The Apple IIgs and you! The past, present and future!
Written by Richard Bennett.
Copyright (c) 1990 Apple Users' Group, Sydney
Republished from Applecations, a publication of the Apple Users' Group, Sydney, Australia.
It's almost three years to the day since my original review article on the Apple IIgs, and almost a year since the follow up. In this the fourth year of the IIgs' commercial existence, I thought it was about time I wrote yet another follow up. Please keep in mind, the ideas, rantings and ravings of the following text is wholly mine and is in no way related to the ideals of Apple Computer Inc. Although I have taken great care in my research, any misleading or incorrect statements are accidental, and I therefore hold no responsibility for anything said.
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1. Introduction 2. The 1986 IIgs
3. Software 4. Hardware
5. What to read 6. Where to go, who to see
7. Local dealer support 8. Local developers/enthusiasts
9. The new IIgs 10. Summary
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[ 1 ] - Introduction
Since the IIgs was released in September 1986 (three and a half years ago), we have seen many developments in the areas of software and hardware, each of which I will cover separately in the following sections. Other major issues to raise their heads include various debates on local software and hardware support, local developers, viruses, and above all, new machines.
[ 2 ] - The 1986 IIgs
When I bought my IIgs way back in 1986, I was looking forward to an all singing and dancing super 6502 machine that ran at super speeds and could perform like a Mac (if you so wished!).
What I got in fact, was an all singing and dancing super 6502 machine that crashed at super speeds and could perform like a Mac if you could afford the software and hardware expansion costs.
Yes, the graphics were and still are incredible. Yes, the sound was and still is brilliant. Yes, the speed was very fast, although now it seems it is not fast enough. Ok, if I wanted a Mac, I'd bloody well buy one.
Compatibility was a major issue at the time, but has since disappeared. Many of the older Apple II programs simply did not work on the IIgs, or they crashed while running or while exiting the control panel. Many of the people I know (including myself), still had their //es and //cs setup next to the IIgs so they could run the stuff that didn't work. Fortunately, this is no longer a problem. Companies now make sure that their software is compatible with the IIgs, and in
fact I haven't seen one non-compatible program for about two years now. (And hence my //e hasn't been powered on in just about as long)
When the IIgs was designed, the chip (65C816) could only handle a maximum speed of 2.8 Mhz. At first, this seemed to be ample. "Wow, Appleworks and Merlin run at super speed!". When desktop publishing and other Mac like applications started to appear (such as Appleworks GS - the snail), the speed problem started to rear it's ugly head. Great for Apple II users, but getting on the slow side for full Super Hires Mac type applications. Apple at that time couldn't respond, because the manufacturer of the chip (our old mate Bill Mensch) couldn't supply bulk with faster chips at a reasonable cost to the end user. It was this toss up that unfortunately turned some IIgs users away. Apple had to decide, and did so correctly, between two choices; a 2.8 machine (nearly three times faster than the then current Apple //e) at a price most people could afford, or a super fast machine designed with Mac type applications as it's mainstay at an excessive cost to the user. The conclusion? Until now the 2.8 Mhz restriction has sufficed, but to compete with the last //c (internal 3.5" drive and 4 Mhz 65C02), something had to be done. Apple, in there usual wisdom, have called once again on third party developers for the answer, which I will discuss later.
Aside from the rumours of a new graphics mode, developers still seem to impress even the most fanatical enthusiasts. The non-interlace mode of the Super Hires screen as well as the palette layout of the colours have been the two main strong points. With the release of the Sierra Online and Icom range of adventures and the Activision and Mindscape latest games, the call for higher graphics resolution has all but disappeared. The 640 x 200 pixel mode is high enough for most desktop publishing and cad applications, although the 200 vertical limitation is starting to create waves within the industry. Considering the Apple II standard hires of 140 x 192 colour, and that the Super Hires screen is in fact physically longer than the standard hires, the vertical resolution could be improved somewhat. Yet the IIgs graphics still seem to amaze us all. If you were at the November meeting of the AUG, you would have seen the latest version of The Graphics Exchange (by local developer John MacLean) displaying GIF pictures. It basicly blew away everyone present!
