{fh2000000Mac{fh200A000FS
{fb1000000What a wonderful facility this software provides. If you have, or feel you may have any need what-so-ever to transfer files from your Acorn to an Apple Computer or vice-versa, then MacFS could well be of great use to you.

The name 'Mac' is obviously a shortened version of 'Machintosh'. The Mac was actually a model that Apple made in the mid-eighties, but it has come to signify Apple Computers and their machines in general.

The operation for MacFS couldn't be simpler. To begin with, the 'apple' logo of MacFS is double-clicked like any other RISC OS application. You'll need RISC OS 3 or higher, and a high density disc-drive to use this software by the way, so that eliminates the A300 series, A400, A400/1 and A540 series. High density drives are available for these models, but MacFS has not been tested on any of them so Computer Concepts cannot ensure they work correctly.

When formatting a disc using MacFS it is sensible that you use either a new disc OR a disc previously formatted on a Mac. This is true of all formats. It is not advisable to use the same disc and change from PC to Acorn to Mac format(s) as this is less reliable and not recommend- ed. You cannot format hard discs using MacFS.

The first time the MacFS icon is clicked upon, a window will open for you to enter your name; the software is then registered to you, and is traceable back to you for security reasons.

Once your name is entered, the MacFS banner will appear announcing the software with you as a Licensee and your unique number. There appears to be no other change at this point as the MacFS icon does not appear on the icon bar. MacFS actually loads into the computer's module area so is invisible in this respect. MacFS must however be loaded each time the machine is switched on - this can be performed via a boot file or double-clicking as normal in a filer window.

The difference is not totally invisible; if you now look at the 'Format' section on the floppy disc icon's menu, along with 'Other Formats' a new item has appeared at the top of the list - you guessed it Mac 1.44Mb. 

What can now be done is to format a disc using this new facility. Just as you would create an ADFS disc (or DOS/Atari) you can now format one to read and write Mac discs, (for use on either an Acorn or a Apple Mac). However MacFS does not support (format) 800Kb discs, as an Acorn machine cannot simulate the variable speed drive - which is how 'Apple Computers' achieve high and low density formatting. So, if you have some 1 meg Mac discs, you'll have to transfer the files to a 1.44Mb disc before you can use them in the RISC OS environment.

If your machine has an SCSI interface - a hard disc or SyQuest cartridge (remov- able) then these can be read and written to using MacFS, alas but not formatted by MacFS.

When a Mac disc (formatted using MacFS or, by a 'real' Mac) is inserted into your machine and the floppy icon clicked upon, a normal filer window will open. The filing system will be IDE:: or SCSI:: (as appropriate) and not MacFS.

One major difference between Apple files and Acorn files is that Apple have a file type named 'MacForks'. There is no equivalent on a RISC OS machine and therefore these files should not be copied to an Acorn. Any other file can be copied, although some files will need certain software/ applications for you to read/view the file. For instance the Mac cannot understand Draw or Sprite files. Files that both machines can read are usually general purpose files such as Text, TIFF, PostScript and EPS. Once a Mac disc filer window is displayed on the desktop, normal RISC OS drag/drop copying is possible and lots of 'foreign' file types can be placed on the disc and taken to another machine (Acorn/ Mac) for reading.

The manual for MacFS is quite compact, but seems to cover just about all the things I personally could think of querying; but that's not to say every possibility has been covered in this article. You can't yet name a disc formatted with MacFS. The default name for a MacFS formatted disc is the date when formatted.

MacFS is a very useful tool, and a step closer to cross-platform file exchange.
{ssou
Product: MacFS
Price: 116.32
Availability: All Acorn 32-bit machines capable of using HD discs
Contact: Computer Concepts (01442) 63933
{ss_d
_Win a copy of MacFS!_"Regulars.700Comp"
