That is where Macintosh emulators become important. Normally, IBM-compatible PCs cannot run any Macintosh programs, or read Macintosh CD-ROMs and floppy disks.
A point which is important to note is that software made for 68K Macintosh computers can run on PPC models - because PowerPC Macs are built with the software to emulate a 68K processor - but software made especially for PPC Macs will not run on 68K machines. This release was followed by MacOS 8.5, 8.5.1, 8.6 and 9.0 which run solely on Macintosh computers with a PowerPC processor.
MacOS 8.1 was provided as a free update to 8.0 and introduced the HFS+ or Macintosh Extended file system. MacOS 8.0 (released in 1997) gave the operating system a much more modern look, but was only useable on Macintosh computers with a 68040, 68LC040 or a PPC processor. System (MacOS) 7.6.1 was the last version of System 7. Starting with version 7.5.1, the Macintosh operating system officially became known as the "MacOS" and was officially accompanied by the Macintosh "Smiling Faces" logo. While 7.0 was used mainly on 68K models, its successor, System 7.1.2, was released specifically for use with the Power Macintosh line. Users will (thankfully) not have to deal with anything older than System 7.0, which offered up a number of significant improvements over its predecessor, System 6. Macintosh computers that use one of the PowerPC processors are called PowerPC Macintosh computers, or simply "PPC" systems.Īpart from building Macintosh computers, Apple also develops the Macintosh operating system to run on them.
Since that time, Apple has used the PowerPC 601, 603, 604, 750 (G3) and 7400 (G4) series of processors, with the latest models running at speeds of 500MHz and higher. The first models to use these processors were the Power Macintosh 6100, 71 systems running at speeds of 60MHz to 80Mhz. Starting in 1994, Apple began to use "PowerPC" processors - developed in cooperation with IBM and Motorola - in their computers. Macintosh computers that use one of these processors are commonly referred to Mainly in Apple's "Quadra" line of systems. The 68040 processor is the fastest of these, and was used From that year to 1994, Apple built Macintosh computers that used either the Motorola 68000, 68020, 68030, 68040 or 68LC040 (which is a 68040 processor without a floating point unit) processor running at speeds of 8MHz to 40MHz.
The original Macintosh was a small, compact computer, and featured a Motorola 68000 processor running at 8MHz with 128K of memory. In 1984, Apple Computers introduced the first - of many - Macintosh computers.
Following this, the guide will focus on the actual processesīehind Mac emulation, by explaining how to set-up and run a free program called "Basilisk II." Once configured to run properly on your Windows system, this program will allow you to use Macintosh software, CD-ROMS and floppy disks in conjunction with a Windows based PC.Įven if you do not have any practical uses for the above, simply accomplishing them can be quite fascinating. This guide will first introduce you to various incarnations of the 68K Apple Macintosh computer,Īnd to the operating systems used with them. The article that follows is intended as an introductory guide to the art of emulating the Macintosh computer and operating system on Meanwhile, there is a guide to setting up SheepShaver (a PPC Emulator) over here. The directions herein still work, but to set up a much newer version of Basilisk II, you should check out this updated guide from our mac emulation wiki. I have left it online because a lot of pages link to it. Beginners' Guide to Emulating a Macintoshīy Tony Taylor and Michael Goodine.