The sound of the IIgs is driven through a 32 channel ensoniq synthesizer chip, which was then quickly sussed out and used by the Mac people. Apple now have their own sound chip, which is yet to be used in the IIgs. At last, the power of sound, and the IIgs sound in particular, is starting to be recognised. Even the mono jack on the back of the IIgs is now stereo (although the output is still mono).
My last two reviews couldn't really make a decision on the IIgs keyboard. Originally, I preferred the //e keyboard, and then the IIgs and Mac II keyboards. Well now I actually use
a Mac II keyboard (yes you can get them from a dealer), and prefer it over all the others. It actually has side rests, and a proper keyboardy feel. Although the IIgs keyboard is still faster (yes, Mac owners can buy them from a dealer), it is too plasticy (such a word?) and light for long hours of proper typing.
[ 3 ] - Software
The IIgs software base came through two major splurges during it's relatively short history. The first being the wave of pre-release software developed before and slightly after the IIgs' original release. These packages all showed off the tremendous power of the latest member of the Apple II family. The second wave came with the release by Apple of GS/OS. Many third party products were actually held back until it's release, which seemed to be delayed by Apple for various reasons for a couple of months. Now, IIgs software is appearing faster than ever before. Considering the graphics and sound of the IIgs, and it's education history, it's no wonder that most of the software coming out now is either educational, or games oriented. However, if the current trends in speed and storage continue, the IIgs should see some pretty powerful productivity stuff soon.
[ 4 ] - Hardware
The obvious improvement here, as I mentioned before, is in the area of accelerators. With Applied Engineering, Zip, and Rocket (R.I.P.) all bragging 10 Mhz chips, it's a wonder that Apple still slogs away with it's measly 2.8. After using Cameron's (Cameron Brawn - BBS sysop) 6 Mhz Transwarp for a weekend, I finally realised what all the fuss was about. If your applications do a lot of invisible work (calculations, manipulations etc), then you sure can notice the difference. However, if you're simply using Finder and a few screen oriented programs, then System 5 is really all you need. After using the Transwarp for a weekend, I'm still running at the standard 2.8 under System 5.
Rumours of 20 Mhz and greater are starting to appear as well now, so maybe by the end of 1990 I will have a faster machine, however I don't think Apple can actually hold out much longer without doing something about it. Apple's line so far has been "We'll do the software and disk stuff, you guys can do the processor!". It took them 4-5 years to make a 4 Mhz //c, but considering the work now going into the IIgs (apparent from System 5 and the Apple statement of supporting the Apple II until at least 1995), this shouldn't be as long with the IIgs.
Hard disks. Gone are the days of 5 megabyte hard disks. In the last couple of years, hard disks have really taken off, with the average size currently at about 60-80 megabytes. CMS and other developers are now marketing drives of up to 300 and 600 megabytes. Apart from the fact that no-one has a
phone list that big, it is quite astounding to compare that with the Apple 5 megabyte profile (slofile) of 1983. Not only is it larger storage, but it is also a faster transfer rate, and it's physically smaller in size. I currently have a 100 meg drive (I spend most of my time trying to fill it up, but you can only write so many programs and letters), which flies at some incredible speed which gets close to rivalling my RAM disk, and it's no where near as leading edge as some hard disks I've seen. Yep, hard disks are now a part of life, although with the way optical media in general is currently going, they may not be here for much longer!
[ 5 ] - What to read
Various magazines have come and gone throughout the years, but which ones are the ones to read? With the down fall of Softalk magazine in 1985, quite a few magazines have taken that in their stride and carried on. Softalk was the definitive magazine for Apple II users/enthusiasts, which during it's heyday was known to contain up to and over 350 pages per issue. Considering that it was a monthly magazine, this is quite staggering considering that Byte magazine (covering all types of computers) currently reaches the 300-450 page mark. Softalk started quite a few institutions, these being;
"Assembly Lines" - The Assembler Language column by none other than Roger Wagner. The book of the column was available after a while, and was called "Assembly Lines the book", which quickly became the definitive book for learning assembler.
"Graphically Speaking" - The graphics column by Mark "Penguin Software and graphics magician" Pelczarski.
"DOStalk" - By Bert "Beagle Bros. DOS BOSS" Kersey.
