This is newsworthy because ... (Fill in the blank.)

Yes, it is newsworthy. The Lisa was a revolutionary for any one who was involved in typesetting/printing at that time. I bought a system for my printing business in the early 80s and started a true word processing service.

I have been using Macintosch computers ever since in business and privately.

altdrucker

Quote

Anonymous wrote:
Yes, it is newsworthy. The Lisa was a revolutionary for any one who was involved in typesetting/printing at that time. I bought a system for my printing business in the early 80s and started a true word processing service.

I have been using Macintosch computers ever since in business and privately.

altdrucker

They do a lot of stories about software for OS-X. This emulator is for OS-X, therefore it is newsworthy.

This is really cool. I'd also like to see a system 6 emulator.

Gslusher, I don't believe everything mentioned at MacObserver has to be newsworthy - this is more than a news site - it is also an observation site (Hence the title.) Newsworthy or not - I believe this story has interest for old and new Mac users. Emulators are wonderful for those who have not had the experience of using the actual piece of hardware, in this case allowing many to experience a piece of history. When this site becomes MacNewsObserver you may have a valid point, but seriously, even mainstream newspapers sometimes print human interest stories, on the first page, above the fold.

Don’t feed the trolls.

The Lisa emulator actually being able to boot up is a major milestone.

TMO covers a variety of software projects of interest to the Mac community, and the Lisa emulator is significant because:

1. Previously there have been few functional emulators for the Lisa, and none that I am aware of for Mac OS X.

2. Preserving the legacy and history of computing - and of Apple Computer - is a worthwhile and beneficial project which will give people a deeper understanding of both technology and human factors.

3. The Lisa is of particular interest since it is the direct progenitor of the Macintosh (and its user-interface in particular!) Many things which we take for granted - pull-down menus, close boxes, scroll bars, desk accessories, the Finder-style desktop, drag-and-drop, etc. - all originated with the Lisa.

Check out folklore.org for more information, including:

http://folklore.org/StoryView.py?story=Busy_Being_Born.txt
http://folklore.org/StoryView.py?story=On_Xerox,_Apple_and_Progress.txt

Understanding the Lisa also makes it easier to refute specious claims (frequently made by ignorant anti-Mac advocates) that "Apple stole the Macintosh interface from Xerox."

4. The Lisa was (and is?) in danger of being lost to the sands of time. For example, the source code to the final version of the Lisa Office system was lost. With a Lisa emulator, it may be easier to reconstruct the source by examining the object code as well as the last extant (alpha) version of the source code.

5. The best way to truly understand what it's like to use an old system is to use it. The next best thing is to use an emulator. Thanks to the Lisa emulator project for allowing many people to experience this ground-breaking machine!

p.s. For a System 6 (and earlier) emulator, take a look at the vmac project, www.vmac.org

Try Mini vMac