Apple IIe - Manual (Page 71)

Page 71 of 74 IIe
Printed: Tuesday, March 4, 2003 10:40:15 AM
How much do I need to know about operating systems?
Unless you're planning on some heavy-duty programming, using a general utilities disk is the
closest you need to get to an operating system. If, on the other hand, you've decided that
programming is for you, you'll probably need more in-depth knowledge.
If you'll be doing BASIC
programming, read BASIC Programming With ProDOS and the ProDOS Technical Reference Manual.
Some BASIC programmers may want to write programs using DOS, the operating system Apple used
before ProDOS.
If you want to write DOS programs, you'll need to purchase the DOS User's Kit.
Finally, if you want to write Pascal programs, you'll need the Pascal operating system and the
accompanying manual.
Logo uses the ProDOS operating system; the Logo manuals explain how to
use ProDOS with Logo.
What does ProDOS do that DOS doesn't do?
ProDOS directly supports all Apple disk storage devices, including the ProFile, Apple's large
capacity storage device.
ProDOS increases the acessibility of disk storage because of extra
commands and disk read and write functions are faster under ProDOS.
What's booting?
In computer lingo, booting means starting up your computer. When you turn on the power, a
built-in program (the Monitor program) is put into memory, where it turns on the disk drive.
The disk drive then transfers the startup program on the disk to the computer's memory.
All
this must happen before the computer is ready to work. So, quite literally, booting is letting
the computer pull itself up by its own bootstraps, which is how the term originated.
Is my Apple very fragile? I keep thinking I'm going to break it.
Your Apple is about as fragile as your television set or stereo. You will never break your
Apple by pressing the wrong keys, just as you won't break your TV by turning to the wrong
channel.
Are disks fragile?
Yes, believe it or not, disks are a lot more susceptible to damage than your computer. In
fact, damaged disks are probably the greatest cause of what people think is a broken computer
or broken software.
Dust is a disk's greatest enemy. To guard against it, always keep disks
in their envelopes. Also, keep disks away from extreme heat, sunlight, liquids, and anything
that contains a magnet, like a telephone. It's best to store disks in a disk holder. (If you
don't have a special disk holder, a shoe box works fine.) Finally, when preparing disk labels,
write them first, then stick them on the disk. If you must write on a label that's already on
a disk, make sure you use a felt-tip pen, rather than a ball-point pen. Using a pencil or
ball-point pen could dent the surface of the disk.
Is it OK to use both sides of a disk?
Not usually. The disk that came with manual is specially made for two-sided use.
Do I need two disk drives?
No, you can use almost all software with one disk drive. A second disk drive just makes using
your computer a little easier. The time when a second drive comes in most handy is when you're
making backup copies of disks. If you copy a disk using only one disk drive, you have to do a
lot of swapping that is, swapping your original and backup disks in and out of your disk drive.
If you have a second disk drive, you can put your original disk in one drive, your backup in
the other, press a few keys, and then let your computer do the work.