unity said:

To expand on Paralel's post, anything from 7 Pro up is a no-no to post technically. Excluding updates which are not full systems. But I am not sure if that is true anymore since Apple themselves has 7.5.3 as a complete download right not. 

So Apple may have abandoned System 7. 

Click to expand...

System 6.0.x has been available for donkey's years from Apple via FTP/HTTP. At release time, it was available via boards and disk swaps, for the price of a disk.

System 7.0.x -- ditto.

System 7.1 changed the rules. You had to buy disks from a dealer, but multi-packs were available. System 7 Pro was a clever bundle, worth nowt because you could assemble the components for free. But System 7.1.x was never released on an Apple FTP/HTTP site.

System 7.5.x onwards -- ditto on 7.1 rules.

USA or USA state consumer rights law changed a few years later, and Apple treated this in two ways. For most old customers (anywhere in the world), System 7.5.3 was made available as a free download. Those who could not download or required a later OS version could phone an interview centre to establish their credentials for an appropriate OS CD in the post.

System 6 and System 7 have not been abandoned by Apple. All rights reserved