The Apple II was a very different machine from the Macintosh.

Perhaps you are thinking of the old MECC software? I unfortunately can't find a good reference for them on hand, but they're very well-known. It really was quite marvelous, the range of topics their software covered. I'm sure some have argued that they offered a better educational experience, what with not being smothered in overly elaborate graphics and sound effects.

Anyway, take a gander at http://www.virtualapple.org/ .

I know they're different (6502 vs. 680x0), but they're both from Apple, and they have some of the most die-hard fans there are, so I figure there's something to it, and like I said, my first computer experience was with an Apple II, and I'd like to learn Mac interfaces (I only know Windows and DOS).

general_vagueness wrote:

and I'd like to learn Mac interfaces

Just visit the WebSE project to learn about the Mac interfaces:
http://myoldmac.net/

😉

general_vagueness wrote:

so I figure there's something to it

I try to keep an open mind, but I find that I cannot fathom any way in which the typical computer user could find an Apple II to resemble a Macintosh. (The only exception would be the IIgs and GS/OS, but I've never encountered anyone who used that back in the day.)

Jorpho wrote:

...would be the IIgs and GS/OS, but I've never encountered anyone who used that back in the day.)

Me. 😀

I meant I figure there must be something to what the fanboys say about Apple products.
On a side note, I don't think I've ever found a keyboard I liked as much as an early Apple (built-in) keyboard. Is there anyone who makes keyboards that feel like that?

I accidentally posted this elsewhere:
also also, none of the games were from MECC (or at least none that I played, there were some that I never played), they all had color and sound and none of them had text-art

As far as I can tell, you were looking for good Apple-based games...

I can think of a few good ones for Apple II...the original Oregon Trail was an Apple II game, as was another game called Robot Odyssey, and yet another called Gertrude's Secrets (but I can't seen to find the latter two on virtualapple at all).

As for good Mac games? Try 3 in Three, System's Twilight, and The Fool's Errand.

http://www.mini-itx.com/ has a bunch of projects in which people have replaced the guts of some old computer with a modern PC while leaving the functionality of the keyboard intact. Looks like no one has done that with an Apple II just yet, though.

I don't recall that any of the MECC games used "text art".

And yes, 3 in Three is fabulous. And freeware, too! Some people also really like Escape Velocity, but there's a Windows version of that now.

There is a DOS version of The Fool's Errand.

Yeah, but the Mac version has a certain charm that the PC version, with its garishly colored images, sort of lacks.

OK, I'll check out The Fool's Errand.
also, I looked on Wikipedia and it said at least 2 of the games used text kind of like it was graphics

Look up the games made by Magnetic Scrolls

I'm getting an Apple II! A real, genuine Apple II! What do I do? That is to say, what should I do with it? It's from my teacher, and he said he'd give me a few programs on disk, but other than that I don't know. Please keep in mind that the family computer (that I'm using now) is just the opposite-- so new it doesn't even have a (frickin') 3½" floppy drive. I'm getting the feeling there must be some way to connect them... Any help or suggestions of what to do with it would be appreciated.
update: I just got it.

general_vagueness wrote:

I'm getting an Apple II! A real, genuine Apple II! What do I do? That is to say, what should I do with it? It's from my teacher, and he said he'd give me a few programs on disk, but other than that I don't know. Please keep in mind that the family computer (that I'm using now) is just the opposite-- so new it doesn't even have a (frickin') 3½" floppy drive. I'm getting the feeling there must be some way to connect them... Any help or suggestions of what to do with it would be appreciated.
update: I just got it.

Congratulations, on getting a real Apple II mate. So now to google for fun stuff to the Apple II 😀

OK, reality time.
I don't actually know how to use it. Like, at all, particularly the disk commands. Also I got 3 disks with it, and they were working, and now 2 seem to not be working.
I thought info on the Internet and this old book I have would be enough. (The book is about Logo, an old programming language designed for new programmers, to be easier than BASIC, focused on the Apple II implementation of it, so it includes a few things about using the system.)
Just, please help. There doesn't seem to be a primer anywhere anymore.

one of the best Apple II-only games was Captain Goodnight, if you like action games. Also Short Circuit, Black Magic, Randamn, Crisis Mountain, the original Lode Runner, Choplifter, Airheart, ...
Some others exist on other platforms, but the ports are poor, so I still think of them as Apple II-only - Karateka, for example.
I spent my youth playing them. They were good days.

general_vagueness wrote:

I thought info on the Internet and this old book I have would be enough. (The book is about Logo, an old programming language designed for new programmers, to be easier than BASIC, focused on the Apple II implementation of it, so it includes a few things about using the system.)

Ah, my elementary school years were spent doing Logo. I wouldn't say it's easier than BASIC - it's more like they do different things. (In the years before they taught us Appleworks, we used Logo as a word processor!)

Anyway, the important question is, does your Apple II have a serial card? If it does, it will have a 25-pin connector on the back. With a serial card, it is possible to hook the Apple II up to a PC, making it much easier to use disk images that you can download from the Internet with your Apple II.

I think I remember seeing an article about using an ethernet card in an Apple II.

Haven't used an Apple II since 1991 so I can't be of much help. Have played with the emulators occasionally though.

I have a 25-pin D-shell port, but it appears to be for the printer, though there's also a mini-DIN 8* port for a special printer cable (which I have).

*I think that's what you'd call it, it looks like a keyboard or mouse port/plug but with 8 pins