Configuring Open Transport |
| Apple has developed a network architecture called Open
Transport which offers greater speed and easier configuration than MacTCP,
which was originally designed for use only with Macs on a LAN (and therefore it was
assumed that a network administrator would be available to set it up). While most PowerPC
machines can still run MacTCP, the PCI-based PowerMacs
(eg. 7200, 7500, 8500) must run Open Transport, which
was included as part of the System software shipped with those machines (originally
7.5.2); in addition most 68K Macs (030 and 040 systems at least) can also run Open
Transport. Version 1.1.2 of the Open Transport software has now been released, and all Mac
users are advised to upgrade or migrate to the new Open Transport software if possible
(users with less than 8MB of RAM might wish to stay with MacTCP,
as Open Transport requires more memory - up to 1MB or
more - to run. But any Mac with only 8MB or RAM will also have problems running Netscape Navigator and many other Internet clients). Of
course, if MacTCP ain't broke, you may wonder, why fix it? Faster performance, easier
configuration, and on-the-fly configuration switching are a few reasons; as is Apple's
branding - as of System 7.6, MacTCP is no longer supported). When you open the TCP/IP control panel  , you should see a screen
like this: |
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