Good thing my computer has more than 1 Meg of RAM...

[Mixolydian]

...now I can install FileMaker on my Macintosh!





It's amazing how powerful, yet lightweight common desktop applications used to be.

 

[Red Squirrel]

Yeah it's actually sad how today's software is so bloated. What is it really doing that software back then did not do? Like take an OS for example, it's primary function is to have an environment for programs to run. The only thing different with today's OSes is they simply have support for stuff that did not exist then like USB, 64 bit, etc but there is no reason they should be so bloated.

 

[brianmanahan]

man, i hate filemaker, i had to use it for one of my first jobs. a "programming language" where you cant type = not programming i want to do.

 

[Red Squirrel]

What exactly does it do anyway? I know when I went to school the teachers used it to grade students, but that's the only time I've actually seen it used.

 

[purbeast0]

filemaker was fucking terrible. they were still using it to generate some db shit at my previous job when i left 3 years ago.

 

[Mixolydian]

System Requirements
Then (1992): A hard disk (any size!) 1MB RAM, 4 MB recommended
Now (2012): 1GHz or faster CPU, 2 GB RAM (Win) or 4 GB RAM (Mac)

:whiste:

What exactly does it do anyway? I know when I went to school the teachers used it to grade students, but that's the only time I've actually seen it used.

It's a database program. Think Microsoft Access. (I think?)

 

[brianmanahan]

its a development platform that lets you create file "databases", create wysiwyg UIs for them, and add some event-driven logic to the UI. similar to ms access + vbscript, but easier to share and harder to program.

most of the places i know of that used it did so just because it supported both windows and mac, and could be accessed from either platform.

at least that was the case a few moons ago

 

[Crono]

Office 97 and 2003 are still some of the best versions. I can use 2007 and 2013 just fine, and I've used/use 2013 and 365, but I can easily do everything I need to with the older versions of Word and Office.

That's mainly because documents, spreadsheets, presentations, etc don't necessarily benefit from fancier graphics and interfaces. Well, presentations might, but I usually only create simple and clean slides for presenting information.

EDIT: Mostly referring to Word, Excel, and Powerpoint, Outlook has improved, and I don't use the other Office programs like Access or OneNote

 

[Red Squirrel]

Ahh I see so it's basically like Access. I've always had the belief that if you want to make a "database program" then use php/mysql and have it web based so it's centralized and easier to backup and manage. Sadly lot of companies do insist on having these little access databases floating everywhere and are a pain to support. Access is great for prototyping stuff real quick though.

 

[dave_the_nerd]

Ahh I see so it's basically like Access. I've always had the belief that if you want to make a "database program" then use php/mysql and have it web based so it's centralized and easier to backup and manage. Sadly lot of companies do insist on having these little access databases floating everywhere and are a pain to support. Access is great for prototyping stuff real quick though.

Millions of years ago, when dinosaurs and Filemaker programmers roamed the earth, and the gates to paradise were guarded by the evil armies of Novell, web-based anything was next to impossible to implement.

OP: how came you by this artifact?

 

[Doppel]

Office 97 and 2003 are still some of the best versions. I can use 2007 and 2013 just fine, and I've used/use 2013 and 365, but I can easily do everything I need to with the older versions of Word and Office.

That's mainly because documents, spreadsheets, presentations, etc don't necessarily benefit from fancier graphics and interfaces. Well, presentations might, but I usually only create simple and clean slides for presenting information.

EDIT: Mostly referring to Word, Excel, and Powerpoint, Outlook has improved, and I don't use the other Office programs like Access or OneNote

A lot of apps suffer from evolution. I remember early versions of Winamp were good back in the late 90's, then it just kept growing until it was unusable. ICQ also suffered from severe bloat. Adobe Acrobat Reader today is also so bloated I uninstall it when given it at work and put fox it reader in its stead. Too many developers have the tendency to develop endlessly until their product is a piece of garbage. Often a "lite" version will come out, which is tacit agreement from the company that their other app is too bloated for most users.

I'm not saying that's the case with MS word, but with few exceptions I bet you that 95% of office users with something better than Word 2003 are not using anything Word 2003 couldn't do, for example. Thankfully at least the Office products don't appear to get WORSE, which definitely was the case with a couple apps I just mentioned.

 

[Mixolydian]

OP: how came you by this artifact?

Got it from a member on another forum. Wanted to turn my Macintosh SE into something useful. This will be fun!

 

[swanysto]

Software back then did not have as much crap to worry about either. Things like validation and security. Not to mention all the stuff needed to share with other programs(i.e. accessing excel info from word documents, etc.)

 

[BUTCH1]

Wrong forum

 

[Mixolydian]

Not to mention all the stuff needed to share with other programs(i.e. accessing excel info from word documents, etc.)

Right...there were 3rd party utilities to do that!

 

[Mixolydian]

Wrong forum

I'm not seeing a "Computing History" forum.

GTFO shitface.

 

[BUTCH1]

I'm not seeing a "Computing History" forum.

GTFO shitface.

Hey asshole, it's called SOFTWARE get it dumbfuck?

 

[Mixolydian]

Hey asshole, it's called SOFTWARE get it dumbfuck?

Software which is of little to no relevance today.

 

[Mixolydian]

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention - the software is on floppy disks! And not even 1.4MB floppy disks, they're 800k! LOL!

 

[rh71]

Office 97 and 2003 are still some of the best versions. I can use 2007 and 2013 just fine, and I've used/use 2013 and 365, but I can easily do everything I need to with the older versions of Word and Office.

That's mainly because documents, spreadsheets, presentations, etc don't necessarily benefit from fancier graphics and interfaces. Well, presentations might, but I usually only create simple and clean slides for presenting information.

EDIT: Mostly referring to Word, Excel, and Powerpoint, Outlook has improved, and I don't use the other Office programs like Access or OneNote

I face the challenge of the 65.5k row limit in Excel 2003 almost every day with work. I wish we could get 2007 full version. Splitting it into multiple sheets is not obvious to some recipients.

 

[jagec]

A lot of apps suffer from evolution.

It's a natural process. Most of our DNA is similarly useless bloat, and it's even worse for plants.