OS X Mountain Lion; Mac OS X v10.7 Lion; Mac OS X v10.6 Snow Leopard; Mac OS X v10.5 Leopard; Mac OS X v10.4 Tiger; Mac OS X v10.3 and earlier; Mac OS X Technologies; Classic Mac OS (OS9, OS8 & System 7) Photos for Mac; QuickTime; Safari; Front Row. Even if you're a Windows fan, you've probably thought about trying OS X. Maybe you'd like to test drive OS X before switching to a Mac or building a Hackintosh, or maybe you just want to run. An easy way to run 'classic' Mac OS applications under Windows. Under Windows, software written for the 'classic' Mac OS (i.e. Versions 6 through 9) can only be run through software that emulates Macintosh hardware from 1980s and 1990s. The most advanced of these emulator programs is SheepShaver.
Officially, the operating system that was available on that Mac at the time that you bought it is the oldest version of macOS that can run on that Mac. It's likely that an older OS won't include.
In 2006, Apple migrated all their desktop and notebook computers from the Apple/IBM/Motorola CPUs known as PowerPC (PPC) to Intel CPUs.
PowerMac G5 were replaced by Mac Pro
Mac Mini G4 was replaced by Mac Mini Intel
iMac G5 was replaced by iMac Intel
iBook G4 was replaced by MacBook
eMac was replaced by iMac Intel Educational
Powerbook G4 was replaced by MacBook Pro
See also the timeline at the end of the tip.
Older software on newer machines is a frequent question on this board, which has been covered in the User Tips section before. To make it more current, the following information has been updated.
When we refer to Mac OS 9 below, we are referring to the operating system that was last prebundled on Macs in early 2006 (on PowerPC G5 and G4 Macs only), and was last bootable on 2003 Macs. We are not referring to Mac OS X 10.9, which came out in 2013. That's an entirely different beast.
Classic is an environment within Mac OS X on PowerPC (PPC) Macs running 10.4.11 and earlier that allows most Mac OS 9 applications to run. This is not to be confused with 'booting into Mac OS 9.' Mac OS 9 booting supports all Mac OS 9 compatible applications and drivers, where Classic does not. See questions 7 and 9 for more info.
Rosetta is a background application that integrates most PowerPC Mac OS X applications in an Intel CPU Mac running Mac OS X in such a way that both Intel Mac OS X applications and PowerPC Mac OS X applications can share the same machine. Rosetta is not to be confused with Rosetta Stone, the third party language translation and teaching software of nearly the same name.
Snow Leopard offers 64 bit computing for some applications and the operating system itself. This can affect which peripherals and applications will run. Rosetta is not available on Mac OS X 10.7 or higher.
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The limitations of both are outlined below:
1. Can Snow Leopard run software written for PowerPC Macs?
Yes, if it was written for Mac OS X and does not require contextual menu plugins, PowerPC plugins, or PowerPC drivers. Rosetta is an optional install on the DVD for Snow Leopard, and is offered when PowerPC software is run for the first time on a Snow Leopard installed Mac if it wasn't installed initially.
Click on Applications that are installed once and select Get info in the File menu to checkoff Rosetta, if you believe it might work better in Rosetta, than Intel native mode.
Sometmies when 10.6 is installed, Rosetta, the application that allows PowerPC programs to run will not automatically install. In those situations, you can manually install Rosetta from the 10.6 installer disc. The following quote explains how to install it manually:
Insert the Mac OS 10.6 installation DVD When the DVD is mounted, select 'Optional Installs' then 'Optional Installs.mpkg'
Follow the onscreen instructions for agreeing to the software license and selecting the hard drive for installation.
In the 'Installation Type' step, select the box next to Rosetta from the list of applications presented. Continue the installation process.
After successful installation, a confirmation message will appear.
These instructions appeared on http://forums.printable.com/showthread.php?t=1110 .
Note:
- If you have Rosetta applications installed during an upgrade install of 10.4 or 10.5, Snow Leopard installer will automatically include Rosetta in its installation.