Now to each of the Apple II only magazines;
"A+" - It used to cover the Apple II and the Mac, but sensibly dropped the second one due to lack of interest, and due to it being purely a toy for illiterate users. The number of pages has come down in the last two years and is now standard at about 100-150 pages.
"InCider" - Now merged with A+ to form the biggest Apple II magazine currently available. InCider has always covered just the Apple II range.
"A2 Central" - Used to be called "Open Apple". The brain child of Tom "Beagle Bros." Weishaar. Each monthly issue contains roughly 8-10 pages crammed full of news and letters on the Apple II world. If you wish to stay abreast of what's happening in the Apple II world without the slant of a
journalist, subscribe to A2 Central. The size of each issue is surely deceiving as to how much information is crammed inside.
"The Sourceror's Apprentice" - A successor to "Apple Assembly Lines", and concentrates on Assembly Language programming only.
"Apple IIgs buyers guide" - A quarterly publication listing all the IIgs products currently available from retailers.
"Reboot" - A monthly newsletter concentrating on Applesoft programming.
"Nibble" - A programmers introduction style of magazine paying attention to all the Applesoft programmers/users of the world.
"Compute's Apple" - More or less a beginner's guide to the Apple II. Although some of the articles are quite technical, it's main niche is the education and home market. Compute also release books on many Apple topics, one being "Compute's guide to the IIgs toolbox"
"Hardcore" - Starting out as simply a newsletter detailing how to crack (remove copy protection from) programs, it has expanded over the years into magazine format with not only cracking details, but many technical articles on the more advanced topics of the Apple II range, including unfortunately, piracy. It seems to sell only by subscription in Australia, and in most areas Hardcore is a dirty word and instantaneously associated with software pirates.
And now a few of the various general computer magazines that contain Apple II sections;
"Your Computer" - When You Computer first came out (with Peter Sandys as editor of the "Your Apple" column), over 50% of the magazine was dedicated to the Apple II. This gradually started to decrease as the microbee, BBC, Amstrad and IBM machines took over. These days, if you're lucky, you can find a one or two page article in the back entitled "Your Apple II" or "Your Apple IIgs". Your Computer's almost total MS-DOS dedication has been it's downfall as far as non-MS-DOS users go, and most of the original subscribers no longer bother with it. Your Computer is known in the Apple world as "Your IBM". If you want to cover the Australian computer industry in general (or in MS-DOS as the case may be), then this is the one for you. Peter Phillips, who writes for the Apple II section, must surely be dedicated. For this, Peter we thank you.
"Australian Personal Computer" - APC was one of the first Australian computer magazines. It never concentrated too
much on one particular variety of machine, and because of this never really made number one. As far as I know, APC is still going, but I don't know how the Apple II coverage is handled. (Anyone else fill us in on this?)
Deceased magazines;
"Softalk" - Of course.
"Australian Apple review" - Locally produced and edited by none other than Gareth Powell. The copy was printed on a lazerwriter, and hence the magazine had a very homely feel. It covered most of the issues concerning the Australian scene, and the very products that were available here. Never a very technical magazine, but great to keep in touch with the local scene. All this was funded personally by Gareth Powell, but was dumped a year or so ago because it couldn't support itself.
"Apple assembly lines" - An assembler programming only magazine. Rather small in size, but technical content was quite significant. Almost an underground magazine for Apple II hackers, but unfortunately no longer exists.
Of course the various Apple computer clubs around the world also produce their own monthly magazines, of which the AUG is no exception. For information on magazines by other clubs, contact the AUG on one of the numbers listed in the front of Applecations.
[ 6 ] - Where to go, who to see
Interest in the IIgs has seemed to increased in the last year or so, and this is reflected in the number of hardware and software packages now becoming available. The user base seems to be now split up into a couple of major groups; Education (School and home), Personal productivity (Apple II users from way back, or purchases recommended from current owners), and Enthusiasts (Ever since 1976, these people have just loved to hack out the inner workings of each new Apple II).
The AUG holds a GS special interest group, which at times has a greater attendance than the Apple II main meeting. The GS sig covers new software and hardware releases, demonstrations of many of these new products, problems users have experienced, news of the industry in general, and close links with various dealers, suppliers and developers. If you have a particular problem with the use or understanding, or even programming of the IIgs, chances are that someone in the sig can help.
