Category: Vintage

The second batch of Apple IIGS VGA Adapters shipped out last week and should now be in their new happy homes. We love hearing about what monitor you are using with the adapter: “Per your recommendation, I am using the adaptor with a Samsung 712N and it is working as advertised. This came just in time for me to fix up a ROM1 GS that I’m going to give to my son-in-law for Christmas.” – Bill from Pottstown, PA Thank you…

System Disk 4.4 has been released for Apple //e and newer computers. The following programs are included: ProDOS 2.4.1 operating system. Bitsy Bye program launcher from ProDOS 2.4.1. Launcher.System 4.4, now updated to restore Bitsy Bye v2.4.1 to Language Card Bank 2 on exit. SysUtils.System 3.1 from System Disk 4.0.2. FastCopy.System version 1.0.1 from System Disk 4.0.2. Bitsy Boot 1.0 from ProDOS 2.4.1. Basic.System 1.6 from ProDOS 2.4.1 The Make.No.P8 utility from ProDOS 2.4.1 which saves 1KB from ProDOS by removing GS/OS…

Announcement from Brutal Deluxe Software: Brutal Deluxe Software, in partnership with Jean-Louis Le Breton (CEO of Froggy Software) and Richard Soberka (programmer, author of Zephyr), is happy to announce the release of the arcade game Pleins gaz for the Apple II. This color HGR arcade game was released by Froggy Software in late 1986. As the company shut its doors shortly after, the game was barely distributed. Version 1.2 presented here runs under ProDOS and is hard disk drive installable….

New version: ProDOS 2.4.2 is available here. ProDOS 2.4.1 adds several improvements and bug fixes to ProDOS 2.4. Includes ROM ID detection for many Apple II clones, and workarounds for clone firmware bugs. Franklin Ace Laser 128 Unitron Pravetz Updates MiniBas to version 1.2. Fixes a bug when launching ProDOS 2.4 from GS/OS using Closed-Apple to activate Bitsy Bye. Fixes a ROM bug in un-enhanced Apple //e when quitting to Bitsy Bye with 80-column mode enabled. Files on disk have been organized for…

I had the pleasure of interviewing Mike Harvey of Nibble magazine at KansasFest. Wanting to give the interview the broadest audience possible, I invited my good friend John Leake from the RetroMacCast podcast to participate.  The interview audio can be heard on RetroMacCast episode 413. Mike Harvey, the founder and publisher of the long-lived Nibble magazine, has career that spans major companies in the computing and financial realms.  Through those years Mike studied management philosophy, systems, and methods voraciously and developed…

  Seattle, Washington — July 22, 2016 — Apple Pugetsound Program Library Exchange (A.P.P.L.E.) and David H. Ahl are  proud to announce the immediate availability of the book The Colossal Computer Cartoon Book: Enhanced Edition – “The best collection ever of computer cartoons from the 1970’s!” Produced in coordination with legendary editor and publisher David H. Ahl and originally published by Creative Computing in 1977, this Enhanced Edition features a cover by Ned Sonntag from the first printing, 117 pages…

ManilaGear, a new Apple II hardware maker, is readying his new 4soniq 4-Channel Sound Card, a beautiful and functional sound card for the IIgs. The 4soniq gives you four separate channels of sound for your Apple IIgs, instead of the usual one. Each of the 32 oscillators available in the Apple IIgs’ Ensoniq Digital Oscillator Chip (DOC) can be assigned to play on any one of 8 output channels. One 4soniq card unlocks 4 of those channels. Pair it with a second…

A new web store with on demand printing has opened, check it and fulfill your retro wearable! Update: New products added: picasso style graphics, vintage games! http://store.apple2faq.com

The Apple II computers are still very popular among retro hobbyists, but one of the problems some people face is the availability of video display options when their CRT fails. There are still some TVs that accept composite video, but sometimes the display is fuzzy or the colors are inaccurate. Then 80 column display becomes a nightmare, as much of these screens are not clear enough. A2Heaven sent me a pre release of their new product: the Apple II VGA…

I recently got one of the new RamFactor compatible cards from A2Heaven.com. The card is a modern clone of Applied Engineering’s RamFactor memory card. This new version is made with modern 8 MB SRAM, which uses less power and has extra features: a holder to add a small CR2032 type battery to hold the memory state just like the old RamFactor used to. It has a display that will show the current memory bank selected and RAM status. Although it…

