Fat Mac Switcher

Make a 128K Mac FOR CHEAP with Fat Mac Switcher, but have 512K RAM too!
🔎 INDEX
0:00 - Intro
4:11 - Installation
42:55 - Testing
58:21 - Closing Words
⚠️ CAUTION!
It's OK to boot/use your compact Mac with the case-back off, but DO NOT work inside it while powered. No need to discharge the CRT for Fat Mac Switcher installs, but DO NOT touch the back of the CRT. Power off, then disconnect the motherboard carefully such that your hand won't fly upward and break the CRT yoke (not repairable). Toggle Fat Mac Switcher only while powered-off. Be Safe, and Have fun!
🛒 STUFF TO BUY
• Fat Mac Switcher: bit.ly/43GDQYj
• Torx T15 with LONG 12" (30cm) neck (to open Mac): amzn.to/3qLyJYb
• RAM chips†: bit.ly/42K4jD3
• RAM sockets†: bit.ly/42K4pup
† 16 chips & sockets required ONLY for 128K motherboards. Kay Koba suggests buying 18 chips just in case 1 or 2 are bad because X-ray machines can kill them!
• FloppyEMU: tinyurl.com/2y9dth3n
• ROM-inator: bit.ly/3qQAKCE
• Caymac Vintage Store (Mac-O-Meter, etc.): ko-fi.com/caymacvintage/shop
In Asia or Europe? Email Joakim Larsson at [e-mail] for a price quote.
(My video about those great products is coming soon.)
🛠️ TOOLS
• YIHUA 959D Hot Air Station: amzn.to/3x4E9O1
• Hakko FR301 Desoldering Station (MUCH better than mine!): amzn.to/3JjeGqm
• Hakko FX888D Soldering Station: amzn.to/3ArxBJ6
💁‍♂️Always use 350°C & Leaded solder.
• Solder (Leaded Rosin Core 0.6mm): amzn.to/3DVnAro
• MG Chemicals Flux: amzn.to/3kuAcsZ
• Desoldering wick: amzn.to/3iMAnA5
• 99% ISO Alcohol (Spray Bottle!): amzn.to/3ae4fG6
• 99% ISO Alcohol: amzn.to/3NoFkxN
• 99% ISO Alcohol: amzn.to/2MkjS3h
💁‍♂️3 alcohol choices because it's often out of stock. 70% will work, 91% is better, but 99% is best for electronics cleaning (fast drying & no residue).
• Tweezer kit: amzn.to/3JTT4C1
• Helping Hands & Magnifier (cheap): amzn.to/3lqHMeE
• 5x or 10x illuminated Magnifier: amzn.to/3YCySJ7
• Rubberized Vice: amzn.to/3x78yuX
• EEVBlog 121GW Multimeter: bit.ly/40EOwWj
• ProbeMaster 8043SK Kit: bit.ly/3ZaqPDp
💵 Some links above lead to Amazon USA. If you click & purchase within 24 hours, Amazon may pay me a small commission on qualifying items in your Cart.
💾 SOFTWARE
• MacWrite: bit.ly/42HCtXZ
• MacPaint: bit.ly/3p5YKRw
• FullPaint: tinyurl.com/3pj26m7c
• System 0.85 (needs 64K ROMs): bit.ly/42YQb9f
• MacAttack! (tank sim): bit.ly/3NAbvgN
• StuntCopter: tinyurl.com/23m3893p
• Lode Runner: bit.ly/43NThOn
• PRAM 5.0: tinyurl.com/4zpxujax
• BasetoBase RPN Calculator: tinyurl.com/mvs5urkz
📚 REFERENCE
• Manual for Fat Mac Switcher: tinyurl.com/ycxkd9ec
• ‪@CayMacVintage‬ shows RAM chip removal: • NO AUDIO - Macintosh 1...
• 800K drive & 64K ROMs (pulsing problem explained): tinyurl.com/bdzxmsum
• Apple Does It Again (1984 brochure for resellers): tinyurl.com/26b82xht
• My ROM-inator Video: • ROM-inator Kit Build &...
• Early Mac sales numbers: tinyurl.com/mr2jz64k
• Lisa sales numbers: tinyurl.com/mryhsp3p
🙏 HUMBLE THANKS to these AMAZING channel supporters:
• Frank Conforti 🇺🇸 (monumental supporter)
• Philippe Astier 🇫🇷 (monthly supporter)
• Mauro Acciaccaferri 🇮🇹 (monthly supporter)
• Gavin Maxwell 🇦🇺 (monthly supporter)
• Eugene Gillott 🇨🇦 (repeat supporter)
• Mark B. Newlon 🇺🇸 (generous supporter)
🙏 SPECIAL THANKS to Kay Koba
Kay always dreams up insanely great stuff and is really nice guy too. He's very responsive in offering me help and advice, and he treats others the same. Kero's Mac Mods screams "MADE IN JAPAN" premium quality. I can't say enough good things about Kay and his online store. Great job, Kay!
💰HOW TO SUPPORT THIS CHANNEL
www.paypal.me/supportJDW
📺 Please SUBSCRIBE:
kzbin.info?sub_c...
🎬 MY VIDEOS
/ jdw26
🎵 MUSIC CREDITS
• "Sunset Strip" by Audionautix is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. creativecommons.org/licenses/...
Artist: audionautix.com/
• "Podcast Theme" by Kevin Hartnell is licensed under a CC BY-SA 4.0 Attribution-ShareAlike License: creativecommons.org/licenses/...
Download: bit.ly/3NlcRf8
#FatMacSwitcher #Macintosh128K #KerosMacMods #JDW1