The GS sig meeting is held on the first monday of each month at Sydney University. (Where the usual AUG Apple II main meeting is held on the second Monday of each month)
[ 7 ] - Local dealers
Dealers have come and go during the past couple of years, but many have stayed, with name changes or smudges on their reputations. The problem still being the lack of software being supplied by these dealers, and the Apple II experience of the employees. However, there are dealers out there with a genuine Apple II background, and once you've found them you'll never look back.
Imagineering have recently sold off their Apple II interests (stop cheering please!) to Ozi Soft (coming back into the Apple II arena?) and GS Sales and Imports (part of Terry Cass' IIgs community).
Greyware is becoming a pretty hot issue now, with a new local dealer called Two Series Software attempting to sell software and hardware at reduced (more realistic) prices. And of course we still have Techflow and Dataflow supporting the Apple II as importers and distributors.
[ 8 ] - Local developers/enthusiasts
Local developers are starting to spring up everywhere these days. So much so, that the Australasian Apple Programmers and Developers Association (AAPDA) is now running meetings in Sydney (at their offices on the second Tuesday of each month), helped out by AAPDA and Apple employees. Also featuring quite a few developers, is the GS sig of the AUG.
The first Apple developer conference in Canberra during 1987, turned up very few IIgs developers. Peter Sandys' total commitment to the product was one of the main strong points of the breakout sessions, but he was unfortunately moved to Apple Inc. state side shortly afterward. The second, in 1988, actually featured quite a few IIgs developers, but most from the 1987 effort didn't attend due to both lack of interest the first time, and the rather high expense of spending a long weekend in the blue mountains.
This left Frank Revell to re-fuel the IIgs fire, a role which he fitted into perfectly.
The two main events of the past year, were the Apple user group convention in Manly during April (thank you Frank), and the Apple II developers conference (again in Manly) last August organised by Godfrey Gamble and Co. in his new position at Apple (thank you Godfrey). The next big event, is the 1990 Apple user group convention which, knowing Frank, should be even bigger and better than the last.
[ 9 ] - The new IIgs
Finally, the new IIgs was released. But, it wasn't REALLY what we were all expecting, was it? If you believed the various rumours, we were about to get a super charged 8 Mhz IIgs with built in 3.5" superdrive, SCSI port, 640x400 graphics, 4 meg on board, and at a cost of only about $3000.
What did we get? Well, it had more memory (1128K). It had more features for programmers. And more importantly, it had a larger percentage of the System 5 tools in a ROM that was double the size of the last machine. For users, the question still remains: What did Apple actually spend two years doing? If you're a programmer, then you know the obvious answer.
The tools and improvements implemented in System 5 were incredible. Timings between System 4 and System 5 were unbelievable. You can actually check out some of the enhancements by using the new Control Panel NDA from Finder, as it actually uses a lot of the newer tools. Overall however, the main enhancements have been invisible ones. On closer examination, you can tell that Apple definitely has something in mind for the IIgs, and if you think the current System 5 is powerful, then you'd better think again.
[ 10 ] - Summary
The IIgs is finally coming through the rough waters as far as user support is concerned. The future of the machine is starting to look a lot rosier. The beginning of the Apple II developers conference seemed to be marking the death toll of the Apple II, but after a weekend of talking to other developers, and more significantly the engineers who actually came out from the US, most people came back with a breath of fresh air. As I mentioned in the last article, the future of the IIgs is totally dependent on the support of it's user base, and as such it's up to us to keep the thing alive. I am yet to meet a IIgs owner who was not happy with his machine, yet we all hear constant complaints. Everyone complains about the IIgs and it's limitations, yet few people actually put their money where their mouth is and get rid of it. Why? Because it still does things other computers only dream of, and even the most mundane computer tasks only much better, and with more style and class than any of it's competitors!
Apple enthusiasts have always been the lucky ones. What with their memory restrictions, speed restrictions, storage restrictions etc etc etc... whilst the IBM world constantly complains about all of the above. Well now it's our turn to face the music, and I think we, and Apple, are finally ready to take the Apple II seriously! Bring on the next decade!

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