Three new memory cards have been announced from Bulgaria’s A2Heaven. The cards, for the Apple II family, add 8 Megabytes of memory and other features: Addon 8MB for Ramworks III Ramworks III expansion to 8MB card , also emulates original Applied Engineering piggyback 2MB card and 512 KB memory extension form Applied Engineering. This card also supports 80 column mode. The display on the card shows the current memory bank selected.           RamFactor compatible card (…

Ultimate Micro just released the Scalable Oscillator v2 for use in the TransWarp GS and ZXIP-GSX.  Each Scalable Oscillator is now custom tailored to fit each board better.  It also now uses a better grade clock IC which provides a cleaner signal, although with this better signal came complexity of design. this item comes with a Power LED to let you know it’s working, and a resettable fuse on the +5v power line to protect the board from any damage…

A few years ago I acquired a Franklin 500 computer. This was one of the few Apple //c clones that had extras and enhancements, as well as a “brick on a leash” power supply just like the //c. The excitement lasted me just a couple of days, then the power supply died. I looked around forums and groups in search of a replacement, but being such a ‘rare’ item, there were no replacements. I put away the computer but always…

David Greelish has released his 2014 compilation of the Historically Brewed / Classic Computing newsletters as a PDF.  Historically Brewed was a 1990’s publication that was published by The Historical Computer Society.  The book contained all nine issues of the Historically Brewed and the premier issue of Classic Computing. This book offers an interesting look back at the history of some of the biggest names in the computing revolution including Altair, Xerox, and Byte and contains items from Apple community…

Brutal Deluxe Software has added four new cassette tapes to the Apple II Cassette collection.  The new tapes include titles from Creative Computing, ITT, Heuristics Inc, and SoftTape.  There are now a total of 638 tapes in the collection.  For more information, check out the Brutal Deluxe Apple II Cassettes Collection at: http://www.brutaldeluxe.fr/projects/cassettes/

Marina, the newest TCP/IP project for the Apple II series, is now fully compatible with the new Uthernet II card from a2RetroSystems. The January 2016 edition of Marina, available today, adds an Uthernet II driver, improvements to the Berkeley Sockets API, and many other changes and improvements which are noted at the end of the Marina user’s manual. In addition, several advances toward a working TCP implementation are in this new edition of Marina, and it is hoped to have TCP fully working…

Dear A.P.P.L.E. Here is the final version of the Program Launcher “SQUIRT”.  This version has some additions, corrections and added a launcher when you type “BYE”.  The previous version was called just “FileSelector.po”. SQUIRT directions Squirt can navigate directories with ease and minimum keystrokes. Squirt can launch system, binary and Applesoft programs. Squirt can view text, source and Mousetext screen files. Squirt can view bitmap fonts. Squirt can view hi-res and dbl-hi-res graphics screens. Squirt can automatically recognize the difference…

Vintage Micros, a North Carolina vintage computing company, has made a new connector for the Apple-1 Computer.  The connector allows Apple-1 owners to connect an Apple II keyboard to their machines making it possible to use the Apple II case to house their Apple-1’s. The converters are available for $35 and comes complete with cables for each side of the conversion.  You can purchase the card on EBay at: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Apple-1-to-Apple-II-Keyboard-Connector-with-Cables-NEW/141863275792  

Dear A.P.P.L.E, Here is a pretty nifty file selector you can add to your website.  It does all of the following. Launches system, binary and applesoft programs, even though Basic.system is not installed. Navigates in and out of directories with ease View text, source and mousetext screen files View Hi-res and Dbl-Hi-res graphic images. The program has been tested with Applewin, Sweet 16 and a real Apple II computer. The caps lock key needs to be off.  Also when viewing…

A2Heaven has announced the immediate availability of the Software Automated Mouth board for the Apple II.  A2Heaven.com, owned by Pamen Vayssilov, has made a number of the boards available for $45.00 USD. The S.A.M. board allows for voice output by the Apple II and can be controlled by a software binary and Applesoft.  For further information about the S.A.M. board, check the A2heaven website at http://www.a2heaven.com. A2Heaven has also made a video demonstrating the board: