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Dr. Digit 'Splains It All Dr. Digit 'Splains It All Dr. Digit 'Splains It All

Last week a reader wrote for advice: "I recently bought an iMac and transferred my document file to it using an external hard drive that connects to a USB port. That worked easily. But when I tried to open a FileMaker Pro file, it would not open, because it depends on OS 9.

The new computer uses OS 10 (Tiger) and the old computer, also a Mac, uses OS 9. The new computer has something called Classic, with could help with this problem. The message given said I need to load OS 9 in the new computer. I have OS 9 on a disk and could do this. But I am afraid it might do something bad. I'm a scardy cat = cautious. What do you think? Thanks."

I am a PC guy, so I checked with some Mac users. My initial idea was that they do have a version of Filemaker for OS X and evidently it isn't on this user's computer, while a document reading program is present. I recommended upgrading Filemaker -- they usually have a special upgrade price.

I don't recommend putting another Operating System (OS) on your computer just to be able to read one kind of file. The reason is that when you have two OSs it takes longer to boot up when you initially turn on the computer, and unless you have a truly compelling reason to do it that way I don't recommend it.

I assume that newer versions of Filemaker are backwardly-compatible so they will read older versions' files. That means that if she does upgrade, it should automatically work as expected on her new computer.

Susan, a Mac guru told me, "Your advice is correct though she will hate the upgrade price. She needs to call the company to explain that Filemaker for OS 9 is on her old computer so she can't do an upgrade that will require the old software to be on the computer. When OS X came out, people were using OS 9 and even booting to it. Now, you cannot boot to it on the new Macs."

On a Windows machine this is called "file associations." Data files are assigned to a program that can read and manipulate them. When a file type is associated you can just click on that type of file and the appropriate program automatically pops up on your screen with the file in it. Click on a document and a word processor pops up. Click on a picture and a drawing program appears.

But if you have a data file that is not associated with a program, it will not load. This is the same on a Mac as it is on a PC.

Even on PCs we get used to clicking on a file and having it load into the program that is associated with it. When we upgrade to a new machine, however, it is amazing to find how many programs need to be transferred or upgraded. There is always a period of adjustment with a new machine. It's like a pair of shoes -- we take for granted the comfy fit without remembering how long it took to get them just perfect. And -- Murphy's Law -- once they fit just perfectly they fall apart and it's time to get new ones!

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v1i12

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