Apple File Exchange (AFE) is a

utility program Utility software is software designed to help analyze, configure, optimize or maintain a computer. It is used to support the computer infrastructure - in contrast to application software, which is aimed at directly performing tasks that benefit ord ...

for

Apple Macintosh The Mac (known as Macintosh until 1999) is a family of personal computers designed and marketed by Apple Inc., Apple Inc. Macs are known for their ease of use and minimalist designs, and are popular among students, creative professionals, and ...

computers. It was included on the Apple "Tidbits" or "Install 2" disk in system versions 7.0 through

7.1 7.1 surround sound is the common name for an eight-channel surround audio system commonly used in home theatre configurations. It adds two additional speakers to the more conventional six-channel (5.1) audio configuration. As with 5.1 surround sou ...

. In System 7.5 (released in 1994), it was replaced by PC Exchange. Apple File Exchange could read floppy disks from

DOS DOS is shorthand for the MS-DOS and IBM PC DOS family of operating systems. DOS may also refer to: Computing * Data over signalling (DoS), multiplexing data onto a signalling channel * Denial-of-service attack (DoS), an attack on a communicat ...

Windows Windows is a group of several proprietary graphical operating system families developed and marketed by Microsoft. Each family caters to a certain sector of the computing industry. For example, Windows NT for consumers, Windows Server for ser ...

and

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

( Apple II) systems, as well as disks from 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 progr ...

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, and spreadsheet. It was developed by Rupert Lissner for Apple Computer, originally for the Apple II platform and launched in 1984, and was later reworked for the Ma ...

and

ClarisWorks AppleWorks was an integrated office suite containing a word processor, database, and spreadsheet. It was developed by Rupert Lissner for Apple Computer, originally for the Apple II platform and launched in 1984, and was later reworked for the ...

.Apple File Exchange: Contrasted to File System Translators
Apple support archive article, last modified 2008

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