, meaning software publishers must update their software products to support this technology. With System 7.5, the Note Pad, Scrapbook, SimpleText, Desktop Patterns control panel and Finder are all drag and drop savvy. Dragging any data to the Finder will result in the creation of a ‘clippings’ file which can be dragged to another application at a later time, or given to a friend who has System 7.5.
AppleGuide
Apple’s new on-line help system, AppleGuide, virtually eliminates the need for manuals. Ever cautious of loading up my system folder with system additions I never use, I seriously contemplated not installing AppleGuide. “After all,” I thought to myself, “I do write a monthly Macintosh e-zine. Like there’s anything AppleGuide could tell me that I don’t already know.”
I am glad I was not so self-confident. Installing AppleGuide was proved to be one of the smartest moves I made. Sure, I could look things up in a manual, and it would tell me how do complete certain tasks. But it wouldn’t show me. Using AppleGuide to learn about QuickDraw GX, I discovered things I would have missed for weeks, having just skimmed over the manual.
Simply by clicking on a topic, and then a question (such as, ‘how do I create a portable digital document?’), I was instantly presented with the solution. AppleGuide circles important areas with what appears to be a big red marker, and highlights menu options by coloring the text red and underlining it. (What I reluctantly discovered soon after installing System 7.5 was that AppleGuide required AppleScript to actually complete tasks for you. As I indicated above, I chose not to install AppleScript – for the simple reason that I was trying to keep down the RAM size of my active system. But more on that topic next month…)
As more and more software publishers support AppleGuide (by making their applications AppleScript-savvy and adding an AppleGuide help file), we may truly see the end to large manuals and passive help systems. AppleGuide promises to reduce the learning curve of new applications, reduce calls to technical support, and most importantly, eliminate the need for reading manuals!
And that's not all…
By themselves, the enhanced Finder and AppleGuide make the System 7.5 upgrade a worthwhile investment (though not a necessary one). But what of QuickDraw GX, PowerTalk, and AppleScript? How do they enhance the System 7.5 upgrade? Is it worthwhile to install these technologies? Part II of ‘Hands On: System 7.5’ will explore these questions in the next issue of MacSense.
 
We'd like to hear from you what you think about System 7.5. Please send us e-mail at MacSenseEd.@eWorld.com. (If you're an eWorld subscriber send your letters to MacSense Ed.) We reserve the right to edit letters for length and clarity.