Macs that shipped new after July 20, 2011 with a hardware change compared to their model counterparts can't run Snow Leopard natively, thus are stuck not being able to run PowerPC softawre without extra help from third parties.
2. Can Lion (10.7), Mountain Lion (10.8), or Mavericks (10.9) run software written for PowerPC Macs?
Normally not. Limited success has been done with virtualized software running Snow Leopard Server. To determine if this might be necessary before upgrading, the System Profiler application lets you quickly determine if you have PowerPC (PPC) applications (click on image to enlarge):
Note the triangle to the left of Software has to be pointed down for the Applications to become visible. Note the right hand side of the the Applications listing when selected says if you have PowerPC, Classic, Intel, or Universal. PowerPC & Classic indicate PowerPC only. Classic indicates it only runs on a PowerPC with Mac OS 9 running in the Classic environment or booting into Mac OS 9.
3. Can Snow Leopard run on Lion prebundled Macs?
In some rare cases, such as has been documented in this link:
and the bottom of this link:
To guarantee such the compatibility of Rosetta, get a used or refurbished Mac that was released prior to July 20, 2011, with the original installer discs. If it is older than March 29, 2010, and an Intel chip with 1 GB of RAM you can use the most recent Snow Leopard retail installer to install Snow Leopard, instead of trying to find the harder to get prebundled discs, if the Mac doesn't come with prebundled discs.
4. Can Intel Macs run PowerPC software?
Yes, if Rosetta is installed. It is preinstalled in 10.4.4 through 10.5.8.
Snow Leopard installation is described in question 1.
5. Can Intel Macs run Classic?
No.
6. Can Snow Leopard run Classic?
No.
7. Can PowerPC Macs run Snow Leopard?
No. If buying an Intel Mac to run Snow Leopard or higher and you have a PowerPC Mac with data you want to migrate, read this tip on migrating in addition to the info you are reading here.
8. Can Leopard run Classic?
No. However, PowerPC Macs with a Firewire external bootable hard drive running 10.4.11 or earlier, or a second partition with 10.4.11 or earlier can have the Classic environment installed on them. A second internal hard drive with 10.4.11 or earlier is yet a third way to approach this problem. Classic is not the same as booting into Mac OS 9. Like Rosetta, it has limitation for running older plugins and drivers. Partitioning is described here:
http://support.apple.com/kb/TS1600
9. Are there Macs that can run Leopard and boot into Mac OS 9?
Yes, see this user tip:
10. How do you install Mac OS 9 on a Mac released post-July 2002, with a PowerPC chip?
These directions help both in enabling Classic, and booting into Mac OS 9 with the Macs that support it (if they have Mac OS X 10.4.11 or earlier installed, or no operating installed on a partition or external Firewire hard drive). Follow the restore directions with the discs prebundled with that Mac here:
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1561
Unless your Mac is prebundled with 9.2.0 or earlier, there is no retail Mac OS 9 installer disc that will install Mac OS 9 on your machine. This article tells you what is prebundled with which Mac:
July 2002 and earlier Macs come with their unique Mac model specific 9 installer disc if they came with 9.2.1 or 9.2.2.
11. How do I boot into Mac OS 9?
Go to Apple menu - System Preferences - Startup Disk and select the Mac OS 9 System Folder. This is only available to Macs made pre-2003, except the pre-Firewire 800 PowerMac G4 MDD and G3 iBooks. To tell if your PowerMac G4 can boot into 9, look at the back panel, and see if there is a Firewire 800 port, such as is shown on this image:
If there is none, then you have a machine capable of booting into 9.