[@infinity5750]

First of all, thank you for doing your best work when you don't have time to make it! And what I'm interested in was the story of the starting point with your Mac. I don't have a very good memory of that era, and I didn't face the computer, so I enjoyed watching it. It's not a product that everyone needs, but I thought it would be a good product to make 128K efficient. but I didn't think it would support 512K! As a result, I'm glad that some guys thought it would be more interesting to install it on Mac512K!

[@JDW-]

Thank you for making such great products, Kay. I like it because it's fun. But other people will like it because they can now get a 128K Mac for a cheaper price by buying a cheaper 512K and Fat Mac Switcher. And people with a 128K Mac already can keep their 128K but also get 512K too, if they have the right desoldering tool and swap out all 16 RAM chips. It's really a brilliant little gadget you created for the vintage Mac community! Thank you!

[@adheeshparelkar4979]

It’s so so nice to see a new video from you, James. I was saddened to see your last post about the relapse of your wife’s medical crisis. I wish you and your family the very best, always.

[@JDW-]

Thank you!

[@TaijanDean]

I've just finished watching this video for the second time, and while I do not have a 128K or 512K Mac, I watched for the informative and helpful breakdown and tutorial. It's also great to see a new video in so long- it's always a pleasure. Great stuff!

[@JDW-]

I think "long" is the keyword here because my video is just over 1 hour. So the fact you watched it twice is incredible. But believe it or not, I do try to cut the fat out of my videos and seek to keep the content relevant and helpful from start to finish. I never set out to make a 1 hour video, but often times the important content that I need to add just ends up being that length. And that's why I appreciate your feedback very much! More informative content to come!

[@pocketscience911]

Love the plastic bag tip when cutting headers!!

[@JDW-]

I must admit though, it's quite embarrassing how long it took me to figure out that super easy solution to the problem of parts flying across my room! 🙂

[@FrankConforti]

@JDW , funny that. If I were to walk across the floor of my basement lab in bare feet it would almost be as painful as stepping on Legos.

[@JDW-]

@@FrankConforti Here in Japan, we don't walk around with completely bare feet, but stocking feet is common. Slippers are used a lot of the time though.

[@sideburn]

I’m about the same age as you and I was all into computers. My first was a trs-80 and when the Mac came out I was partly jealous because it was a “rich persons” computer and that now anyone can use a computer. But I also thought it was a toy and not a real computer. By the time I was 18 or 19 I got a job at a laser printer company and I was a windows / dos guy but since we were in the desktop publishing industry I had a Mac on my desk. I gradually dove into it and learned how it worked under the hood and was blown away by the ingenuity. I started programming it and I’ve never turned back. I have a 512, a iicx a max plus and I just brought a portable back from the dead and it’s like new again. With all the manuals floppies case etc.

