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| Author | So, what's your favorite System 7 Mac of all time? (Read 243 times) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Bolkonskij
Administrator 2048 MB  Posts: 2090 
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on: August 26, 2026, 17:18
...and why? Mine arguably is the very machine I am typing this on - the Macintosh IIci. It has been the 90's backbone of DTP & layouting around the world. It is very much open and extendable (*cough* by Apple's standards!), it's easy to work with the case and its internals. And it is that grey box sitting in the corner in the background, much like your introverted best friend at a social event. Doesn't look like much, but you can't think of anybody better :-) It's also very reliable. Again, it's 2026 and I'm typing this on the IIci! I dare bet we won't get to see many Intel Macs making posts age 35+. Even if something breaks down, it's usually fixable. No parts being glued together, nothing is microscopic small so you can't do anything with your ordinary soldering iron. Acknowledged, there are Macs - even 68k Macs * that are faster than the IIci. I know. But it's fast enough for most of the hobbyist type stuff I throw at it (like browsing vintage compatible websites, BBSes, Gopher, IRC chat, Hotline, ClarisWorks, Gaming etc. etc.) and it has never let me down. I will continue to keep mine for as long as it lasts. And perhaps even a little longer. Which is your favorite System 7 Mac and why? |
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rbdr
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8 MB  Posts: 8 System 7 Newcomer!
Reply #1 on: August 26, 2026, 20:56
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I use system 7 on my Macintosh SE/30. It’s the only classic Mac I’ve used but for me it’s the perfect computer even with all its limits. I really like the black and white display, and I’m super impressed how the window management affordances make it actually usable! So much so that I ended up installing windowmizer on modern Mac to get some of that in. I do almost all my writing from that machine, and it just feels good to use! I typeset my resume using QuarkXpress, it looks great and I like sending it even though recruiters will never know :p
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cballero
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1024 MB Posts: 1203 System 7, today and forever
Reply #2 on: August 27, 2026, 01:43
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I didn’t get my hands on a IIci until 1994, by then I had bought and sold my first Mac, a Classic II. It was my dream Mac in college, but someone stole my savings to get one, about $900. Even with that happening, I thoroughly enjoyed the IIci once I used it! I printed my documents with a Color StyleWriter and used a 13 inch Triniton display.
Last Edit: August 27, 2026, 23:01 by cballero
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mac-cellar
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128 MB Posts: 179 Gotta love System 7
Reply #3 on: August 28, 2026, 16:19
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Mine would be the Performa 580CD - my first Mac. It was powerful enough for anything I needed at the time, and the screen was beautiful - better than any other monitor I remember using back then. I added an external modem and a Stylewriter 1500 printer - it was a great setup for home office, web browsing (such as it was), and the few games I had. It was an all-in-one design (albeit a somewhat odd looking one) and fit nicely in my small corner of the apartment I shared with friends. It was also my first significant "online" purchase back in early 1998. Something called "eBay" 
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eelco
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32 MB Posts: 60 System 7 Always
Reply #4 on: September 08, 2026, 16:16
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Difficult question to answer, sir Bolkonskij! I would be torn between my: - Quadra 700, largely for the same reasons you specified for the IIci (which I also own, as a side note!) - Power Macintosh 8600, which is one of the fastest machine to natively run System 7 The Quadra 700 makes one appreciate the rapid advances in hardware that were being made when it was new, but still feeling classic 68k Macintosh. The Power Macintosh 8600 makes everything about System 7 feel effortless, like you have vast supercomputer power at your fingertips. I am curious, however, if there is a S7T member who owns the 350 MHz Power Macintosh 9600 and runs System 7 on it?
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ovalking
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128 MB Posts: 208
Reply #5 on: September 09, 2026, 10:35
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My vote goes to the Performa/LC 475. I think it had a great performance/cost ratio, and is a small neat looking machine. It has a little bit of upgradeability, and is easy to work on. Worst thing is not being bootable with a flat battery, which happens a lot! Also, commendations to the SE30 & PM8500. Worst Mac I've used is 6100, enormous footprint, crashed a lot, and very slow..
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68040
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512 MB Posts: 994 68k - thy kingdom come, thy will be done !
Reply #6 on: September 09, 2026, 12:39
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As I am calling from the future v8.1 I don't want to blow your minds with all the mouth watering niceties that make live fun in there. (well, actually I do )I do my e-mailing with Eudora Pro,my time tracking with Time Slice, my invoicing with FileMaker Pro and my business correspondence with Microsoft Office. In between I automate my daily life with QuicKeys and once I find the spare time to do some coding I plan to translate GnuCASH (or another multi-currency budgeting app) to vintage MacOS 8.1 with the help of LegacyAI. Life is good this side of Windoze, Age verification protocols, mass advertising and government snooping apps.
Last Edit: September 09, 2026, 12:42 by 68040
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eelco
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32 MB Posts: 60 System 7 Always
Reply #7 on: September 10, 2026, 16:03
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Quote from: ovalking Worst Mac I've used is 6100, enormous footprint, crashed a lot, and very slow.. I have always found it to be very reliable and fast (though, to be fair, in comparison to the likes of the IIci and Quadra 700). Can't argue with the footprint, though.
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