MaxAppleZoom

MaxAppleZoom, also known as MAZ, was a shareware control panel developed by Naoto Horii to maximize the resolution of early NuBus video cards and monitors from Apple Computer.

Description
Early video cards from Apple contained slightly more video memory than necessary to display a visible resolution of 640 x 480 pixels, which was based on the popular VGA standard of the time. The remainder of the surrounding picture area was masked with black on early Apple CRT displays. MaxAppleZoom modified the original video driver and timings to be able to display larger 672 x 512 or 704 x 512 pixel resolutions.

Supported NuBus cards

 * Macintosh II Video Card (a.k.a. Toby)
 * Macintosh II High Resolution Video Card
 * Macintosh Display Card 4•8
 * Macintosh Display Card 8•24
 * NOTE: The built-in video of the Macintosh IIci and later models are not supported.

Supported displays

 * AppleColor High-Resolution RGB Monitor (13")
 * Apple High-Resolution Monochrome Monitor (12")
 * Apple Macintosh 12" Monochrome Display

Issues and updates
Version 1.3, released in mid-1990, is known to have compatibility issues with SuperClock!. Early versions were known to time out as developer Naoto Horii had intended to encourage updates as new versions of classic Mac OS were released. With the delay of the release of System 7 to May 1991, combined with the breakdown of Naoto's development computer and the lack of funds due to the small number of users actually sending in shareware fees, the release of a System 7-compatible version had been delayed to July 1991. Version 1.4 added support for System 7, cleaner monochrome output, and 24-bit color. Naoto also revealed that he had decided not to cash shareware checks until the update was complete. Version 1.44 was the final release in June 1993.

"I think some people haven’t the faintest idea about what it takes to take a conceptual idea like MAZ and implement it in a reliable and transparent product, perhaps because the software is rather easy to use. MAZ development and maintenance took several hundred hours, and I’m getting tired of the discipline I had to impose myself since releasing MAZ to scrape together that much time. There are also a lot of other things I should have done or wanted to do during that period, not to mention the adverse effects it had on my social life. And if at my first failure the majority of the users gang up to treat me as a scoundrel, I’m definitely not getting a very good deal."

- Naoto Horii