Mac software used on 3.5-inch discs Floppy. Now, using the Macdisk utility, you can read them on modern Windows computers.
When Macintosh was first released in 1984, it did not include a mass storage, hard drive or SSD. Instead, he comes with a 3.5-inch disk drive developed by Sony.
Before the Internet, most personal computer program programs were sold and distributed in this way. First, on 8-inch flopes, then on 5.25-inch discs with the Apple II and IBM PC and, finally, on 3.5 inch discs.
in fact, when the Mac was still developed, Steve Jobs made a special trip to Japan to talk with Sony about licensing a 3.5-inch disc for use in the original Mac.
Apple also played with the idea of creating a double 5.25-inch model of a flexible Mac, but later abandoned these plans.
Later Apple sold 3.5-inch external flexible discs in 800K and 1.44 MB power. They are connected to the rear of the MAC with a special patented Apple connector and cable.
Flexible discs were slow, and the early MAC users should have endured the troubles of constant replacement of disk disking disks and the exit from the Mac so that the computer could access both the operating system and applications. The first three Mac models worked in this way.
Apple later added its first SCSI internal hard drive to Macintosh SE, which also included an internal 3.5-inch flexible disk. Some later SE models were supplied with double 3.5-inch drives or option to add a second disc later.
In 2019, the 3.5-inch Steve Jobs dispatcher was shown on the top of this article sold for the colossal $ 84,000 at the auction.
Apple-formatted floppies
The early Mac used the early Mac The patented format of flexible discs, and as soon as the Mac 3.5-inch disk was created, it could not be read at the IBM PC standard. This made it difficult to transfer files between two types of computers.
Later, the companies released third-party software, such as Accesspc, which allowed MACS to read 3.5-inch wheels formatted by the PC.
Apple itself ultimately decided to sell a similar software called Exchange PC. Ultimately, he got into the Mac OS itself, so Mac users can read floppy on their Mac.
as before, going in a different direction, from Mac to PC, remained unpleasant.
Steve Wozniak-AutoGraphed 3.5-inch disc. Resource forks in the MAC applications made up the user interface, but resources can also be used to store small amounts of data in applications for subsequent search.
The problem was that if you tried to transfer the early Mac files to the PC, the Forks resources will be deprived of files, as a rule, they are damaged.
Some software suppliers overcome this problem by creating compression utilities of Mac (for example, Binhex), which can combine data and resource views into one compressed file. This meant that they could be copied on a pc on floppy or through networks.
The use of 3.5-inch Mac Floppies with Modern PCS
one of these utilities is the MACDISK from L & amp; S duhem. The company also produces two other utilities of Windows associated with Mac: Mac2SFM and Macimage (for the production of compact disks and DVD).
MAC2SFM is included in the Macdisk package.
All these utilities are more old 32-bit applications and have not been updated in more than a decade. Nevertheless, the site says that they work in Windows XP, 7 and 10, but Windows 11 support is not mentioned.
, unfortunately, MacDisk supports only a later format of 1.44 MB Mac and does not support earlier 800 thousand/400 thousand formats
USING A 3.5-Inch USB DREVE TOO TOO Access Mac Floppies
Apple Stopped Including Floppy Disk goes to the Mac, somewhere in the middle until the end of the 1990s and approximately at a time when Steve Jobs returned in 1997 to save Apple. The original IMAC, which was supplied in 199.8, included the internal CD-R disc, but without a flexible drive.
several companies at that time sold external 3.5-inch USB-disks to connect to more new Mac so that users can continue to read their discs.
General 3.5-inch USB PC Floppy Drive.
Today, even some external USB PC 3.5-inch discs will work on modern Mac. In this case, you may have problems reading disks, depending on the initial disks formats.
for the latest Mac, which have only USB-C/Thunderbolt ports, you will also need an adapter like USB-C to USB-A (about $ 10) for connecting to discs. Class = “Col-SM-12″> downloading and installing the Macdisk on Windows computer is simple. Just download one .exe file to your computer and run it.
Macdisk is quite easy to use in Windows 10, with one main window, toolbar and menu. You can read, write and format 3.5-inch floppy for Macs in Macdisk.
He also has many other cool dilated functions, such as creating a new MAC disc from the existing Windows disc, as well as from the MAC files themselves.
You can combine the MAC files on the disk, and then read it on the Mac. You can also create .DSK files that were a common format for Apple II computers and the early Mac.
For a complete idea of MACDISK in operation, watch the video of Tommy Oreen, I have received my life in my classic Macintosh since 1990! On his Arctic retro -channel YouTube.
If you need a more modern (and commercial) method of reading the Mac disks in Windows, including Windows 1.1, see Macdrive ' SWC ($ 49.99 with a free trial version).
for an older software for Mac, which works on classic Mac, visit an Internet archive or, for network software, see Mac Orchard.
for a real trip along the Mac memory lane, go to the Vintage Mac museum, which also has many interesting articles and vintage Macs.
