Editing AppleLink (section)

== Early years ==

The original AppleLink, which went online in 1985, was a service available only to Apple employees and dealers, and shortly thereafter to Apple University Consortium members. Apple's consumer [[Toll-free telephone number|800 number]] in fact touted this fact, promoting your dealer as the place to turn for help because of his access to AppleLink. In the late 1980s the service was also opened up to [[software developer]]s, who could use it both as an [[end-user]] support system as well as a conduit to Apple development for questions and suggestions.
[[File:Apple Link Beta Disk.jpg|thumb|Samuel Beta Disk. Version 1.1.9. Apple Computer Inc & Quantum Computer Services Inc.]]
AppleLink used client software written in [[Pascal programming language|Pascal]] under contract to Apple by [[Pete Burnight]]/[[Central Coast Software]]. The program extended the [[desktop metaphor]] of the [[Macintosh Finder]] to encompass the areas on the remote [[server (computing)|server]] site. These were displayed as [[folder (computing)|folder]]s and [[Computer file|files]] just as local folders and files were. In addition, there was a set of public [[bulletin boards]], and the ability to use [[email]] via the service—although initially only between AppleLink users. [[File transfer]] for drivers and system software was another important role, and for this Apple created the [[AppleLink Package]] format to combine and compress the two [[resource fork|forks]] of a Macintosh file into one for storage and sending. Apple also developed their Communications Control Language ([[Connection Control Language|CCL]]) for AppleLink, a language still used in a very similar form for today's Macintosh [[modem]] scripts.

The "[[Front and back ends|back end]]" of the AppleLink system was hosted on [[General Electric]]'s Information Services ([[GEIS]]) (division) '''[[GXS Inc.|Mark III]]''' time-sharing [[Mainframe computer|mainframes]] and worldwide communications [[Computer networking|network]]. AppleLink translated the user's [[GUI]] actions into a transaction protocol that was sent into a server program running on the mainframe. The connection used a proprietary error free [[sliding window]] [[Protocol (computing)|protocol]] called [[EF3 (protocol)|EF3]]. Later versions upgraded this protocol to GEIS' "EFX" (Error-Free eXtended) protocol. GEIS charged fairly substantial prices to Apple, both for maintaining the service (about [[United States dollar|$]]30 million a year{{citation needed|date=October 2013}} per year), and the end-users' connection fees of about $15 an hour during business hours (which Apple rebilled to the users). For some years prior to the discontinuation of the system, GEIS maintained a number of employees on the campus of Apple's [[Cupertino, California]], headquarters, co-located with the Apple On-Line Services organization. Repeated attempts to negotiate a lower cost failed, and Apple management chafed at paying for a service that had no obviously measurable income.

Eventually Apple approached [[Steve Case]] of [[Quantum Computer Services]], who ran a somewhat similar system for users of the [[Commodore 64]]. They reached an agreement in which Apple and Quantum would develop a new system known as AppleLink Personal Edition, which would be intended for end-users until all existing AppleLink content could be moved over and the system proved itself stable enough for support services as well. Beta-test users were generally disappointed that the new service did not give them access to the "real" AppleLink, and eventually the service was released instead as America Online. [[Aaron Marcus and Associates, Inc.]], under contract to Apple and working closely with Apple's software engineers, designed the icons, dialogue boxes and screen layout for AppleLink Personal Edition. These icons and some dialogue boxes were incorporated into the first graphical user-interface design of America Online.

Meanwhile, interested in selling the system to other customers, GEIS developed both [[DOS]] and eventually [[Microsoft Windows|Windows]] based versions of the client software and sold the system as "DealerTalk" starting in 1986, aiming at the Apple model of manufacturers using the system to communicate with their dealers. All the systems, including the AppleLink community, were united behind the scenes as part of GEIS' worldwide Quik-Comm E-mail service and could exchange mail with each other and all GEIS mail customers, using addresses like MICHAEL@APPLELINK or JOHNDOE@GEIS. This was later expanded to include Internet mail addresses. Eventually, the GEIS products were renamed BusinessTalk and after a [[Rewrite (programming)|complete system rewrite]] and creation of their own Macintosh client program (never incorporated into AppleLink), again renamed BusinessTalk System 2000 in 1992. During this time the system, with the Windows client, also became the foundation for Microsoft's first on-line service for developers, the [[Microsoft Partner Network]] (MSPN).