Apple File Exchange (AFE) is a

utility program Utility software is a program specifically designed to help manage and tune system or application software. It is used to support the computer infrastructure - in contrast to application software, which is aimed at directly performing tasks that b ...

for

Apple Macintosh Mac is a brand of personal computers designed and marketed by Apple Inc., Apple since 1984. The name is short for Macintosh (its official name until 1999), a reference to the McIntosh (apple), McIntosh apple. The current product lineup inclu ...

computers. It was included on the Apple "Tidbits" or "Install 2" disk in system versions 7.0 through 7.1. In System 7.5 (released in 1994), it was replaced by PC Exchange. Apple File Exchange could read

floppy disk A floppy disk or floppy diskette (casually referred to as a floppy, a diskette, or a disk) is a type of disk storage composed of a thin and flexible disk of a magnetic storage medium in a square or nearly square plastic enclosure lined with a ...

s from

DOS DOS (, ) is a family of disk-based operating systems for IBM PC compatible computers. The DOS family primarily consists of IBM PC DOS and a rebranded version, Microsoft's MS-DOS, both of which were introduced in 1981. Later compatible syste ...

Windows Windows is a Product lining, product line of Proprietary software, proprietary graphical user interface, graphical operating systems developed and marketed by Microsoft. It is grouped into families and subfamilies that cater to particular sec ...

and

ProDOS ProDOS is the name of two similar operating systems for the Apple II of personal computer. The original ProDOS, renamed ProDOS 8 in version 1.2, is the last official operating system usable by all 8-bit Apple II computers, and was distributed ...

(

Apple II Apple II ("apple Roman numerals, two", stylized as Apple ][) is a series of microcomputers manufactured by Apple Computer, Inc. from 1977 to 1993. The Apple II (original), original Apple II model, which gave the series its name, was designed ...

) systems, as well as disks from Macintosh, Macs. This utility enabled Macs to read PC disks, but only if they were inserted after launching Apple File Exchange. If Apple File Exchange was not launched while inserting PC-formatted floppy, the Mac would complain that the disk inserted "was not a Macintosh disk" and requested initialisation. Apple File Exchange was a file content translator, in contrast to the File System Translator of

Apple GS/OS GS/OS is an operating system developed by Apple Computer for its Apple IIGS personal computer. It provides facilities for accessing the file system, controlling input/output devices, loading and running program files, and a system allowing pro ...

which just translated the file system between different computers' storage formats. AFE could convert data files produced by one program for use in another, e.g. between

AppleWorks AppleWorks was an integrated office suite containing a word processor, Database#Database_management_system, database, and spreadsheet. It was developed by Rupert Lissner for Apple Inc., Apple Computer, originally for the Apple II and launched in ...

and ClarisWorks.

Bugs

A high-density diskette in DOS format formatted as a 720K disk would not function correctly; the Mac assumed that any high-density disk has been formatted as an HD disk. To solve this problem, a user could cover the square hole with a piece of tape ''opposite'' the write-protect tab, and re-insert the disk. (This square hole identifies the disk as a high-density disk.) Covering the square hole will make it appear to disk drive as a DD disk.

References

External links

''Apple File Exchange''
on WikiMac, the Mac wiki File Exchange Apple Inc. file systems Compatibility layers {{mac-stub