[@JDW-]

Thanks for sharing. I really was rather taken with all the other computers out at the time. I enjoyed using them at the home friends who were my same age. One friend had a C64 setup, and I liked the color and games he had. Another simply had a set of game consoles, but it nevertheless was quite fun. I was never captivated by the TRS-80, although I did lust after many of the small portables Radio Shack had in the day. Pretty much everything electronic or which had a computer in it caught my interest. Naturally, I didn't get too jealous of those other machines though because the Mac was really incredible and ahead of its time in the mid 80's. I got to impress my teachers A LOT! :-) By the way, is your Portable Backlit? And have you Portable owners every figured out a way to run those machines off wall socket power alone, with no battery, by way of some kind of adapter? I always wanted one, but what held me back was the battery requirement. I could have bought a rebuilt battery, but batteries don't last forever. Being able to run it ONLY off an AC Adapter would be absolutely amazing though.

[@sideburn]

Yeah my trs 80 didn’t last long. I got into the Atari 8 bits. Then PC and then had a career as a Mac programmer so I’ve had many many macs from the SE, SE/30, Quadra’s, Powermacs, PowerBooks, and now the MacBook pros. So the portable. And by the way they have several LEAKY axial capacitors on them (saw your re-capping video where you say they do leak :) ). Yes when I had it on the bench repairing it I powered it directly of my bench power supply. You have to send the power to both pins on the 4 pin connector and the other two are ground. So there is a way to completely ditch the battery. I ended up making an exact replica lead acid battery and 3d printed the case. Mine is the non backlit version and the lcd has a few dead rows so I’m hopping to hunt a replacement down some day. I tried to fix it but made it worse. It’s pretty much impossible to fix an lcd panel.

[@JDW-]

​@@sideburn Sorry to hear about the LCD. The Macintosh Portable was the first to use an Active Matrix display, which is why I always lusted after them. Many of the later PowerBooks had the cheaper and vastly inferior Passive Matrix LCDs. So if rows of dead pixels exist on an Active Matrix display, I suspect the transistor grid which drives the pixels may have transistors that need replacing. However, I can't say much more than that because I don't have technical documentation on those LCDs.

[@JDW-]

I just spotted your photos on TinkerDifferent and I want to link to that thread for everyone else following our conversation: tinkerdifferent.com/threads/bluescsi-on-macintosh-portable.2764/page-4#post-23996

[@sideburn]

@@JDW- Oh and yes the display looks very good. I also have the Atari STacy portable computer which was the direct competition with the Macintosh portable at the time. And it does have a backlight but it is a passive matrix display and wow what a difference when you can compare the two.

[@tenminutetokyo2643]

My first Mac was a Mac Plus in 1989. I paid $5000 for it and put it on a credit card and I was hooked.

[@JDW-]

It must have had some major peripherals because the Plus first came on the scene in 1986 selling for just under $2600. Did you also buy an expensive hard drive or LaserWriter?

[@user-mf8bi1dr7i]

Thank you for the good information today as well! Macintosh teacher! I never imagined this would be possible. Can you tell me how to make the picture bigger on the Macintosh in the first intro? New ways of using Macintosh is always an interesting topic

[@JDW-]

Thank you for your kind words. I'm afraid I don't know clearly what you are asking. If you mean how did I made a graphic fill the entire screen on that Macintosh 512K, the answer is FullPaint software, which has a full screen button, similar to modern day Photoshop. You can download it from Macintosh Garden, and I've put a link to that and other great software in the text description under the video. But if you were asking how to make my video appear larger, you need to make sure you have a big screen on which to view my video, and then make sure you watch it in 4K. On some computers you can pinch on your trackpad to zoom in further on certain sections of my videos. And with 4K resolution, you can see a lot of detail when doing that. By the way, I actually create B&W content on a Modern Mac, then use a modern version of Graphic Converter to save as a MacPaint file, then use my FloppyEMU to transfer the file to my vintage Mac, then open that in FullPaint, expand it to fill the screen, center it, then hide the toolbar.