Also if Mac OS X was initially installed on the machine without Mac OS 9, you may have to erase the Mac, and install Mac OS 9 drivers to enable Mac OS 9 booting when you install Mac OS 9 on it, by following these directions:
12. How do I boot into Mac OS X?
If it is on the same partition as Mac OS 9, hold the 'X' key upon boot. Otherwise use a 9.1 or later Startup Control Panel from Apple menu - Control Panels folder to select the Mac OS X folder if it is installed. This article explains how to get it on earlier Mac OS 9 installs:
13. How do I run Classic?
As long as you have 10.4.11 or earlier on a PowerPC Mac, you can do the following:
Go to Apple menu - System Preferences - Classic. Unlike Rosetta, Classic will show its status in its own window. Additionally if an Application's File Type in the Finder shows as Classic Application, then it will run in Classic. Some applications will allow you to force run themselves in Classic, by clicking on themselves once in the Finder, and selecting Get Info in the File menu, and checking 'Open in Classic Environment.'
Additional clues you are running Classic include (some of these may be modified by third party addon software:
You won't have rebooted, but your Apple menu is rainbow colored (on the upper left)
When you click on the Apple menu it will reveal a Chooser, and Control Panels instead of Startup and Shut Down.
The application will not only say Classic Application in the Finder File type, but also show a way of increasing its allocated memory in the Finder, as shown here:
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=61528 (links to webarchive version of the article)
Apple menu - System Preferences - Classic will show that Classic is runnning.
A Mac OS 9 logo will appear in the Dock when you launch a Classic application
Classic menu in the System Preferences can show if Mac OS 9 is running in the menubar with a Mac OS 9 logo.
If you have 10.5 or later on a PowerPC Mac, scroll up and read tip limitation #9.
14. How do I disable 64 bit computing, and use only 32 bit?
Some third party drivers will misbehave if System Preferences in Snow Leopard (10.6) is set for 64 bit. Similarly, some applications behave better if they are not running in 64 bit. To toggle these settings:
Click once on System Preferences in your Applications folder, and click on Get Info in the File menu. Check the checkbox Open in 32 bit mode, to disable 64 bit computing on System Preferences. You can do the same for any other application that has 64 bit and 32 bit capability built-in, by clicking once on the application, and selecting Get Info.
15. These Macs support 64 bit natively on Windows Boot Camp:
Just because your Mac doesn't have 64 bit Windows support through Boot Camp does not mean your Mac doesn't support 64 bit addressing. IBM G5s, Intel Core2Duo, Core i3, i5, i7 and Xeon processors all have 64 bit support built-in. Some Macs because of their age will not address more than 3 GB of RAM, or 2 GB of RAM, but still support 64 bit based applications that support their processor. Motorola G4 processors have limited 64 bit support with Altivec vector processing. G3 and older, and Intel CoreDuo, CoreSolo have no 64 bit support.
Timeline:
March 21, 2001 - Mac OS X introduced.
August 21, 2001 - Mac OS 9.2.1 released, new Macs on and after this date could not use Mac OS 9 retail installer discs.
July 2002 - Last prebundled Mac OS 9 installer CD, Macs that supported Mac OS 9 could only use the restore instructions to reinstall Mac OS 9.
January 7, 2003 - First Aluminum Powerbook G4s (did not support booting into Mac OS 9, but could use Classic) January 28, 2003 - First Firewire 800 Powermac G4s (did not support booting into Mac OS 9, but could use Classic). The earlier PowerMac G4s were available well into 2004 from Apple.
August 21, 2001 - Mac OS 9.2.1 released, new Macs on and after this date could not use Mac OS 9 retail installer discs.
July 2002 - Last prebundled Mac OS 9 installer CD, Macs that supported Mac OS 9 could only use the restore instructions to reinstall Mac OS 9.
January 7, 2003 - First Aluminum Powerbook G4s (did not support booting into Mac OS 9, but could use Classic) January 28, 2003 - First Firewire 800 Powermac G4s (did not support booting into Mac OS 9, but could use Classic). The earlier PowerMac G4s were available well into 2004 from Apple.
February 4, 2003 - First iMac G4s that couldn't boot Mac OS 9
May 6, 2003 - Superdrive eMacs couldn't boot Mac OS 9 Shrimp wrangler mac os.
