Editing System 6 (section)

===Limitations===
In comparison to the [[NeXTSTEP]] operating system of the time, System 6 does not make much use of sound, and its user interface is limited in file management and window displays.<ref name="revamp"/> System 6's [[Apple menu]] cannot be used to launch applications. The icon in the upper right-hand corner of the [[menu bar]] simply shows the open application and is not a menu.<ref>{{Cite magazine |last=LeVitus |first=Bob |date=July 1991 |title=System 7.0: 10 reasons why you'll love it |magazine=Computer Shopper |pages=202}}</ref> System 6 supports 24&nbsp;[[bit]]s of addressable [[Random-access memory|RAM]] (random-access memory), which allows for a maximum of 8&nbsp;[[megabyte]]s of RAM, with no provision for [[virtual memory]].<ref name="memory">{{Cite magazine |date=August 1991 |title=Settling down with System 7 (Apple Macintosh operating system's compatibility with network operating systems and upgrading benefits) |magazine=The Local Area Network Magazine |pages=18}}</ref> These limitations were removed in System 7. System 6's version of the [[Hierarchical File System (Apple)|HFS]] file system also has a [[Volume (computing)|volume]] size limit; it supports up to 2&nbsp;[[gigabyte]]s (GB) and 65,536 files on any one volume. System 7.5 increased this limit to 4&nbsp;GB, and 7.5.2 increased it further to 2&nbsp;TB on certain machines, specifically PCI-based Macintosh models.<ref>{{Cite web |date=January 17, 2007 |title=Macintosh: File System Specifications and Terms |url=http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=8647 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080508023713/http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=8647 |archive-date=May 8, 2008 |access-date=March 9, 2019 |publisher=[[Apple Inc]]}}</ref>

The Trash (known as the "Wastebasket" in the British-English version) empties when the Finder terminates.<ref>{{cite web |last=Panic |first=Major General |date=August 1, 2006 |title=trash can |url=https://everything2.com/title/trash+can |access-date=December 2, 2024 |website=Everything2.com}}</ref> Icons on the Desktop in System 6 are not organized into a single folder, as in later operating systems. Instead, the system records if a file is on the Desktop.<ref>{{Cite magazine |last=LeVitus |first=Bob |date=March 1992 |title=Top ten secrets of System 7 (Beating the System) |magazine=MacUser |pages=213}}</ref> This is inefficient and confusing, as the user cannot browse to the Desktop in applications besides the Finder, even within the standard ''Open'' and ''Save As'' dialog boxes. Furthermore, these dialogs are primitive, and were mostly unchanged since 1984. The lack of [[alias (Mac OS)|alias]]es, shortcuts to files, is another limitation of file management on System 6,<ref>{{Cite magazine |last=Michel |first=Steve |date=May 14, 1991 |title=Aliasing: a file by any other name. (making duplicate files with minimal disk space) (System 7.0 Survival Guide) |magazine=MacWEEK |pages=S13}}</ref> and custom file and folder icons are not supported. These issues were all remedied in System 7.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Knight |first=Daniel |date=February 19, 2001 |title=Not the End of the Mac as We Know It |url=https://lowendmac.com/musings/end.html |access-date=December 2, 2024 |website=Low End Mac}}</ref>

A maximum of 15 desk accessories may be installed at one time, including the Chooser, Scrapbook, and Control Panel.<ref>{{Cite magazine |date=March 1, 1988 |title=Font/DA Juggler Plus |magazine=MacUser |pages=27 |quote=Now you can break the Macintosh barrier of 15 DAs, 200 fonts, and 8 FKeys.}}</ref><ref>{{Cite magazine |last=Aker |first=Sharon Zardetto |date=May 1, 1988 |title=DAs of Our Lives |pages=203 |magazine=MacUser |quote=Then came hard disks and megaRAMs, and a System update that included scrolling menus. That basically solved the font problem, but there was still a System limitation of 15 "slots" in the Apple menu for accessories.}}</ref> System 6 uses the Control Panel desk accessory to access all the installed control panels, which imposes severe user-interface limitations. In System 7, Control Panels are contained in separately openable panels, and are held in a central folder for better organization.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Everson |first=Sharon |url=https://archive.org/details/insidemacintoshm00appl/ |title=Inside Macintosh: More Macintosh Toolbox (Apple Technical Library) |date=October 1992 |publisher=[[Addison-Wesley]] |isbn=0-201-63243-8 |pages=7-41 |format=PDF |url-access=registration}}</ref> Desk Accessories cannot be installed or removed within the Finder; this requires the Font/DA Mover utility. System 7 also fixed this.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Everson |first=Sharon |url=https://archive.org/details/insidemacintoshm00appl/ |title=Inside Macintosh: More Macintosh Toolbox (Apple Technical Library) |date=October 1992 |publisher=[[Addison-Wesley]] |isbn=0-201-63243-8 |pages=7-37 |format=PDF |url-access=registration}}</ref>

The interface is not very customizable. The Finder allows each icon to be assigned a color, but the desktop background is limited to an 8x8-pixel color tiled pattern (color patterns were introduced in System 5),<ref>{{Cite magazine |last=Wiggins |first=Robert R. |date=March 1, 1988 |title=All systems go. (Software Review) (System Tools 5.0 with MultiFinder.) |magazine=MacUser |quote=Many of the cdev modules that come with System Tools 5.0 are for the Macintosh II, including a new one called "Color" that allows you to change the highlight color, the color used as a background when text or an icon is selected. The General cdev also adds the ability to set the desktop pattern color on a Macintosh II.}}</ref> and standard window frames are black-and-white. However, many "[[Extension (Mac OS)#The INIT mechanism|INIT]]" extension files exist to add color and customization.<ref>{{Cite magazine |date=March 1990 |title=Color Icons |url=https://www.wap.org/journal/showcase/washingtonapplepijournal1990v12no3mar90.pdf |url-status=live |magazine=Washington Apple Pi |volume=12 |issue=3 |page=86 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210919083909/https://wap.org/journal/showcase/washingtonapplepijournal1990v12no3mar90.pdf |archive-date=2021-09-19 |access-date=2022-05-13}}</ref> System 7 allows the user to change the color of window frames and various other aspects of the user interface.<ref name="revamp">{{Cite magazine |last=Crabb |first=Don |date=June 1989 |title=The Mac Interface: Showing Its Age |magazine=[[Byte (magazine)|Byte]] |pages=235–237}}</ref> By 1989, the System 6 user interface was in need of a change.<ref name="revamp"/>