Making Classic look a little more civilised

[Handsfree]

Following on from some of the comments here on using FreeHand when using Classic under emulation it tends to look 'clunky' (in comparison to the latest smooth osx). So I do have a ready working solution which solves the problem for me. By all accounts FreeHand and Classic are pretty stable under emulation which is good news. Anyway try these and be impressed with what you can do to make the emulation 'seamless'.

a. Change the 'look' and feel of the Classic (os9) GUI interface to match osx or PC or any 'other' number of other 'look' options are also available. This was pioneering work by apple at the time and some third party 'appearences; were actually banned by apple (as they looked too much like osx). Changing the look is a breeze as it is already an option on any Mac system post os 8 to 9. (put them in the System Folder > Appearance > Theme Files folder).

Download option 1: http://macintoshgarden.org/apps/appeara ... ce-manager

Download option 2. http://macgui.com/downloads/?cat_id=11

b. Another problem you will find (if you work work with lots of fonts and TYPE is that the old 'adobe 'type reunion' will not work in Classic (although Type ATM that renders Type on screen works fine). Type Align was a little utility that groups fonts into family groups. Action WYSIWIG solves that problem and is a good alternative under Classic. Essential.

Download that here: http://www.tucows.com/preview/204314/ACTION-WYSIWYG
(Powersoft website when working is here: http://www.poweronsoftware.com/download.htm)

c. That Classic does NOT have 'anti-aliasing' as standard makes Classic look 'old' so we can correct that too with another little utility that anti-aliases all type exactly as fonts in osx (including System fonts). It makes a hell of a difference visually to the overall classic environment and you can customise the settings to suit your screen. It is called Smooth Type and works wonderfully. Essential.

Download that here: http://kaleidoscope.net/greg/smoothtype.html

d. Although not entirely 'essential' I also match the osx feel with 'Power Windows' that makes the windows partially transparent and other small refinements to the Menus which are optional but I recommend that if you have a fast processor.

Download that here: http://kaleidoscope.net/greg/PowerWindows.html

e. Finally and I am not sure it is working (or not) is that 'Start-up Doubler' is now FREEWARE and should make boot ups faster. It works with Classic (although I am not sure it is in fact any faster than usual under standard emulation). But on my laptop (if I boot into os9) it works fine. Not essential.

Download that here: marcmoini.com/StartupDoubler.htm

f. I also use TILESWITCHER which switches between open applications in Classic and osx. It aids navigation and is free. Stuffit file:

Download that here: http://sn.im/28nih1f-mdu

g. Letraset Charcter Chooser is still hard to beat (even in osx). Hard to find link now. I wish there was an osx version that workes as well.

Download that here: http://sn.im/28niil4-dkf

That should keep some of us busy and extend the life of our Classic Macs and FreeHand under emulation.

[Handsfree]

Correcting my own post here: They control panel 'adobe Type Align' (above should actually be 'adobe TYPE REUNION' - (ATR) (which never worked under Classic 9 anyway, although it did work fine up to Mac OS8). An alternative (and better) work around is using Extensis Suitcase which installs a small control panels that does the same as TYPE REUNION for Os9 (plus an installation enabling 'activation' plug-in for both Quark or/and Adobe Illustrator (and of course all versions of Aldus to Macromedia FreeHand). The Extensis Font reunion control panel stopped under 'classic os9 emulation' therefore the only alternative I found that works is Powersoft's WYSIWYG which works with both Quark and FreeHand under emulation.

Download that here: http://www.tucows.com/preview/204314/ACTION-WYSIWYG

[FFH Mark]

I was in Sheepshaver this week to install and try out some old Xtras and kept thinking how the classic OS9 desktop looked like shit, especially the text. I have a lot of these utilities and programs I bought back then so will dig them out. This is great information.