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Where can programs be gotten...

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SweetAmber32

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Sep 26, 2008
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Location
Oregon, United States
for a MAC Powerbook 180c? This was bought a second hand store (thrift store). The original owner had it set up for her job, so some programs look to be missing. I'm looking for programs for my genealogy research, OS 7.6.1. Unfotunantley I live in an area that does not sell Apple products, used or new. So I'm having a hard time finding programs on disketts to download onto my powerbook. Is there any sites that deal with programs for older computers? Any help is appreciated.

Morgan Cole
 
That's a catch huh. Sometimes goodwill or Salvation Army will have software for cheap, or even ebay can have some nice listings for cheap here and there, or craigslist.org, etc.

On the bright side, not much old Mac software is worth anything so a lot of folks may have it around but be willing to give it away for cheap to free.

Other than that, some creative googling will find the other sites we don't normally mention here. (search for abandonware though keep in mind it usually isn't truly abandoned).
 
I wonder if SweetAmber32 realizes that this is a very old computer. We all take that for granted here, but many people are not aware of what a difference it makes.

Amber, if your main purpose is to use this computer for something productive and you are not into playing with computers, then it will probably be an uphill climb. I don't know my MACs, but the Powerbook 180c is from 1993 and that is roughly 5 generations ago so there won't be as much software available, and newer programs will not run properly. Getting the kind of productivity that you might envision is not so straight forward. If you were just looking to do genealogy research (and not play with vintage computers) then you might do better to get something a little more modern. A $100 PC will run more modern software which would be easy to get. Good luck!

PS: To get some idea of what to expect on System 7 (and its genealogy :) ), look here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/System_7
 
Well, I have a powerbook 190cs and, as much as I hate to admit it, it's a zippy little sucker.

Not a lot of lag time in operation, so, if the 180 is equivalent (and I'm sure T will let us know), it should do the job (although, I believe, not in colour like the 190cs).

Juul, I think the idea is that it be portable. Lots of places with genealogical archives are still microfiched, so, a portable computer would allow you to jot down the info right into the program.

I did our tree the old paper and pencil/photocopy way and a notebook would have been much faster.
 
Yeah, the last Mac I had was a 180cs, and it was a very nice machine. I gave it away about a year ago, but IIRC, there were a lot of software archives on the net. Google should turn up quite a few, and freeware genealogy programs are pretty common.

--T
 
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