Apples Classic environment is an emulator of Mac OS 9 that was. #1582: iOS 15.0.1 and iPadOS 15.0.1, Apple Watch Series 7 dates, cautionary tale about backups, using Live Text and Safari extensionsAnd yet there are apps written for OS X Leopard that wont run in OS X El. Leopard was released on Octoas the successor of Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger, and is available in two editions: a desktop version suitable for personal computers, and a server version, Mac OS X Server.It retailed for 129 for the desktop version and 499. Mac OS X Leopard (version 10.5) is the sixth major release of macOS, Apples desktop and server operating system for Macintosh computers.
![]() ![]() I also have two PowerPC-based Macs that run Tiger and therefore have Classic. For certain applications that won’t run properly even under Classic, I have several ancient (by computer standards) machines that can actually boot into Mac OS 9. Classic reached the end of its life in Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger later versions of Mac OS X don’t include Classic, and Classic doesn’t run on Intel machines at all.If, like me, you still have an older application or document that you’d occasionally like to open, what can you do? I actually have three different approaches. But this solution was fated not to last forever. (Versions that run on Windows and Linux also exist.)SheepShaver lets you run any older system between Mac OS 8.5 and Mac OS 9.0.4. The Mac version of SheepShaver is a universal binary, so it runs natively on an Intel-based Mac. It started life over 10 years ago as a commercial application for BeOS, but it is now open source and free, and is a clear testament to what the dedication of a few knowledgeable volunteers can accomplish. But even there – even on an Intel machine, even under Snow Leopard – I can run an older Mac OS, enjoy my older applications, and read and edit my older documents, by using SheepShaver.SheepShaver is a PowerPC emulator that runs under Mac OS X. Leopard Emulator Software And DocumentsAnd, in order to get your own software and documents into that disk image file, there must be a “shared” folder in the Mac OS X world that SheepShaver can see and project into the older Mac OS world so, you create that folder and tell SheepShaver where it is. There will need to be a disk image file onto which SheepShaver will install your older Mac OS, and from which it will subsequently boot so, you create that file. You’ll also probably need a machine that can run Classic, in order to obtain aROM file I used the technique described in a different tutorial, where you download the Mac OS ROM Update disk image and use Apple’s Tome Viewer utility to extract the ROM file from it.With the ROM file in hand, properly named and located with respect to the SheepShaver application file, you launch SheepShaver and set up its preferences. You’ll need a generic (not hardware-specific) installation CD for the system you’d like to run (I used a Mac OS 9.0.4 installer that I had lying around). The best way to get started is through the resources at the E-Maculation Web site, which provides a particularly good step-by-step tutorial (as well as forums where I have received very courteous and accurate technical advice). So, you now install the system onto that empty drive – that is, into the disk image file. The disk image file that you made in the previous step has also mounted as an empty drive in the SheepShaver world. When this works, it’s positively thrilling, since you are actually running from the installer CD in emulation mode inside SheepShaver, thus proving to yourself that SheepShaver can work on your machine. I had done it! I was shaving sheep!The rest is simple. Eventually, however, I did get it right, and was rewarded at last by seeing Mac OS 9 boot under Snow Leopard, directly from my hard disk, without the Mac OS 9 installer CD being involved. It took me an entire morning to accomplish the steps described in the previous two paragraphs, as things kept going wrong and I repeatedly had to scrap the disk image file and try again. But once it’s done, you’ll be living in a plug-and-play world you have to suffer all this suspense only once. This time, though, you boot from the disk image file, which, if all has gone well, now contains a clean installation of theAll of that sounds rather daunting, and to be honest, it is. First, you move or copy them into the “shared” folder I mentioned earlier. That’s all there is to it, really.But what if you want to do any useful work? Mac OS 9 comes with a few applications, such as SimpleText, but to open your own applications and documents, you need to copy them into the disk image file. When you tell your older Mac OS to shut down, it does, and SheepShaver quits. Mac system 7 emulator downloadAs long as I can occasionally access an old MORE document or HyperCard stack, I’m an extremely happy camper. I haven’t used it to access the Web or to input MIDI or to do any weird hardware-based stuff like that (even though SheepShaver is said to implement Ethernet networking, serial drivers, and even SCSI emulation). Look also at the “disks” at the upper right of the desktop: “baa” is really the disk image file, and “Unix” is really the “shared” folder.I have not pressed SheepShaver to its limits, nor do I expect to. As you can see, SheepShaver starts up and boots Mac OS 9 in emulation in just a few seconds, and presto, I’m opening a MORE document or a HyperCard stack instantly. So now you copy the applications and files from the “Unix” disk onto the boot disk, where they should operate properly.I’ve made a screencast showing that I can run such nostalgia-laced applications as MORE and HyperCard on my Snow Leopard machine. The Mac desktop as presented by SheepShaver displays two “disks”: the boot disk, which is really the disk image file, and the “Unix” disk, which is really the “shared” Mac OS X folder.
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