October 22, 2003 - First iBook G4s, and all eMacs on or after this date couldn't boot Mac OS 9.
January 10, 2006 - iMacs went Intel, MacBook Pro introduced. Mac OS X 10.4 retail installer discs could not be used on Intel Macs. The first retail installer discs that could be used were Mac OS X 10.5 which came out in 2007. Only the pre bundled 10.4 installer discs could be used on Intel Macs when it came to 10.4.
February 28, 2006 - Mac Mini went Intel
May 16, 2006 - MacBook introduced. The Intel replacement for the iBook.
August 7, 2006 Mac Pro introduced. The Intel replacement for the PowerMac G5.
October 26, 2007 Mac OS X 10.5 introduced.
August 28, 2009 Mac OS X 10.6 introduced.
July 20, 2011 Mac OS X 10.7 introduced. Rosetta discontinued. Mac Mini 5,x MacBook Air 4,x introduced. Neither could boot any version of 10.6 (link expands on solution for these and later Macs needing to run 10.6).
August 8, 2011 iMac 12,1 EMC#2496 released. It and 13,1 and later models could not boot any version of 10.6.
October 22, 2011 MacBook Pro 8,1 EMC#2555; EMC# 2563 8,2;EMC#2564 8,3 (9,1 later any EMC) could not boot any version of 10.6.
Mac OS 9 for Windows
Run classic Mac OS apps in Windows | A similar app that runs System 7 | How to use MacOS9 | What the MacOS9 app contains | Acknowledgments | Support
An easy way to run 'classic' Mac OS applications under Windows
Under Windows, software written for the 'classic' Mac OS (i.e. versions 6 through 9) can only be run through software that emulates Macintosh hardware from 1980s and 1990s. The most advanced of these emulator programs is SheepShaver. SheepShaver is no longer supported by its original author, Gwenolé Beauchesne, but minor updates are available from an active support forum at E-Maculation.
This page provides a fully functional SheepShaver system that runs Mac OS 9.0.4 (US English version). Unlike other SheepShaver-based systems, it makes it relatively easy to exchange files between SheepShaver and Windows, and makes it easy to print from Mac OS applications to Windows printers, or to create PDF files on the Windows desktop. The system runs under Windows 7, 8.x and 10; it may work under earlier Windows versions, but I haven't tested it under earlier versions.
To install this system, download and run the MacOS9AppInstaller. (The file is around 400MB in size; it contains a 4GB hard disk image file.) Then launch the MacOS9.exe application, either from its folder or from the desktop shortcut that the installer offers to create.
Note: Updated 10 February 2021 with a new version of SheepShaver.
The program comes with an uninstaller. Every file installed or used by the program is inside the program's folder. After uninstalling, any files that may be left over will be in that same folder; those files and the folder itself may be safely deleted.
For a similar system that runs Mac OS 9 under OS X/macOS, see another page.
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A similar system that runs System 7.6.1 in BasiliskII
I have created a similar system that runs Mac System 7.6.1 under BasiliskII. You may download its MacSys761Installer here. Run the installer and then launch the MacSys761.exe application, either from its folder or from a desktop shortcut that the installer offers to create.
The System 7 app works mostly in the same way that the MacOS9App works. You may copy files to System 7 desktop by dropping them on to the MacSys761.exe icon. And you may copy files to the Windows desktop by selecting them with the Copy to Host application or dropping them in to Send to Windows folder (both on the System 7 desktop). Sinbad and the throne of the falcon mac os.
Note: Updated 23 January 2021 with QuickTime Player added to the system.
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How to use the MacOS9 app
I assume that you know something about Mac OS and don't need any advice from me. A few points are worth mentioning:
Depending on your Windows version, a Computer or This PC icon appears on the MacOS9 desktop. This icon leads to the drives on your host computer.
