Red Ryder (software)
| Original author(s) | Wat Buchanon, Scott Watson |
|---|---|
| Developer(s) | The FreeSoft Company |
| Initial release | 1984 |
| Final release | 10.3
|
| Written in | BASIC, C |
Terminal emulation, BBS | |
| License | Proprietary software; shareware distribution (up to 9.4), commercial distribution (since version 10.0) |
Red Ryder is a communications and
History
First released in 1984 for
Features
Red Ryder was the first Mac telecommunication application to support big screens and choice of fonts.[4] The program emulates several terminals (ASCII TTY (teletype), VT52 and VT100) and supports many file transfer protocols (uploading/downloading using XMODEM, YMODEM or Kermit; downloading using the CompuServe B protocol) with MacBinary file format. The application includes a procedure language and can be controlled by user defined macros.[2]: 154 Registered users could set up their own Bulletin board system using Red Ryder Host.[3]: 71 Highly flexible settings allow to use nearly any modem and Red Ryder also offers phone books for often used phone numbers and services.[2]: 156
Reception
Both Macintosh and general computing magazines rated Red Ryder highly.[2][1] Commended were its inexpensive price,[6]: 92 rich settings and features and excellent support (answering user questions by phone).[2]: 156 However, documentation included only few examples and with so many configuration options Red Ryder was somewhat hard to learn. Commercial release 10 was also not compatible with version 9.x procedures.[2]: 158 Despite powerful features and popularity among home users, Red Ryder was never successful in the business market, which preferred MacTerminal by Apple or Smartcom II by Hayes.[2]: 154 By words of an InfoWorld review, Red Ryder "tries to be too many things at once" and "it's not practical for a typical business user".[7]: S11