Editing Apple II (section)

==Software==
The [[Apple II (original)|original Apple II]] has the [[operating system]] in [[Read-only memory|ROM]] along with a BASIC variant called [[Integer BASIC]]. Apple eventually released [[Applesoft BASIC]], a more advanced variant of the language which users can run instead of Integer BASIC. The Apple II series eventually supported over 1,500 software programs.<!-- apparently we can cite VanLOVEs Apple Handbook and The Apple Educators Guide by Gerald VanDiver and Rolland Love on this -->

When the [[Disk II]] floppy disk drive was released in 1978, a new operating system, [[Apple DOS]], was commissioned from [[Shepardson Microsystems]]<ref name="Apple DOS commissioned">{{cite web|title=The untold story behind Apple's $13,000 operating system|url=http://news.cnet.com/8301-13579_3-57577597-37/the-untold-story-behind-apples-$13000-operating-system/|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130404095756/http://news.cnet.com/8301-13579_3-57577597-37/the-untold-story-behind-apples-$13000-operating-system/|archive-date=April 4, 2013|access-date=April 4, 2013|website=CNET|location=San Francisco, CA|df=mdy-all}}</ref><ref name="Apple DOS contract">{{cite web|title=DigiBarn Docs: "How Apple Booted Up" Key Documents in the Creation of Apple's First Operating System (Apple II DOS, 1978)|url=http://www.digibarn.com/collections/business-docs/apple-II-DOS/index.html|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130403083337/http://www.digibarn.com/collections///business-docs/apple-II-DOS/index.html|archive-date=April 3, 2013|access-date=April 4, 2013|publisher=DigiBarn|location=CA|df=mdy-all}}</ref> and developed by Paul Laughton, adding support for the disk drive.<ref name="Apple DOS developer">{{cite web|title=Apple Computer The Early Days A Personal Perspective|url=http://www.laughton.com/Apple/Apple.html|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130725020604/http://www.laughton.com/Apple/Apple.html|archive-date=July 25, 2013|access-date=April 4, 2013|publisher=Paul Laughton|df=mdy-all}}</ref> The final and most popular version of this software was Apple DOS 3.3.

Apple DOS was superseded by [[Apple ProDOS|ProDOS]], which supported a [[hierarchical file system]] and larger storage devices. With an optional third-party [[Zilog Z80|Z80]]-based [[expansion card]],<ref name="z80">{{cite journal|last=Petersen|first=Marty|date=February 6, 1984|title=Review: Premium Softcard IIe|publisher=InfoWorld Media Group|volume=6|issue=6|page=64|quote=Several manufacturers, however, make Z80 coprocessor boards that plug into the Apple II.|journal=[[InfoWorld]]}}</ref> the Apple II could boot into the [[CP/M]] operating system and run [[WordStar]], [[dBase|dBase II]], and other CP/M software. With the release of MousePaint in 1984 and the Apple II<small>GS</small> in 1986, the platform took on the look of the [[classic Mac OS|Macintosh]] user interface, including a mouse.

Much commercial Apple II software shipped on [[self-booting disk]]s and does not use standard DOS disk formats. This discouraged the copying or modifying of the software on the disks, and improved loading speed.