The European HyperCard User Group (eHUG) is on hand at this week’s Apple Expo in Paris, France, pushing for Apple to release a Mac OS X compatible version of HyperCard, an Apple-created tool for creating custom software solutions for users at all skill and experience levels.
HyperCard uses a scripting language called HyperTalk; scripts can be assigned to objects, such as fields, buttons and cards. With it, you create applications by putting together files called “stacks.”
“After HyperCard was introduced in 1987, many people decided to build their businesses around a collection of specialized stacks,” Mark Schonewille, the AUG (Apple user group) leader coordinating eHUG’s international affairs, said. “Apple introduced the new operating system, Mac OS X, without providing professional and home users with a product that is fully compatible with the latest HyperCard version, which was released in 1998. Many of eHUG’s members, who are amongst Apple’s most loyal customers, have a reason to feel betrayed by Apple.”
At one time, Apple planned to ramp HyperCard to version 3.0. Those plans stalled, however, when the company said doing so would require moving resources and people away from currently successful development strategies in order to set up a full team with all its complementary support structures. HyperCard fans are working to convince Apple to revive and rejuvenate the tool — especially in regards to a Mac OS X compatible version.
“Only if HyperCard users keep insisting on their wish to have an updated version of their favorite software, might Apple listen one day and decide to release a Carbonized version of HyperCard,” Schonewille said. For more info on eHUG, or to become a member, go to the organization’s Web site.