Introduction

 

Multi-Mac

Servant

 

 

 Additional Information

 

 

 

 

Finder

Switcher

  ResEdit

 

 

 

As shown, Servant was in many ways ahead of its time, incorportating application switching, an updated means of navigating the Finder, and simple resource editing. While Andy Hertzfeld supposedly sold the publishing rights to Apple for six figures while retaining the right to publish the software on his own should Apple decline to publish the software or change it substantially, Servant was destined to live a short but exciting life.

 

Apple purportedly did not like the way the Finder windows worked like MacPaint, with the contents scrolling in the background. I found it difficult to find the icon that I needed to work with, but that is because the drive was not originally set up in icon view; a few folders better organizing the drive would help with navigation.

 

The multiple ways one can navigate the windows, resize and customize the icons, and explore application Resources, as well as have multiple applications running on a System 6 Mac makes Servant a fascinating alternative to the contemporary Finder. What Servant lacks, however, is stability, which makes it a curiousity more than a valid alternative.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I first obtained Servant version .84 way back when, after I had upgraded my Macintosh 512K to a 512Ke with the new 128K ROM. I later found version .953 on the internet, back when it was still available.

 

My 512Ke now has a Macintosh Plus motherboard in it after a college roommate accidently destroyed the existing board. For this reason I was unable to run Multi-Mac on any of my 68K Macintoshes.

 

The screenshots for this web site were created on a Macintosh Classic, booted to the built-in ROM disk. The ROM disk is accessed by holding the Apple-Option-X-O keys at startup. Since Servant runs under System 6 and lower and my hard drive has System 7.1, I would boot to the Boot Disk and run Servant from the hard drive.

 

There is precious little information about Servant on the internet; hence, my motivation to create this site. I found one site, MiCMAC, in French, that provided a contemporary review of Servant and its features:

MiCMAC Volume 4: Servant

Run the site through Sherlock 3 for a decent translation.

Special thanks to gyounk and his Mac512 site.

I also had a MacWrite document that reviewed Multi-Mac and Servant included on my Servant .84 and Multi-Mac disk. It was helpful in framing where the Macintosh System Software and operating system were at that point in time, as well as explaining some of the features.

Since I do not own the rights to this software, please do not ask.

 

 

copyright 2002 Josh Burker

 

 

all icons, names, and trademarks are property of their respective owners