Using Basilisk II configured to emulate a Quadra running System 7.5.3, I was able to install a copy of Imagic and verify it worked. So for over two decades he has been juggling a small stable of Quadras to run this software, which got older and more finicky over time.Īt wits end with failing hardware, he asked me about alternatives. He had created many custom macros to process the data, but the application was long abandoned and would only run on 68k based Macs. My client was using an early 1990s graphics program called Imagic to process satellite weather maps.
A side benefit is that old software usually runs much faster on the more current hardware.Ī recent job at the Mac Museum proved the usefulness of emulators again. The emulator is a shell, a “software computer” that interfaces the two and provides a mechanism to interchange files between environments. An emulator allows users to run software designed for one computer environment and processor inside a host system with a different kind of processor. Vintage computers are getting harder to maintain, or no longer exist, consigning old software to the digital graveyard.Įmulation is a solution for this problem. But with the passage of time running classic software on original hardware becomes more difficult. This may be for historical reasons, for performing current work, or just to play old games. A software application for these 68000 Macs may be downloaded from the Mini vMac website for retrieval of a system's ROM image, along with a complete tutorial for locating an old Mac, retrieving the ROM and working with disk images.Part of keeping our digital heritage alive is the ability to run software from years past. Macintosh system software is available from Apple's Support Downloads Website.Īs mentioned, Mini vMac also requires a specific ROM image for the computer emulation desired. This board can also support ROM chips from other early Macintosh systems, but the publicly released versions of vMac only supported the Macintosh Plus. However, the Windows and Unix ports of vMac (not Mini vMac) support the Gemulator ROM board from Emulators Inc., which allows users to add genuine MacPlus ROM chips to their x86 machine via an ISA expansion slot. Macintosh ROM files are owned by Apple and cannot be legally distributed. VMac and Mini vMac require a Macintosh Plus ROM file and Macintosh system software to work. The precompiled versions available for download at Mini vMac's SourceForge project emulates a Macintosh Plus with 4 MiB of RAM. Due to complaints about the rarity of the original II, it also accepts Macintosh IIx and Macintosh SE/30 ROM files. Currently Mini vMac supports Macintosh 128K, 512K, 512Ke, Plus, SEand Classic, with active development for Macintosh II, Macintosh Portable and PowerBook 100 support. Mini vMac, vMac's spinoff, is still being maintained and developed by Paul C. Many of the developer e-mail addresses listed on the website are not working or current. Although the website is still in operation, most vMac development slowed to a halt in 1999, and no official releases have been made since.
Some vMac ports include extra features such as CD-ROM support, basic serial port (SCC) support, Gemulator ROM board support, and various performance improvements.
vMac and Mini vMac support central processing unit (CPU) emulation from Motorola 68000 to 68040, display output, sound, floppy disk insert, HFV image files, and more. vMac and Mini vMac emulate a Macintosh Plus and can run Apple Macintosh System versions 1.1 to 7.5.5. Although vMac has been abandoned, Mini vMac, an improved spinoff of vMac, is currently developed.
VMac was an open source emulator for Mac OS on Windows, DOS, OS/2, NeXTSTEP, Linux - Unix, and other platforms.