EXPERIMENTAL RELEASE This directory contains Executor/NEXTSTEP version 1.3b. This is the first publically announced experimental release since the official release 1.3. It has been fairly well tested, and appears to be an improvement over the official 1.3. DO NOT put this, or any copy of Executor on a CD-ROM. This software can be used in a "demo mode" before you purchase it. The full functionality of Executor is available for ten minute intervals. If, however, you have previously purchased a copy of Executor, you should be able to use your serial number and authentication code to disable the ten minute limit. If you like what you see, you can purchase Executor directly from us. In February, the sale price is $99 per/machine. This price includes the right to ftp free updates until we release Executor 2.0, with color support. Experimental releases will be available from ftp from time to time (1.3a, 1.3b, etc.). INSTALLATION Executor/NEXTSTEP 1.3b consists of two normal "fat" packages. If you are logged in as root and you install both packages, all permissions should be set properly. If not, you will need to run Executor once as root so that the proper file permissions can be set up. Executor is distributed in two packages so that each package can fit on a single floppy disk. NEXTSTEP on PCs has trouble with multi-disk packages. Even if you pick this up via ftp, it is still in two packages so that you will receive exactly the same thing we're putting on floppies. LACK OF DOCUMENTATION When purchased, Executor comes with a one hundred page manual that describes Executor 1.2.1, and an addendum that describes the differences between 1.2.1 and 1.3. Hopefully most of Executor is simple enough to understand without the manual for purposes of exploring in "Demo" mode. HFS_XFER Executor 1.2.2 came with HFS_XFer, a utility for copying files from a Macintosh formatted disk to your NeXT hard disk. YOU CAN'T USE NEXT'S MACINTOSH SUPPORT TO DO THIS; it doesn't copy all the information that our emulator needs. Starting with 1.3, Executor has HFS_XFer as a Desk Accessory. Under NeXTSTEP Intel, you must still use the Workspace Manager's "Check for Disks" menu item to make Executor recognize that there's a Macintosh formatted floppy available for its use. This further makes HFS_XFer confusing. (i.e. You need to put the Macintosh formatted floppy into the drive *after* Executor has been started up, then go back to Workspace and say "check for disks"). INTEL SUPPORT Executor 1.3 is fat, and does run on 486 boxes running NeXTSTEP/Intel. We know of no bugs in 1.3 that affect Executor only on the i486. EXECUTOR STARTS UP AS ROOT, BUT RUNS AS YOU Executor must either be installed by logging out and logging in as root, or installed by anyone, but run once by root (it will then set itself up as though it had been installed by root originally). If you're new to UNIX, it's easiest to just log out and log back in as root. If you're familiar with the "su" command, you can do the install, "su", run the program once and exit your su shell. The reason for the above root requirements is that Executor needs to start up briefly as root so it can load some kernel modifications (the source for those modifications is in the "ardimods" subdirectory Executor.app). When Executor starts up, in addition to loading the kernel mods (on Motorola machines, only), it will make your floppy drive(s) available to Executor, so that while you're running Executor, you can read and write Macintosh formatted 1.4Mb disks. Other than that, Executor runs as the user that starts it, so it has no special abilities to read or write files that the user who starts it doesn't already have. A FEW NON-OBVIOUS POINTS EXPLAINED Executor provides the framework that programs originally written on a Mac need so they can run elsewhere, but we have not rewritten the "Finder", which means Executor just starts applications and lets them loose. When an application quits, Executor quits (this will change by the time we release Executor 2.0). Programs can be launched by double-clicking on them; you just have to know where they are, and make sure their names end in ".appl". If you've installed Executor in /LocalApps, then the files look like: /LocalApps/Executor.app/ExecutorVolume/games/Risk.appl To see these files with Workspace, you need to select /LocalApps/Executor.app, and then use the "Open as Folder" (Command-SHIFT-O) menu choice from Workspace's "File" menu. Executor can be used with Macintosh formatted SCSI drives directly. To get Executor to see SCSI drives you must first prevent Workspace from seeing them. You can do that by renaming "/usr/filesystems/mac.fs" to "/usr/filesystems/mac.fs.HOLD". Then, when Executor is running, you need to issue the command "/usr/filesystems/HFS_XFer/HFS_XFer.util -p sdN" where "sdN" is one of "sd1" ... "sd6" as NeXTSTEP will name your SCSI Mac disk. SCREEN SIZE Although the default screen size is 512 x 342, you can alter the screen size to suit your tastes. Be aware, if you want your virtual Mac to have more pixels, you must enlarge the Executor window BEFORE you click on the first OK button (the one that is presented with our copyright notice). After you make that first click, you can only change the screen aspect, not the number of pixels. It takes a little while getting used to this, but once you know how to do it, it's not too difficult and your window size, aspect and location are automatically saved when you use the "Save..." feature of our "Preferences..." panel. SOFTWARE IN EXECUTORVOLUME We've left some publicly distributable (either freeware, demoware or shareware) applications in ExecutorVolume for you to examine. Because this release comes with a buggy HFS_XFer, it's a bit of a pain to get other files over to your system. If you do have a network, you can use Compact Pro on a Mac and then BinHex the files and reverse the process under Executor. If you don't have a network connection to a Mac, you can Compact Pro and BinHex the files on a Mac and put the results on a 1.4Mb floppy and then run BinHex under Executor and read the data from the floppy (make sure you put the floppy in *after* Executor has already started). NOTE: ARDI has not paid the shareware fees for you. If you use the shareware programs, it is up to you to register them. If you have time on your hands and are connected to the internet, there's a wealth of software available at the various Mac ftp sites (like sumex-aim.stanford.edu). SOFTWARE SUPPORTED Please look at the "Info->Products->Executor Applications..." panel to see the state of various Macintosh programs running under Executor 1.2.2. If you have software that isn't on the list, you can try asking us at "questions@ardi.com", or you can try running it yourself (if it's a large set of software it may be easiest to install it on a Mac on an external SCSI disk and then walk the disk over to your NeXT or i486). KNOWN BUGS The Intel support is very recent and is still being tested and modified. Accelerated Grapics can leave dirt on the screen and doesn't work at all on Turbo machines. Our 1/60th of a second interrupt may be longer than it should and hence some games will run slower than they should and Speedometer can give higher numbers than it should. We have just received Quicken 4.0 and are testing it under Executor. MacInTax still has trouble where it uses "stylized TextEdit". Excel may have trouble if the Executor window is too large. We're tracking bug reports with "gnats", a bug tracking system developed by Cygnus Support. Once we've fixed all the "easy" NeXTSTEP/Intel bugs, we'll make a summary of what's in our database available via ftp so that you can examine it before you purchase our product and so that you can see the progress we make as bugs are reported. EXECUTOR FOR OTHER PLATFORMS Executor/DOS 1.0 is shipping ($99). It is very much like Executor/NEXTSTEP with some functionality removed (only one Executor at a time, no printing, no serial port access). Execucutor/DOS 1.0 does not come with free upgrades. It requires a '386 or better with a mouse, VGA, 2Mb of RAM (4Mb suggested) and 8Mb of disk space. Executor/X-Windows for DEC's Alpha is well under way. The work we're doing on the Alpha should make trivial HP support for Executor/NEXTSTEP. HOW TO REACH US There is a mailing list for people interested in executor. Send a message with the subject of "Please subscribe " to executor-request@ictv.com. (If you then decide to unsubscribe you send the same sort of message to the same address, but say "unsubscribe" instead of "subscribe"). We've set up four mail aliases to quickly route your e-mail to the appropriate people: bugs@ardi.com - Hand Written Bug reports gnats@ardi.com - Bug reports created in Executor. When possible, use Executor to file a bug report. We get more information that way. questions@ardi.com - Questions about how to order, and technical questions suggestions@ardi.com - What you'd like to see in future versions We're also reachable by U.S. mail at: ARDI Suite 101 1650 University Blvd., NE Albuquerque, NM 87102 or phone with: +1 505 766 9115 PHONE +1 505 247 1899 FAX TRADEMARKS AND SUCH Executor is a registered trademark of Abacus Research and Development, Inc. Macintosh is a registered trademark of Apple Computer, Inc.