Mr 9 Menu

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Welcome to Mr 9 Menu
Mr 9 Menu® adds quick and intuitive access to the Classic environment.

Why would one need Mr 9 Menu?
The Apple menu is the single most missed Classic feature absent in Mac OS X. If you need a reminder please read the section "Reasons to use the Apple menu" below. Mr 9 Menu brings back the Apple menu. Running Mr 9 Menu will also allow the user to enjoy other Classic Menu bar items such as the Application menu (which has an enormous capacity over the dock since it is text-based), the Balloons, and other items that can reside in the old bar. Now you can choose to wait for Apple to bring back the Apple menu or you can bring the Apple menu back to you! Launching the Classic environment is a tedious multi-click process (unless you launch a classic app of course). By keeping Mr 9 Menu in the dock the Classic environment is never more than one click away. It also displays whether Classic is currently running or not.

Features in version 1.0
The application was designed to be as small on RAM as possible. No bells, whistles, or "About boxes" have been added whatsoever. It only features two functions: an icon that will reside in the dock, and the Quit command. It is also created to be completely stable and harmless.

Features in version 1.1
A small bell has been added. The purpose of this modification is to make it possible to speed up the access to the Classic menu. The user is prompted upon startup to select a choice on how to activate the Classic menu. Three choices are available. "Hidden", which means that you activate the Classic menu by clicking the dock icon. "Access box", which displays a tiny clickable icon just beneath the Blue Apple. "Needle", the ultimate in minimalism. No icons that take up screen space. Just point the mouse pointer to the left side of the screen. A strip 100 pixels high just below the Blue apple is designated as a "hot area". Tip: if you prefer "Hidden" mode, you might as well use Mr 9 Menu version 1.0. Downloadable from http://homepage.mac.com/petber/FileSharing2.html

Features in version 1.2
Due to overwhelming feedback a feature has been added. You can now select the desired access method and select choose to be reminded each time. To change your mind later select "Preferences" under the Edit menu.

Registration
Since the application was made as minimal as possible there is no code implementing registration, demo modes, delayed startup etc. Please support this intention by registering anyway and future versions will also be designed in this manner. The registration fee is $5. Please send an email to petber@mac.com.

Installation
Drag the Mr 9 Menu folder to anywhere you wish, such as to you Applications folder. To uninstall just drag it to the trash. The 4 kilobyte preference file resides in the HD/System Folder/Preferences. Trashing this as well will remove all components from your system.

Instructions
Double-click Mr 9 Menu to launch the application.To reveal the Classic environment simply click on the dock icon, the Access Box, or on the Access Needle (whichever methmethodd you chose under Preferences). The Classic menu bar will appear and you have immediate access to items such as the Apple menu and the Application menu. To return to Mac OS X just click anywhere else.

Tips and tricks
Move the icon to the desired location in the dock. To make it easy to access instantly you can place it in the dock's application section, for example next to the Finder symbol. To make Mr 9 Menu open automatically at startup, open System Preferences, choose Login, and drag Mr 9 Menu into the Login Items window. Doing this will make the Classic Environment pre-load automatically and place the Mr 9 Menu icon in the dock.

Reasons to use the Apple menu
Have you noticed how slow it is to browse through a hierarchy of folders from a dock alias compared to how it could be done from the Apple menu? Have you noticed how irritating it is to try to find old Classic items such as the Chooser (which is not useless under Mac OS X). Were you used to either of the Calculator, Key Caps, Stickies, or the Scrapbook?

Would you like to use the Recent Application, Documents, and Servers from the old Apple menu which are displayed individually and hold more that the Mac OS X default settings? Have you sworn over how frustrating it is to reach the Control Panels, of which many are very useful and, for many third-party applications, indispensable?
Did you know that you can still run the Classic Sherlock (which is more Finder-like, you can for example use the lower window to drag or crate aliases, and it also allows for indexing of the whole startup drive)? Even Apple System Profiler can be run to verify the components of the Classic environment. And, of course, most of all: You can customize the Apple menu.

System requirements
The application was created to run under Mac OS X. Running it under Mac OS Classic is possible and harmless but rather unnecessary.