Howard Katz has posted the May, 2005 issue of Apple II News & Notes, the freely redistributable newsletter covering the key Apple II news of the past month.

Although it’s almost 20 years old, this extensive and detailed preview introduces the last of the Apple II line.

“By mid-1985…Apple engineers were already working on a product called, at various times, Phoenix, Columbia, Cortland, and Granny Smith: the Apple II GS.”

The 2005 KansasFest committee announced today that longtime Apple II supporter Ray Merlin will give the keynote address at this summer’s KansasFest event. Ray will share reflections on his many years as an Apple II user and enthusiast. Ken Gagne, associate editor of Juiced.GS magazine, will be this year’s celebrity roast victim. Gagne has, additionally, served admirably as master of ceremonies for the past four years’ roasts.

Jason Scott’s three year project has finally reached shipping status. What Apple II owner doesn’t remember dialing up a BBS, when the web was just a twinkle in the sky?

BBS: The Documentary contains more than eight hours of interviews and history. Read more about this labor of love on his website. The site also lists more than 40 Apple II BBS software packages.

Veteran hardware manufacturer Orange Micro, which has been producing products for Apple machines for over 25 years, has apparently shut down. Although now a Macintosh peripheral company, Orange Micro got its start as an Apple II business. Most will remember them for their popular Grappler printer interface cards. A report of their demise can be found on the MacInTouch web site. Please note that this is, at this time, an unconfirmed report. The Orange Micro web site is down, but this may be a temporary glitch. We’ll update this report as details come in.

Lyle Syverson has released the May edition of The Lamp!, the monthly distillation of the best messages posted in the Apple II forum on Syndicomm Online.

AtariArchives.org has posted the full text of the 1979 book Computer Graphics Primer on the web, with the permission of the copyright holder. The book contains sample programs in Applesoft BASIC.

Gerard Putter has updated his excellent Virtual ][ emulator to version 3.5. The new version is fully compatible with Mac OS X 10.4 "Tiger," as well as Mac OS X 10.3.9.Other enhancements include:

• A Spotlight module for searching for Apple ][ files.
• Disk images can be inserted by double-clicking them in the Finder, or by selecting them in Spotlight.
• The mouse emulation is improved, and now works properly with the GEOS operating system.
• The Help menu now includes a link to the Virtual ][ Forum.
• The 6502 and Z80 emulation engines now take advantage of PowerPC G5 processors if you have one.
• Fixed a bug that caused some closed-apple key combinations to be ignored.
• Fixed some bugs with Mac folders mounted as DOS 3.3 disks.
• Fixed some minor bugs in the 65C02 emulation, thereby increasing general compatibility.
• Solved a bug in the mouse card firware so that it now supports interrupt mode.
• Fixed an Apple IIe bank switching memory bug, thereby improving overall compatibility.

The discounted early-bird registration rates for KansasFest 2005 have been extended through May 31st! It’s not too late to get signed up to go to the greatest Apple II event in the world at a great price!

Tom Hornby looks at the early history of the Apple I and II.