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- In the early days of the Macintosh, programs were small enough to fit
- on a single floppy. The MacOS of the time was simple enough that
- installation of new software on a Macintosh consisted of inserting the
- floppy with the new software and using drag and drop to copy the
- application from the floppy to your hard disk.
-
- As software grew and the MacOS became more complex, software
- developers began requiring users to run "installers" to install new
- software. These installers often used file compression so that more
- software could be put on fewer floppies. The increasing complexity of
- the MacOS also made the installation procedure more tricky, since
- certain files would need to be copied into the System Folder and the
- machine might need to be rebooted after the System Folder was
- modified. Installers did all the tricky work. Now, with software very
- large and the MacOS very complex, installers are common even with
- shareware and other software that you might download from the Internet
- or a bulletin board.
-
- Unfortunately, because of the complexity of the MacOS, some installers
- use intimate knowledge of the MacOS to work their wonders. This use of
- intimate knowledge makes it hard for emulators such as Executor to
- work properly with these rogue installers. In fact, the first release
- of Apple's own "Macintosh Application Environment" (MAE) couldn't run
- some versions of Apple's own installer -- the problem is that bad.
-
- Currently, installers based on that older version of Apple's Installer
- will fail under Executor. The most popular program that uses Apple's
- old installer is Word 5.
-
- With a little creativity, you can usually install these programs into
- Executor anyway. Here are some of the methods past users have used:
-
-
- I. Stuffit Expander, an extremely flexible freeware utility which is
- included with Executor, may be able to unpack the files just as the
- actual installer would. You can then move them into their proper
- places by hand. Often there will be a file or folder which will need
- to be moved into the System Folder. Executor users have successfully
- installed Microsoft Word using Stuffit Expander.
-
- II. Install the program on a real Macintosh, and move the installed
- program to Executor. You can do this file-by-file in a pinch, but
- it's usually quicker and easier to compress the installed program
- using Stuffit or Compact Pro. Don't forget to add to the archive
- anything which the installer might have put into the Macintosh's
- System Folder.
-
- Once you have the archive, you can move it to Executor and use
- Stuffit Expander to unpack it there. Again, anything which goes in
- the System Folder on a real Macintosh should also go in the System
- Folder under Executor.
-
- III. Install the program on a real Macintosh which is equipped with an
- external Macintosh hard drive. Disconnect the external drive and
- connect it to your PC. Use Executor to run the program from the
- external drive, or to copy it from there to your PC drive.
-
-
- ARDI has been making progress with installers, as has Apple. In
- general, newer installers are much more likely to work with Executor.
-