[@user-mf8bi1dr7i]

@@JDW- Forgive my poor English skills . It's because I used a translator. You solved what I was curious about perfectly! Thanks to you, I learned a lot. I'll look forward to more fun videos in the future!

[@jimjimx5418]

A new game I've heard about, but haven't used yet,.. MacPlaymate...Does that work.?

[@FrankConforti]

So, if I understand this, my old 128K Mac motherboard only needs the Fat Mac Switcher (and new ram chips) to work? I have the Fat Mac kit and with your excellent video I’ll have a usable computer! I’m not dissing the 128K Mac, I just remember how S L O W it was switching floppies all of the time. When I upgraded to the Mac 512K back in the day, it made the Mac realistically usable for writing articles and the like.

[@JDW-]

Yes. Fat Mac Switcher and new RAM chips to make 512K. Sockets too. All that is linked in the text description. The great part of this upgrade is that you still have a 128K Mac when finished. It's just that you also have a 512K Mac too!

[@sguttag]

Cool stuff! Pro-tip on desoldering. Start by re-wetting what you are going to unsolder (fresh solder via soldering iron). Make sure your desolder tip is the correct size for the components you are working on (larger than the leads but not too much so). Wait until the desolder tool melts the solder all of the way through the hole (your desolder tip should be flush with the ring on the PCB which means on those bent leads, your desoldering tool will aid in straightening them. Once the solder has fully melted, THEN pull the trigger. Otherwise, you are merely pulling air across which is cooling the solder (which is counter productive). When using the solder wick...apply some RA-flux to the wick. It will turn it into a super-sucker. Again, a key is to get all of the solder melted.

[@JDW-]

Thank you very much for the tips! For the sake of people reading our conversation, RA means Rosin Activated. Some is corrosive, which means you absolutely must clean the flux residue off your board. And while some hate to hear that no-clean flux can actually be left on the board without cleaning, and I certainly do not leave it in my boards, technically it can be left on without fear of it eating traces away over time. MG Chemicals makes an RA-flux that is non-corrosive, and that is perhaps a safer variant if someone wants to go with RA. I tend to use the no-clean fluxes though. If a teensy tiny bit is accidentally left on the board, I won't lose sleep at night! While your advice about desoldering stations is wonderfully sound, and while you did see me do the very naughty thing of pressing the sucker button at times before I had the desoldering too tip firmly planted on the joint, it is also very true that desoldering station wasn't good from the start. It just lacks decent sucking power. Kay Koba has told me his Hakko FR301 station doesn't have that problem, which is why I sent my SE/30 board to him for RAM socket removal, and he managed that job in a heartbeat with his vastly better tool. Simply put, your advice is excellent, but it's important to have a great tool to get the most out of it. Had my desoldering station been a Hakko FR301, I probably would not have needed to use my hot air station at all. At the same time, I try to make videos showing people how to achieve something with the basics. Most people won't run out and buy a $300 Hakko FR301 desoldering station, no matter how good it is, even if I demonstrate one in a video. Indeed, my use of such an expensive tool could actually become a deterrent from people trying to build the very thing I hope they will try to build! So I tend to use cheaper tools or tools that I have on hand, which aren't always great. In the end, I was able to get all the parts out, without damaging anything, even when using a lackluster desoldering station. Yes, I needed a hot air station, but that can be had for $60 or so, which is still a bit pricey, but perhaps within reach of your average hobbyist. The big caveat is if you have a 128K board, because in that case you WILL need a good desoldering tool that's better than mine. Taking out 1 chip was ok with my bad tool, but I would never embark upon 16 with that same bad tool. Anyway, thank you!

[@willoland]

I think this is good advise.

[@FrankConforti]

A long time ago, I started the process of converting my Mac 128k spare motherboard after I paid for the 512K upgrade. I managed to remove all 16 chips using Radio Shack soldering iron and solder wick. I recall that back then I swore I’d NEVER touch another electronic component. Forward to today, that memory-less 128K board I’ve had hanging in my home office all these years will be made whole again and then some! On the positive side, I became a soldering pro from that project and even used my skills to do piece-work building small batches of boards for local computer consultants. Helped pay for my computer addiction!

[@JDW-]

@@FrankConforti I cannot imagine how you removed ALL the RAM chips with only a solder wick! How in THE world did you accomplish that? Even with a hot air station, it's hard! You definitely would have become a soldering pro after all that painfully hard work. And the fact you didn't damage anything shows just how much of a pro you are! Bravo!👏👍

[@ymkdevices4052]

Interesting... I was never interested in a 128K so I didn't know about the wildly inflated prices. Booting directly into MacWrite (no Finder) might make it slightly more useful under 128K.

[@JDW-]

Prices for the 128K are quite unreasonable due to the fact the 512K is basically its twin in every other respect. But the upside is that most EBAY sellers don't recognize this, probably because most buyers don't, so informed buyers can just get the 512K on the cheap, then install the Fat Mac Switcher for bragging rights. Of course, I think people should play around with the limited 128K RAM too because a lot of people back in the day bought that and had to live with it for a while as their only machine. That original Mac changed the world, basically because it made the GUI mainstream, unlike the Lisa or Xerox machines that came before; and of course we know Bill Gates eventually made a bad copy of it called Windows. You are correct about booting directly into MacWrite with no Finder; but of course, you lose some flexibility when doing that because you can't quit MacWrite and get back to the Finder as you would when using a Mac normally. You'd basically need to reboot from a different floppy to do anything else, even if you had a second, external disk drive. Back in the day, I didn't have the second 400K drive, which made the 128K all the more painful. On a somewhat unrelated note, I would love to time travel back to 1984 and give my younger self a FloppyEMU with an SD card packed with software. www.bigmessowires.com/floppy-emu/ The flexibility that little device provides is amazing! And of course, traveling back in time to the days I had SCSI would be nice because I could then give my younger self a MacSD! 🙂macsd.com Thanks for making such a great little device!

[@sideburn]

Some max 512’s are actually upgraded 128s they sold upgrade kits and a 512 sticker to put on the back

[@JDW-]

It was a funny "memory" upgrade because it required swapping the entire motherboard. I have a photo showing the actual upgrade kit here: www.flickr.com/photos/66071596@N00/2391524819/

[@sideburn]

Oh wow I didn’t know that. Can you tell if one has been upgraded or not?

[@JDW-]

@@sideburn By looking at the motherboard, yes. But external observation of the plastic case wouldn't tell you much until later in 1985 when Apple released the 128K and 512K badges for the back housing. You can see the respective badges in my Mac-O-Meter video here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/fKuUqXVmeL6borM

[@sideburn]

@@JDW- ahh I was just thinking you might have an original 128 but it’s now a 512 but it’s an upgraded 128. I know my 512 has an expansion board in it. I can’t remember what it’s called though it barely fits in the mounting bracket. It’s a cpu and ram as well (I think) expansion board that sits ontop of the original cpu socket or something like that.

[@JDW-]

@@sideburn If you examine a Mac128 or Mac512 motherboard and see something other than the 16 memory chips (i.e., a daughtercard attached), then such would have been a non-Apple 3rd party RAM upgrade. There were many of those, the earliest upgrades offering only 512K. Those were the easiest to do, and that is pretty much what Fat Mac Switcher is enabling. You simply have to desolder the existing 16 RAM chips if you have 128K and then solder in sockets and add 16 of the 512K RAM chips. That alone won't do it, and that is what the Fat Mac Switcher circuitry is for. But unlike 512K upgrades back in 1984, Fat Mac Switcher lets you have fun because you can flip to either RAM configuration. That wouldn't have made any sense in 1984, but it does for us today.

[@ZoneFMS]

Sorry if this question is dumb :) Is it possible to install a 512k motherboard on a 128k case? is there anything that wouldn't work?

[@ZoneFMS]

Forgot to add, same question about macplus motherboard, is it compatible with 128k case? thank you!

[@JDW-]

512K & 128K motherboards are interchangeable in the same case but Mac Plus boards aren’t because they have different ports.

