Questions about Classic Mode

[WMD]

I installed Classic today and...stopped by The Underdogs.

1.  During gameplay, the CPU goes to 100% and I have to turn the CPU to "reduced" to keep the fans from going crazy.  SimpleText doesn't do this (although the CPU usage goes up a bit).  Is this supposed to happen?  I guess it might because of the way OS 9 multiasking works.

2.  Is there some way to use the OS 9 Finder at all?

[sjor]

Is this supposed to happen?

So far to my knowledge, yes. I have a Mac G4 and I can boot into OS9. Each time I do, the fans are really noisy.

Is there some way to use the OS 9 Finder at all?

It depends on the type of Macintosh you have. If you have an earlier model, you may be able to reboot into OS9 to use the Finder then. However, if you have a later model, such as the Mac G5, then no.

[WMD]

So far to my knowledge, yes. I have a Mac G4 and I can boot into OS9. Each time I do, the fans are really noisy.

Adding on, I also notice this varies oddly...for example, playing B&W Tetris for System 6 (hey, I love Tetris ), it goes to 100%, but then I pause it, and it goes back down.  When I unpause, it stays down for 4-5 seconds of gameplay, and then goes back up.

It depends on the type of Macintosh you have. If you have an earlier model, you may be able to reboot into OS9 to use the Finder then. However, if you have a later model, such as the Mac G5, then no.

It's a new PowerBook.  I don't mean to use the entire Finder app (desktop, menu, etc.), I just want to use the file manager.  Is there some way to launch that?

[hm_murdock]

No. There is no way to launch the OS 9 Finder inside Classic. Classic uses the file "Classic Support" and "Classic UI" in place of the Finder.

[Kintaro]

From the sound of it, Classic uses something on the same level of poor implementation (either due to a feature lacking language or kernel) much like many DOS multitasking systems and even my own threading/multitasking workarounds I have done in the past with good ole Visual Basic for Dos (otherwise known as QBasic).

This is because oldschool crap lacks threading, hell even Windows lacks decent threading. Threading is what UNIX has had for like 20 years and gives it a major edge over everything else. If UNIX wasn't so damn good Apple would have never adopted it .

[themacuser]

No. There is no way to launch the OS 9 Finder inside Classic. Classic uses the file "Classic Support" and "Classic UI" in place of the Finder.

Yes there is. I've done it, but it's screwy.

This was back in the 10.2 days though.

Open finder with ResEdit and change type/creator to APPL/???? (instead of FNDR/MACS). It will now launch as a classic app. You won't be able to see it though. Hit tab, then command-O to open a finder window. You can't see the desktop, just windows coming up. Welcome to an exercise in true pointlessness.

[hm_murdock]

Back in the OS X betas, you could've done that and run full-screen BlueBox and had the Finder. Or, run BlueBox in a window, and have the Finder. Back then, they hadn't melded Classic into running side by side, it was still in a window.

Only thing is what's wrong with OS X's Finder?

From the sound of it, Classic uses something on the same level of poor implementation (either due to a feature lacking language or kernel) much like many DOS multitasking systems and even my own threading/multitasking workarounds I have done in the past with good ole Visual Basic for Dos (otherwise known as QBasic).

This is because oldschool crap lacks threading, hell even Windows lacks decent threading. Threading is what UNIX has had for like 20 years and gives it a major edge over everything else. If UNIX wasn't so damn good Apple would have never adopted it .

Actually, Classic is a really, really wierd animal because it's OS 9 running side by side with OS X. Both kernels are loaded and active OS 9 apps draw through QuickDraw, and then the Classic environment displays it via Quartz. In 10.3 and beyond, Classic renders directly to Quartz, supporting window layering and all that jazz. But it still remains that Classic is OS 9, and all the Classic apps run in it. It can still crash, and in older OS X releases that happened... a lot. You'd get the OS 9 system error dialog and then Classic goes away. Or an app would hang 9 and Classic would be hung.

It's a royal work of hackery and a state of the art kludge. It still has to follow its own rules, and uses its own old APIs. Hell, you can even force some Carbon apps to run in Classic rather than using X's native Carbon libs. That's really funky... to have Photoshop 7 running in OS X, then run it again in Classic.

As for your interpretation of the problem, you're exactly right. OS 9 lacks threading. It's a cooperative multitasking system, and uses a completely different API (Mac Toolbox) from OS X (Cocoa and Carbon). Add to that, Apple intentionally designed Classic to be ugly and kludgy in an attempt to force developers to make X native versions of their apps. Well, it worked.

[WMD]

Only thing is what's wrong with OS X's Finder?

A lot more than what's wrong with OS 9's, that's for sure.

Examples:
1.  Finder 10.4.2 crashes on me once a week, on average.
2.  The icons are placed a fucking mile apart.
3.  Lots of other bits that don't piss me off as much as they do other people.

[WMD]

I have now noticed different behavior in regards to my original question #1.  Now, during gameplay, the CPU usage is quite low, BUT, when I switch away from the game, it goes to 100%.  This I can comprehend, as back in the OS 9 days, clicking a menu would usually bring you to 100% usage.  This is much the same thing, I believe.  I like this way much better, as I can play long Tetris games without the damn computer frying my nuts.