New iMac, Old Mac OS

I want to use OS X. I really do. But little things I really need keep yanking me back to 9. Odd little errors, missing functions, software that won't work and that I can't afford to replace.

Changing from OS 9 to OS X is not like switching from OS 7 to 8, or even 6 to 7. It's more like going from an Apple II to a Mac II with an Apple II card inside. It works, sort of, but not everything works on the Apple II card, and the disks don't match, and things aren't quite . . . right . . . sometimes.

My latest backtrack occurred when I ordered a new Snow iMac for my four-year-old twin boys right off the Apple Store. My wife and I agreed that we should get a machine that could hold all of their programs and games at once. I thought I could set it up through Multiple Users and restrict access to the programs I specified. This isn't an Internet access issue; the machines are not connected to the Internet and are not likely to be for some time - on purpose.

All I really wanted to do was prevent my very observant and clever four year old son Jonathan from accidentally deleting the System Folder or some such. He's already reinstalled QuickTime 2 over QuickTime 4 when I wasn't looking, tried to sign up for AOL about 20 times, and renamed the hard drive jdfi88393#@nm3jre.

My brand-spankin' new machine arrived with OS X as the dominant OS, as I'd read about around the Mac Web. True to form, the machine was out of the box, booted, and allowed me to skip registration steps within 15 minutes. Asked once, verified once, then left me alone. Say what you will about Apple, they got that part right.

I soon discovered that the Users control panel lacked many of the niceties that Multiple Users get, such as the ability to specify a panel-based login. Bam - back to OS 9.

First, I created a login for the boys with no password. Jonathan picked up on the steps right away. Benjamin gets Jonathan to log in for him when necessary.

Many of the programs my kids use - Living Books, some Disney stuff, and so on - require that the CD be inserted to operate. I don't want my four year olds handling the CDs. Jonathan showed off how strong he was by snapping one in half right in front of my eyes. Pow!

So I tried copying the entire CD directory to the hard drive. That worked in several cases, but if a CD has audio tracks, all you get are aliases to the invisible audio files.

Next I tried making disk images with Disk Copy. Success! Most of the CDs worked fine as a disk image. There were a few exceptions, but so far 5 of 6 educational programs work. The ones with audio disk partitions don't work yet. I'm still trying to figure that out.

I witnessed Mom trying to keep the kids hands off the keyboard and mouse while waiting for the mounted disk verification and saw that was definitely a big problem. So I wrote a little AppleScript to mount all the CDs at once:

tell application "Macintosh HD:Applications (Mac OS 9):Utilities:Disk Copy" activate mount alias "Macintosh HD:Boys CD-ROMs:Cat in the Hat.img" without checksum verification quit end tell

Then I saved it as a compiled AppleScript and put it in the Boys' Startup Items folder.

When the boys logged in, the panels came up with the approved software list, and then they clicked on one that used one of my virtual CD-ROMs. Program starts - BOOM - program dies. The computer's still working, so I tried again. And again. And with many different settings, again and again and again.

"Some programs are just not compatible with the Panels environment," said the help file.

So it's back to OS 9, with the Finder hidden in the background, AppleScript in the Startup Items folder, and the Launcher. It works, but those panels would have been sweeter. OS X doesn't have these little mature features, and it's just going to have to wait for now.

BTW, Apple shipped the iMac with OS X 10.1.3 installed. I might be eligible for one of those Jagwire Up To Date programs, so I might spring the $20 needed to get the upgrade CD.

Got another machine on the way. Since Apple, in its infinite wisdom, no longer offers a classic iMac with a DVD-ROM, I had to go to eBay. Sometimes only Jimmy Neutron can save the day.

There goes my summer job money and saved up consulting fees. (Been a teacher for 12 years, and I've had one summer off. One.) My checking account is already disconnected from PayPal, so don't even think about it (thanks, Dan).

Anyway, if you have kids, that configuration should keep them from scrapping the OS for a while. It's not foolproof, but what is?

Of course, the best solution is to sit with your kid as they use the computer. I've gotten so familiar with most of the stuff they do I can tell by listening if something isn't right. I don't sit down with them at the machine often enough, but at least I'm in the same room most of the time.

Right now, I have to go help Buzz Lightyear build a rocket. Benjamin loves rockets. Can't imagine where he gets it from.