Author: A.P.P.L.E.
While the evenings of KansasFest are renowned for their spontaneity, the days are reserved for sessions spanning a variety of uses, extensions, and applications of the Apple II family. Just as varied as these sessions are the good people who volunteer to present them. If you have a topic you’d like to present, please fill out the session proposal form. Past sessions have included hardware, software and game demonstrations, and tutorials; integration of the Apple II with other devices; emulators; programming;…
From our friend David Greelish of Before Macintosh: There are currently three Apple Lisa computers being auctioned with RR Auctions, all ending on March 20th. One of them is an original Lisa 1. – Apple Lisa Computer with ‘Twiggy’ Drives, ProFile Hard Drive, Mouse, and Keyboard:https://www.rrauction.com/auctions/lot-detail/349773707146055-apple-lisa-computer-with-twiggy-drives-profile-hard-drive-mouse-and-keyboard/ – Apple Lisa 2 Prototype with Mouse, Keyboard, and ProFile Drive:https://www.rrauction.com/auctions/lot-detail/349916807146061-apple-lisa-2-prototype-with-mouse-keyboard-and-profile-drive/ – Apple Lisa 2 Computer Set with Keyboard, Mouse, and ProFile Hard Drive:https://www.rrauction.com/auctions/lot-detail/348390407146054-apple-lisa-2-computer-set-with-keyboard-mouse-and-profile-hard-drive/ There is also an original Apple 1 and two reproductions. A…
For those of you who are fans of the flying toasters of yesteryear, there is now reason to celebrate! Matthew Pierce (CybernetixZero) has modified the AfterDark program and the modules to run smoothly on MacOS 9.2.2. This release is a celebration of everything After Dark! For many years I’ve been on a mission to see After Dark running stable on Mac OS 9.2.2. Some time ago, a user by the name of Daxeria released a patched version of the After…
The Ample interface for the MAME emulation platform on MacOS has been updated. Ample version 0.275 includes the following additions: Ample is a graphical user interface which according to the author, Kelvin Sherlock, provides a more friendly interface for the MAME Emulation platform. Originally only supporting Apple and Macintosh based emulation, the latest version of Ample includes support for Dragon 32, Tandy computers, Commodore 64 and BBC Micro as well as a host of other retro computing platforms. You can…
Technology News and Views Since 1983March 2025 That title isn’ta reference to bus drivers on strike at the beginning of a bright sunny week. Rather, it is a reflection on how quickly worldly honours (glories) can vanish into oblivion, whether through conquest, or self-destruction via overweening hubris. Take, for instance politicians. (Please.) OTOH, they paint a glorious picture of how great will be their reign if the electorate will hand them and their party the keys to the empire. But…
From the Kansasfest 2025 Committee: KansasFest: a community united in passion, learning, and respect for the Apple ][ For over three decades, KansasFest has brought together enthusiasts, experts, and newcomers alike to celebrate the legacy of Apple II computing. More than just a gathering, KansasFest is a community—one built on a foundation of learning, fun, respect, and collaboration. We take great pride in fostering a safe and welcoming environment where attendees can share their passion, exchange knowledge, and build lasting…
The CLK Clock Signal multi-platform Emulator has been updated. 26 Feb 2025 release of CLK introduced the following changes to the platform: Clock Signal (‘CLK’) is an emulator that seeks to be invisible. Users directly launch classic software, avoiding the learning curves associated with emulators and with classic machines. The platform is for MacOS and includes emulation for the following platforms: It currently contains emulations of the: Acorn Electron;Amstrad CPC;Apple II/II+ and IIe;Atari 2600;Atari ST;ColecoVision;Commodore Vic-20; Enterprise 64/128;Macintosh 128K, 512K,…
The Apple II Cassette project, run by Brutal Deluxe Software, has added four new cassettes to its growing collection. Now reaching a total of nearly 700 cassettes, the project aims to gather all of the cassette based software items from the early days of the Apple II computing world. The new items include the following items: You can download the latest additions to the collection as well as many others at the Apple II Cassette Project webpage at: https://www.brutaldeluxe.fr/projects/cassettes/
The latest version of Card Cat, version 1.8, is now available for download. Card Cat is a system identification program created by Henry Lowe that identifies your Apple II series hardware information, memory and the cards in the slots. The latest release of Card Cat contains a number of new options and fixes including:
