🚀 go-pugleaf

>Judging from its performance on other machines, it seems to me 
>that Macintoshes are faster running System 6 than they are running 
>System 7-- a LOT faster. This, though, is only an impression. I have not 
>sat down with a stopwatch and clocked anything. If anyone can come up 
>with any data to dispute me, please enlighten me. It simply does seem, 
>though, that even with the virtual memory off, more powerful machines 
>than mine really drag with the system. By the way, I am running an LC I 
>with 6.0.8, and have used system 7 classic IIs and IIsis at school.

In general, yes, System 6 is faster, but there are functions that are much
faster in System 7. For example, try moving items in the Finder among
folders that contain hundreds of items at the same level. This is quick
and easy in System 7 but is excruciatingly slow on System 6. Having
installed both System 6 and 7 on just about every Mac from the Plus to the
Quadra I have come to a couple of conclusions: 

1. Most Mac Plus, SE, and Classic users are best off to stick with System
6 because they are limited to 4MB RAM and System 7 really drags those
machines down. 

2. All other Macs (from the Classic II to the Quadras) are simply better
machines overall running System 7 as long as enough memory is installed.
4MB is a bare minimum. 8MB or more makes for a very capable system.

>There are also some utilities that I depend upon that do not work 
>under system 7. The most important is a freeware RAM disk. Does anyone 
>know of a free or cheap RAM disk that WILL work under system 7?

info-mac/util/ram-disk-plus-314.hqx is an inexpensive shareware RAMdisk
that works under System 7. I like its features for mac labs (like
auto-loading and ability to make a System Folder on the RAmdisk the active
system). 

I have another RAMdisk that does not require a reboot in order to install,
but I have not used it for a long time and don't know if it is System 7
compatible (I'm not at my Mac right now to test it).

>The consensus is that the Connectix product MAXIMA is what I need.
>It is about $45. Unfortunately, one ad mentioned that v2.0  required a 
>68030 or a PMMU. An ad for 2.0.3 did not mention this requirement. Does 
>anyone know whether this has been corrected?

>MAXIMA, BTW is an example of an EXPENSIVE system 7 compatible RAM disk. 

$45 is expensive? That's cheaper than many shareware programs. How did you
manage to afford a Mac LC if this is too much?