Mac OS X Unleashed

By John Ray and William C. Ray

• Table of Contents
  • Copyright
  • About the Author
  • Acknowledgments
  • Tell Us What You Think!
  • Introduction
  • Part I: Introduction to Mac OS X
  • Chapter 1. Mac OS X Component Architecture
  • Chapter 2. Installing Mac OS X
  • Chapter 3. Mac OS X Basics
  • Chapter 4. The Finder: Working with Files and Applications
  • Chapter 5. Running Classic Mac OS Applications
    • The Classic Environment
    • Launching Classic
    • The Boot Process
    • Running Classic Applications
    • Classic Options
    • Direct Booting Mac OS 9.x
    • Summary
  • Part II: Inside Mac OS X
  • Chapter 6. Native Utilities and Applications
  • Chapter 7. Internet Communications
  • Chapter 8. Installing Third-Party Applications
  • Part III: User-Level OS X Configuration
  • Chapter 9. Network Setup
  • Chapter 10. Printer and Font Management
  • Chapter 11. Additional System Components
  • Part IV: Introduction to BSD Applications
  • Chapter 12. Introducing the BSD Subsystem
  • Chapter 13. Common Unix Shell Commands: File Operations
  • Part V: Advanced Command-Line Concepts
  • Chapter 14. Advanced Shell Concepts and Commands
  • Chapter 15. Command-Line Applications and Application Suites
  • Chapter 16. Command-Line Software Installation
  • Chapter 17. Troubleshooting Software Installs, and Compiling and Debugging Manually
  • Chapter 18. Advanced Unix Shell Use: Configuration and Programming (Shell Scripting)
  • Part VI: Server/Network Administration
  • Chapter 19. X Window System Applications
  • Chapter 20. Command-Line Configuration and Administration
  • Chapter 21. AppleScript
  • Chapter 22. Perl Scripting and SQL Connectivity
  • Chapter 23. File and Resource Sharing with NetInfo
  • Chapter 24. User Management and Machine Clustering
  • Chapter 25. FTP Serving
  • Chapter 26. Remote Access and Administration
  • Chapter 27. Web Serving
  • Part VII: Server Health
  • Chapter 28. Web Programming
  • Chapter 29. Creating a Mail Server
  • Chapter 30. Accessing and Serving a Windows Network
  • Chapter 31. Server Security and Advanced Network Configuration
  • Chapter 32. System Maintenance
  • Appendix A. Command-Line Reference
  • Appendix B. Administration Reference

Classic Options

Maintaining a healthy Classic environment is the same as maintaining a healthy Mac OS 9.x installation. If you use Classic on your OS X computer, you're essentially charged with keeping two operating systems up and running.

Apple has kindly included two features in Mac OS X that help fix a common problem and speed up overall system functions. Figure 5.15 shows the Advanced tab of the Classic System Preferences panel.

Figure 5.15 Choose to rebuild your OS 9.x desktop or put the system to sleep.

Options such as putting Classic to sleep and rebuilding the desktop are available within the Advanced tab. Use the following advanced settings to gain greater control of Classic:

• Put Classic to sleep when it is inactive for— When Classic is running, it is using your system resources. The Classic environment continues to use CPU time even if you aren't running a Classic application. This is because Mac OS 9.x must keep up the basic system maintenance and monitoring processes that happen behind the scenes. If you choose to put Classic to sleep, it will stop using these resources after the length of time you choose.

• Rebuild Desktop— Rebuilding the Mac OS 9.x desktop can help solve "generic icon" problems (as demonstrated in Figure 5.16), as well as issues with documents that can't find the appropriate Classic application to open them. If your Classic environment starts to act unusual, rebuilding the desktop is a good place to start.
  

  Figure 5.16 Generic icons are a good indicator of a desktop that needs rebuilt.

Classic functions best when it is used as a means of accessing legacy applications and data. You should maintain as minimal a system software installation as possible. Extensions and control panels that are not needed should be removed. If possible, choose one of the base extension sets from within the Extensions Manager and stick with it.

Shut off any extraneous features of Mac OS 9.x, such as the Finder soundtrack (within the Appearance control panel) and talking alerts. These slow down system performance and can cause hiccups within Mac OS X.

If you have complex needs that Classic cannot fulfill, you can also boot directly into Mac OS 9.x. In many cases, this can save you from the headaches of dealing with the inconsistencies and incompatibilities of Classic, and provide greater speed and ease of use.

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