Joshua Bell has announced the latest pre-release of the Apple II Desktop, version 1.5 alpha 2, a Graphical User Interface operating system for the Apple II. This release has a number of new features enhancing the user experience for Apple II enthusiasts, offering a range of new features, bug fixes, text updates and improvements. As always, the developer warns users to use alpha and beta software with caution, as the latest release of Apple II desktop is still in the…
The SPIISD with an OLED display, V2, has debuted. This new version features an SPI OLED screen and UP, DOWN, and ENTER buttons, allowing users to select and save multiple ProDOS images stored on a FAT32-formatted MicroSD card. A configuration file, Config.txt, is generated in the root of the SD card, enabling up to four boot images to be selected and saved. In terms of speed and stability, it inherits the specifications of the previous version, V1.17. SPIISD V2.0 is…
MacEffects has announced their latest hardware upgrade for Macintosh 68030 machines. According to the product information, “the MacEffects Performer accelerator is the perfect hardware upgrade for your Macintosh SE. The Performer accelerator features a 68030 clocked to 16mhz and a 68882 FPU (math coprocessor) to speed up CPU performance and math calculations. With the Performer accelerator you can enjoy a new level of performance from your Macintosh. “ According to the product information on the Mac Effects website, this upgrade…
Briel Computers, best known for their Replica-1 computer boards and their Altair 8800 related kits have announced the release of their Micro-Kim project to the Open Source domain. The project is a single board that aims to perform all the same functionality as the original Commodore Kim-1. The board consists of 5K RAM, 2K EPROM, a 6532 RIOT for I/O, a 23 key keyboard and a 6 digit display. Originally selling for $99, all of the project files, manuals and…
The MAC OS X based Ample MAME interface has been updated. Kelvin Sherlock, the curator of the Ample Interface introduced additional support for the retro Macintosh Portables as well as support for the ACORN BBC Micro series of computers and the Commodore 64. This release of the Ample interface marks the 66th release of the emulator and brings the Ample package up to MAME 0.274 and includes a modified MAME package which allows emulation of those machines included in the…
Sean Gugler has announced the latest release of the Ultima IV for the Apple II. Ultima IV Remastered is now at version 1.2.12 and now includes support for the Apple II ECHO sound card. Ultima IV Remastered is a bug fixed version of the original Ultima IV for the Apple II. With this release being the 14th in the series of updates, the number of patches and bug fixes now stands at several dozen. You can download the latest version…
The Winner of the PunyInform adventure writing competition, Puny Comp 2024, have been announced. Puny Comp is a months long competition which is held each year and challenges authors to write an inform style adventure game, using the PunyInform library and other related tools. PunyInform is a library designed for Adventure authors who wish to write Inform style games for 8-bit platforms. This years event had 6 entries with the winner of the competition, The Candy Striper of St….
CiderPress II version 1.06 has been released. Andy McFadden, the programmer behind Ciderpress and CiderPress II, announced the release of the update to the command line version of the CiderPress Apple II disk image manager program. Changes included in Version 1.06 are as follows: CIderPress II is available for Windows, Mac OS X and Linux with the full source code also available. You can download the packages as well as additional information about CiderPress II from the Github page at:https://github.com/fadden/CiderPress2/…
For those of our retro friends north of the border, the Chilliwack Retro-Computing Club has announced their first meeting of 2025. The announced meeting will be on the 16th of January from 6:30pm to 9:30pm at the Chilliwack Cowork at 12-8465 Harvard Place, Chilliwack, BC, Canada, British Columbia. The Chilliwack Retro-Computing Club generally meets the 3rd Thursday of each month and topics include a variety of Retro computing platforms. The host of the event is Rob C FrameHaven . For more…
The Vintage Computer Festival SoCal 2025 is scheduled for February 15 to 16, 2025 from 9AM to 6pm each day of the event. This years event is scheduled to be held at the Hotel Fera Event Center in Orange, CA. Tickets are now available for attendees of the event. VCF SoCal is also still seeking Vendors, Speakers and Sponsors for the event. More information concerning these items are available at the VCF SoCal event page at:https://www.vcfsocal.com
UPDATED: The latest version of the game Star Fury for the Apple II has been released. Star Fury version 1.21 includes some changes to the stages of the game and how it handles the ending of main stage challenges. Also a scoring bug has been updated in the minor update. Star Fury is a high speed arcade style game for the Apple II by Brazilian game author, Raphael Rezende. His latest game includes elements which make it a challenge for…
