Black and White Mac Shareware

In January, 1984, Apple released the first mac with 128k. Two years later, they released the Mac Plus, which could have a total of 4 meg of memory in it. It was followed by SE's and Classics. My Mac Plus (ordered when they were brand-spankin-new) is still running, and it was the computer for myself and my children until August '94. (Yes, not that long ago - well at least when I started this web page in 95...). Now we've got a Performa 550 and two PowerMacs, and the Plus gets used only occasionally.

But I haven't forgotten what it was like to search for software, and now your search has just been made easier. I know there are many older B&W; machines out there, and they are a good candidate to give to children -- but what to run on them!?! Well, here is a place to find the shareware that will run. Many of them have been tested on my Mac Plus, running System 6.08. Some might require System 7, but these are all good bets to test on your own older system.

Here's a list to get you started, click on the name to get a description of the program, and the ability to download the program. If this is your first time downloading from the Web, get full instructions here.

Hypercard:
(needed to run some of the programs)

• HyperCard Player

Babies:

• Chelsea's Game

Ages 2-5:

• HeartQuest
• KidPix
• LetterWorld

Ages 4-8:

• LetterWorld
• Time Teacher
• Which Number is Increasing?

  You'll also find some games like checkers and card games in the next category.

Ages 7 up:

• Classic Daleks
• Clue Deluxe
• Coin Game
• Colorfall
• Creepin' Critter Math
• David's Backgammon (030 or above)
• Diamonds and More Demo
• Double
• Egyptian Solitaire
• Escape
• Evaluating Crossnumber Puzzles
• Flippant
• Floor Tiles
• Fraction Puzzles
• Fraction Tiles
• Frankenstein's Helper
• Genius
• Gnu Chess
• Guesswords
• HeartQuest
• Hexmines
• How Can I Do That? (HyperCard Programming)
• Ingemar's Skiing Game
• KidPix
• Klondike
• MacCheckers
• MacSki
• Mr Cat's Quest
• Music Maid
• Musicianship Basics Demo
• Net Othello
• Oh No! More Lemmings
• Once Upon a Time
• Oxyd
• Poing
• Retro Engine
• Sideminder
• Slime Invaders
• Slot Machine Clinic (math)
• Sokoban
• Solitaire House
• Square Wars
• Susan
• Tesslemania
• Tic Tac 4
• Twisted
• Wall Runners
• A Zillion Kajillion Rhymes & Cliches

Parents Teachers:

• HomeSchool Planner
• Instant Math
• Music Maid
• Quizzer
• A Zillion Kajillion Rhymes & Cliches

Getting System Software

OR use the Search page and search for "SSW", which will get you some of the System Files. Look for 6.08 or 7, and click away.

Commercial Programs still Available for Old Systems:

Nordic Software has quite a few older programs available on disk (some b&w;, others color), including Coin Critters, Clock Shop, Preschool, Dinosaur, Word Foundry and more.

Varcon has the Black and White Arcade Pak, 12 classics, including MacMan, Diamonds, Bricklayer (Tetris like). $29.95 1-800-266-6700, 619-563-6700

MacTreasures has an assortment of software for older systems, including some that run on a Mac Plus up.

We Love Macs - has older Macs and parts

Sun Remarketing (www.sunrem.com) Sells system software, parts, manuals and refurbished machines, supporting every Mac ever made.

Other Sites:

The Macintosh SE Support Pages help users of Apple's late-80s compact Mac to squeeze the last ounce of performance from their veteran machines. There's advice on repairs, getting the best from the Web, adding extra RAM, and installing and formatting larger, faster hard drives and removables.

Low-End Mac Compact Mac Pages is filled with information about all older macs - and they've got lots of pointers for more recent ones, too.

Mac Plus Info Center info about the Mac Plus, including how to connect your Mac Plus to the net!