[@ZoneFMS]

@@JDW- Thank you ! found this week a Macintosh 128K and I wanted to upgrade it to 512k if it was possible. Turned it on yesterday for 10 minutes, everything seemed to work fine but sparks cameout from the side of the analog board, some magic smoke appeared ... it was still working but I turned it off inmediately. I am waiting for screwdriver to review it, hopefully its just a recap problem and not flyback.

[@JDW-]

@@ZoneFMS Sorry to hear about the sparks and smoke. Could be the RIFA capacitors which died, as they tend to fail spectacularly. I cover the recapping of the Analog Board in this video: kzbin.info/www/bejne/hJibd5KHi8yUisU

[@ZoneFMS]

I was finally able to crack it open! Rifa capacitors are blown, I wanted to ask I noticed this small board next to the Motorola, is that stock? kzbin.infoJR5ab1S9yW8?si=65SZeQgT2N2dUwJz

[@shuwenchiang9544]

MY 1984😄

[@wishusknight3009]

Just having gotten into the first few minutes of the video. (i will need to watch it a bit later when i have more time). The 128k mac really was _that_ unusable even when new. That was the result of form over function. Word processors of any kind couldn't handle documents half as large as an Apple ][e with 80 column support! Spreadsheets and database stuff was also virtually none existent. Meanwhile the Apple ][e had Visicalc and a plethora of various dbase software. None were ever written for the 128k mac that were even a fraction as functional. The 512K on the other hand was an entirely different story. And it coming out really quick meant that any resources to make such productivity software for the 128k were pushed to the 512. Thus really setting the standard of apple abandoning early adopters through all of time. And with some simple graphics abilities relative ease of use, this made the 512k(and up) a killer platform for publishing and even light CAD to an extent. Its lack of decent keyboard like the Model M or open hardware nature however always kept it out of the larger productivity landscape. And by the time the Mac][ came out, it was too expensive and really too late. And mac was pigeonholed and suffered a slow death until the Ipod..

[@JDW-]

Thanks for sharing your thoughts! MacWrite version 1.0 stored the entire document in memory, which was a significant problem for the RAM limited 128K model Mac. MacWrite 2.2 seems to have stored text using very basic compression, which helped a tiny bit versus version 1.0, but it still had issues, and note that v2.2 is what I demonstrate later in the video. MacWrite 3 and later supposedly used an improved compression scheme, but the main benefit starting with that version was that the document files to be edited directly on disk without loading the entire file into memory. Of course, MacWrite ultimately lost the word processing battle to Microsoft, which in some way was a terrible loss indeed because MacOS itself ultimately lost the Windows, in terms of marketshare and mindshare. I would say the "slow death" view of the Mac pertains to "mindshare" in the early days, before financial trouble rocked Apple. While it is true that Apple needed serious financial help by the time Steve Jobs came back, and while it is very true the Mac II was too expensive for the average person to buy at the time of its release in 1987 (keeping in mind it was targeted at commercial businesses, not at regular Joe's like me), it's also true that Mac fans never perceived the Mac to be going through a slow death at all, and certainly not in the 80s. Most of us who were Mac-only people (and honestly, I've never owned a single Windows PC to this very day), subscribed to MacUser and/or Macworld, we eagerly awaited new product announcements, and were evangelists of the Guy Kawasaki sort who preached the merits of the Mac to every IBM PC and even Commodore user we came across. (I actually was on Guy Kawasaki's EvangeList back in the day, from start to finish.) We especially had to battle the DOS and later Windows guys who constantly derided the Mac and undercut its usefulness and significance. And yet, when I entered engineering school in 1989, one of the first things my engineering professors asked when I turned in diagrams was if I used AutoCad. I floored them when I said no and that I used Deneba Canvas on a Mac, which was at version 2.0 back at the time. I wore my "Why do people love Macintosh... Just Ask" Apple T-shirt often to engineering classes, and I remember one PC enthusiast who did ask me, and I gave him a pro-Mac reply, which he silently began to ponder. I enjoyed preaching the merits of the computing platform I perceived as not only being better but thriving as well. However, the battle for mindshare and the perceived death of the Mac accelerated when Apple lost court cases against Microsoft and Windows 95 made its debut, but that was well into the 1990's. I will admit that I did view the Performa series in a very negative light back in the day though, and that made its debut in 1992. I never wanted a Performa. I almost feel like they were the fake Mac line. I saw Performa as distracting would-be buyers from the "good" Mac models. 🙂 Steve Jobs clearly shared my sentiments because his return brought simplification to the product line and vanquished "Performa" at long last! So while 1980's and 90's Mac never had the success that some Apple products of the 2000's did, like the iPod (which crossed over into the world of Windows too), it nevertheless was not a failure in that we still have the Mac today. Through all the ups and downs, the Mac never died. But interestingly, we still have a mindshare battle to this day, with the vast majority of the world having gone after Bill Gates bad copy of the early MacOS, which we know to be Windows. I still have people to do this day tell me Windows 10 or 11 is better than in the past, but when I use the most recent versions, I see it really hasn't. It's the largely Windows I've always known and never found attractive. As you can see, I'm a Mac guy through and through. Despite all the success of Apple over the last two decades, we Mac users still are in many ways the underdogs. But that's okay. It's fund to be the people who know there's a better way of computing! :-) And now with Fat Mac Switcher, you can have a Macintosh 128K and the better 512K version, all within the same cute enclosure! Have fun!

