Apple's Software Quality Assurance team has determined that, based on test results from running Microsoft's official Windows 95 System Compatibility Tests, the following cross-platform Macintosh systems are compatible with Windows 95 when configured with a minimum of 8MB of RAM for the Windows 95 environment:
- Power Macintosh 6100/66 DOS Compatible
- Macintosh LC 630 DOS Compatible
- Macintosh Performa 640CD DOS Compatible
- DOS Compatibility Card for Power Macintosh 6100 and Performa 6100 Series
In addition, customers have had the ability to create separate drive containers on Apple's cross-platform Macintosh systems from the beginning. This feature provides additional value today for those customers who want the option of retaining their current Windows 3.1 environment in one drive container, while installing Windows 95 in another one, allowing them to easily select either drive container as the boot drive using the PC Setup control panel--all on a single personal computer.
By providing compatibility with software developed for the Mac OS, MS-DOS 6.22, Windows 3.1, or Windows 95, Apple's cross-platform Macintosh systems "stand out by fitting in"--enabling customers to run more applications on a Macintosh than on any other mainstream personal computer.
DOS Compatibility Card Questions and Answers
Question: Are Apple's cross-platform Macintosh systems compatible with Windows 95?
Answer: Yes, based on test results from running Microsoft's official Windows 95 System Compatibility Tests, Apple's Software Quality Assurance team has determined that Apple's cross-platform Macintosh systems are compatible with Windows 95.
Question: Are Apple's cross-platform Macintosh systems compatible with the "Plug-and- Play" specification?
Answer: Like any legacy PC system that shipped prior to the availability of a Plug-and-Play BIOS, the above systems do not pass those specific Windows 95 System Compatibility Tests that require conformance to the "Plug-and-Play" specification. However, unlike other legacy PCs, Macintosh personal computers have delivered full plug and play capabilities for years. In addition, Apple's cross-platform Macintosh systems come preconfigured with features that often require users to plug in a separate card, frequently with configuration problems, on a PC, such as Sound Blaster 16-bit sound capabilities.
Question: Are Apple's cross-platform Macintosh systems compatible with Windows for WorkGroups 3.11?
Answer: Yes, Apple's cross-platform Macintosh systems are compatible with Windows for WorkGroups 3.11. Apple continues to support network client software via the Open Data-Link Interface, or ODI (used in Novell Netware 3.x/4.x, TCP/IP client software). While native NDIS support is not supported today, Apple expects to provide this capability in the future. Many customers are successfully using ODI-to-NDIS shims today, even though, as with any software translation layer, performance is not optimized.
Question: Can I use shared memory (allocating a portion of Macintosh main logic board memory in the PC Setup control panel) when running Windows 95?
Answer: Yes, and given the system requirements of Windows 95, Apple recommends a minimum of 8 MB of RAM. Of course, installing at least 8 MB of RAM directly on the DOS Compatibility Card will provide even better performance when running MS-DOS and Windows applications.
Question: How should I configure Windows 95 for printing on Apple's cross-platform Macintosh systems?
Answer: Since Apple's current cross-platform Macintosh systems do not have a physical PC parallel port, and therefore do not support bi-directional parallel port functionality, Apple recommends that users configure Windows 95 for printing as follows:
1. Open My Computer, open Printers, and add a printer.
2. Open the printer that has been added by double clicking on the icon from the Printers folder.
3. From the Printer menu, choose the item called Properties.
4. In the Properties window, select Details, and then select Spool Settings.
5. In Spool Settings, disable the bi-directional port.
Question: What about networking support on Apple's cross-platform Macintosh systems?
Answer: Apple continues to support network client software via the Open Data-Link Interface, or ODI (Novell Netware 3.x/4.x, TCP/IP client software). While native NDIS support is not supported today, Apple expects to provide this capability in the future. Many customers are successfully using ODI-to-NDIS shims today, even though, as with any software translation layer, performance is not optimized.
Question: Since Windows 95 makes more use of 2-button mouse functionality, is that supported on Apple's cross-platform Macintosh systems?
Answer: Yes, Apple's cross-platform Macintosh systems let users mimic the functionality of the right mouse button by hitting the "=" key on the numeric keypad. For those users who want to use a real ADB multi-button mouse with Windows 95, several products are available from third-party companies such as Logitech (Logitech MouseMan ADB) and Kensington (Kensington Turbo Mouse 4.0 or Kensington Thinking Mouse ADB).
Question: When I installed Windows 95, the copy-and-paste functionality between the Mac OS and Windows environments stopped working. Is there a workaround?
Answer: Windows 95 made changes that negated the ability to copy-and-paste data between applications running in the Mac OS and Windows 95 environments. While Apple expects to provide the capability to copy-and-paste between the Mac OS and Windows 95 environments in the future, there are a couple of workarounds today. First, Macintosh PC Exchange and Macintosh Easy Open continue to make it easy for customers to identify, and automatically launch, Mac OS applications to open documents saved in the most popular PC formats. Second, users can create separate drive containers--one with the Windows 3.1 environment and one with the Windows 95 environment--and work within the Windows 3.1 environment when they need to copy-and-paste data between the Mac OS and Windows environments.
Question: My Windows 3.1 configuration files (AUTOEXEC.BAT and CONFIG.SYS) assume Microsoft's CD-ROM driver, MSCDEX, is in the C:\\DOS directory. Where is MSCDEX located when I install Windows 95?
Answer: In Windows 95, MSCDEX is located in the Windows:Commands directory.
This article was published in the "Information Alley": Volume II, Issue 11, Page 18