About this blog

The existence of this blog is the result of a two-step impulse. First came the idea of claiming a name such as System Folder — I thought it was cool to have a Mac-oriented blog with that name. But after a couple of false starts, I just kept the name in cold storage, waiting for better times.

I’ve always been fond of Macintosh computers, both aesthetically — as objects of design, pleasant to use but also pleasant to look at and own — and operatively; they’ve always been better than Windows boxes, thanks to their operating system.

I am a Mac enthusiast and collector. However, I don’t collect vintage Macs just for the sake of it. I love to put vintage Macs to good use. If I acquire a vintage Mac, it’s for making the most of it and maintaining it. It’s for giving it a purpose. That’s why I don’t just hoard old Mac hardware indiscriminately.

Mac OS X has been the second best thing happening to Macintosh computers since the original Macintosh, but that doesn’t mean that everything running Mac OS 9 and earlier versions is useless. Similarly, Apple may have stopped supporting the PowerPC architecture years ago, but that doesn’t mean that all PowerPC G3, G4, G5 Macs running Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger or 10.5 Leopard are useless.

Above I mentioned that a two-step impulse is what drove me to start this blog. This is when the second step kicked in. Instead of launching yet another Mac-oriented blog about Mac OS X, the iPhone, the iPod and all the newest and the latest from Apple, I decided to configure (heh) this System Folder as a space for all things related to vintage Mac hardware and software. My attempt is to show that Macs are really long-lasting systems, and that they can still be useful today — or at least interesting and fascinating.

In this blog I talk about my personal experience with vintage Macs and what I still do with my machines. I also try to collect useful information about classic hardware and software, republishing old articles and tips, mainly taken from 10-15 year-old magazines. I have a lot of issues of MacUser and other Mac magazines from the 1993-1997 years, and they can be a gold mine of information. Since the Web was an infant at that time, some of that information can’t be found online. Therefore, publishing here the occasional tip or review might have a bit of a historical value, might just be a piece of curiosity, and — why not? — might be even useful to those who still use and love vintage Macs.

That is the reason behind the tagline The Platinum Days. Platinum was the colour of vintage Macs from the Macintosh Plus on. (Yes, many people refer to those Macs as just being ‘beige’). Platinum was also the name of the default theme in the Appearance control panel in Mac OS 8 and later. And for some people, everything before Mac OS X and Intel-based Macs is better and closer to the true, rainbow-coloured Apple nature. Those were the days, they say. Hence, the Platinum Days.

This blog is updated at an intermittent pace, depending on my workload, the information I find and, ultimately, my moods.

I hope you’ll enjoy it.

RM