Editing System 7 (section)

===Mac OS 7.6===
Mac OS 7.6 (codenamed "Harmony") is the final major update, released in 1997. With 7.6, the operating system was officially called "Mac OS" instead of "System". New features include a revamped Extensions Manager, more native PowerPC code for Power Macs, more bundled Internet tools and utilities, and a more stable Finder with increased memory allocation.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Mac OS 7.6, Will it be worth it? |url=http://www.themacintoshguy.com/mactips/archive/tip13.shtml |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101222120836/http://themacintoshguy.com/MacTips/archive/tip13.shtml |archive-date=December 22, 2010 |access-date=July 27, 2011}}</ref> In this version, the [[Apple Open Collaboration Environment|PowerTalk]] feature added in 7.5 was removed due to poor application support, and support for a large number of older Macintosh models was dropped, including those with a Motorola 68000 or 68020.

'''Mac OS 7.6.1''' ported the 68k exception handling routines to PowerPC, turning type 11 errors into less harmful errors (type 1, 2, or 3, usually) as crashing applications would more often terminate safely instead of crashing the operating system.<ref>technote 1096</ref>

Through this period, Apple had been attempting to release a completely new "modern" operating system, named [[Copland (operating system)|Copland]]. When the Copland project was abandoned in 1996, Apple announced plans to release an OS update every six months until [[Rhapsody (operating system)|Rhapsody]] (which would by 2001 evolve into what was released as [[macOS|Mac OS X]]) shipped.<ref>{{Cite web |title=YouTube - Macworld Boston 1997 | website=[[YouTube]] |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PEHNrqPkefI |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161124213936/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PEHNrqPkefI |archive-date=November 24, 2016 |access-date=November 28, 2016}}</ref> Two more releases were shipped, now officially branded as Mac OS: Mac OS 7.6 and the minor bug fix 7.6.1. Future versions were released as [[Mac OS 8|Mac OS 8–8.6]] and [[Mac OS 9|Mac OS 9–9.2]].

Released during a troubled time in Apple's history, 7.6 is known for several bugs, such as the inability to customize what components are installed to the system<ref>{{Cite web |title=System 7.5 and Mac OS 7.6: The Beginning and End of an Era - LowEndMac |url=https://lowendmac.com/2014/system-7-5-and-mac-os-7-6-the-beginning-and-end-of-an-era/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220408084846/https://lowendmac.com/2014/system-7-5-and-mac-os-7-6-the-beginning-and-end-of-an-era/ |archive-date=April 8, 2022 |access-date=May 15, 2022}}</ref> and its tendency to crash on some systems when they are shut down while a RAM disk is in use.<ref>{{Cite web |title=RAM Disk Fix utility posted - CNET |url=https://www.cnet.com/tech/computing/ram-disk-fix-utility-posted/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220515235641/https://www.cnet.com/tech/computing/ram-disk-fix-utility-posted/ |archive-date=May 15, 2022 |access-date=May 15, 2022}}</ref>