[@wishusknight3009]

@@JDW- I just watched the video. And I made my comment before i saw the macwrite bit lol.. That is interesting perspective. Apple has always had this knack for having something that could be astonishingly great, but they somehow manage compromise on something that stunts its potential. Usually because of marketing segmentation or brand image. Hence some of the road apples that are common among our "worst lists". And on that occasion when they do something right, like the SE/30, they dont follow it up and try to kill it so it wont cannibalize what they put out next. We always rooted for them, but often times were scratching our heads at some of the choices apple made. The platforms amazing potential always came with an asterisk beside it. Part of the contrast is you had so many different companies producing pc clones, and a few of them could carve out a niche to cater to a certain part of the market. And some would be more gaming focused, or have a more value focus, and these individual companies would specialize. (of course most companies didn't as well) While you had apple that would try to be one company trying to cater to several markets and not being able to specialize in any of them. And depending on third parties to augment the compromises for broadly marketed machines. The mindshare thing was very much the key. Jobs turned it into a platform that was content to stick with its audience. And not try to be the "look at me i can do this too" brand. But set its own path and do what it does well. Much of apples flounders in the 90s were them being reactionary to market needs and not having the agility to do it in the way it should have been done. And they thus had little ability to carve new ground in a meaningful way. A/UX and the performas were great examples of this. I think the Mac Clones could have really alleviated this, and apple could have gone the way of Microsoft being a software company. But they wanted the entire ecosystem. We will never know if that could have worked if it would have been handled better, but my guess is would have made them into a Sega. As we can see, things did work out for them anyhow.............. I kept one foot in each camp for many years. As my school used macs everywhere and the music program was all mac. So i just found that more comfortable. And an SE/30 was my first machine. Which has had various mods and upgrades while it was my workstation. I still have it to this day too! I always had a PC for gaming and other things. I just always found windows far more usable and versatile. Even if there was more than a few warts to put up with. Part of the appeal for me was my love of tweaking and tinkering on things, and I will always maintain that DOS itself was number 7 on the top ten dos games of all time. I then had a Powermac 7100/66 that i carried on using right until the bitter end until it could not be stretched any further. It ended up with a G4 accelerator and verious other toys. I only replaced it because I wanted to run OS X and needed more ram than it could be punched up to.... yes, I used it _that_ long! I used it for music composition and audio crafting, and I tend to stick with what I like and what works for me. I didn't really replace it with anything, as at the time my PC also was getting some use in this space due to the wide range of audio boards available. I used both in my chain, but over time just found less use for the mac, and let the mac go until I bought a late 2008 mac mini in 2012 and used it as a front end for my MOTU hardware. The latest things I have done is use a hackintosh. For the things that I cant really do on PC, but it certainly is a valuable part of my work chain. And it depends on what kind of project I am doing if its primarily done on the PC or OSX.