The File Transfer folder on the desktop is a convenience, to remind you that files found in the Computer or This PC folder should be copied into that folder (or any other folder in the MacOS9 disk image) before being used. They should not be copied merely to the desktop, because they almost certainly won't work until they are actually copied into the MacOS9 virtual disk. (When you copy a file from Windows to the MacOS9 desktop, the file itself is not copied to MacOS9 disk image; that is why you must copy it to a folder inside the disk image itself.)
The MacOS9 system includes a startup script named MacOS9StartUp. This script creates the necessary file-transfer folders for printing and exchanging files, and tests whether they are correct if they already exist. Please let it run without interference.
If you are confident that the file-transfer folders are working correctly, you can move the MacOS9StartUp script from the Startup Items folder in the System Folder to the Startup Items (Disabled) folder. Then move BackgroundScript from the Scripts folder in the System Folder to the Startup Items folder; shut down the MacOS9 app and start it again. If the file-transfer folders stop working, move the BackgroundScript out of the Startup Items folder and restore the MacOS9StartUp script to the Startup Items folder.
To transfer a file from Windows to MacOS9, drop it (in Windows) on MacOS9.exe or on the MacOS9 desktop shortcut. After a long pause, perhaps even longer than 30 seconds, a copy of the file should appear on the desktop of the MacOS9 disk. The original file remains in your Windows system.
To transfer a file to Windows from MacOS9, drop it on the 'Send to Windows' applet on the MacOS9 desktop. The file should be copied almost immediately to the Windows desktop. Or you may double-click on the 'Sent to Windows' applet and select a file to send to the Windows desktop.
To print from MacOS9 to your default Windows printer, simply use the File/Print menu in your MacOS9 application, and print with the default desktop printer, 'Print to Windows.' After a pause, the document should print to your default Windows printer.
To print from MacOS9 and select a Windows printer for the current print job, use the File/Print menu in your MacOS9 application, choose the desktop printer named 'Select Windows Printer', and print. After a pause, a popup list of Windows printers should appear; choose the one you want.
To create a PDF file in Windows when printing from MacOS9, use the File/Print menu in your MacOS9 application, choose the desktop printer named 'PDF to Windows Desktop', and print. The resulting PDF file on the Windows desktop will have an arbitrary name based on the current date and time.
To create a PDF file on the OS 9 desktop, use the File/Print menu in your MacOS9 application, choose the desktop printer named 'PDF to OS9 Desktop', and print. You will be prompted to enter a filename for the resulting PDF; an arbitrary filename will be offered based on the current date and time, but you can type over it to change it.
To print 'raw' PostScript data from MacOS9 to a PostScript-compatible Windows default printer, follow the printing instructions above, but choose the desktop printer named 'Raw PS to Win PS Printer.' The raw PostScript data will be sent to your Windows default printer; if that printer is not PostScript-compatible, you may waste a lot of paper, so be careful with this option.
If SheepShaver locks up: While the MacOS9 app is running, a small Mac-like icon appears in your Windows system tray. You may click on this to open a menu that includes 'Force Quit.' You may click on this to shut down SheepShaver forcibly; you will be asked to confirm that you intend to do this. (SheepShaver is notably unstable, and liable to crash without warning, so this feature may be useful.)
You may use the supplied SheepShaverGUI app (in the Programs folder inside the MacOS9 folder) to modify the system, but the file transfer and printing features will only work if you launch the MacOS9 app from the MacOS9 desktop icon or the MacOS9.exe program inside the MacOS9 folder! If you launch SheepShaver from the SheepShaverGUI, you may get error messages about the file transfer system; if this occurs, shut down SheepShaver and relaunch the MacOS9 icon or MacOS9.exe program.
Troubleshooting: If the SheepShaverGUI app produces an error message when you first run it, double-click on GTKLocalInstaller.exe in the same folder. You will not see any feeback from the GTKLocalInstaller.exe program, but the SheepShaverGUI should now run. (Or you may need to logout and login again.)
To transfer files from a real Mac to SheepShaver, follow the instructions in this post on emaculation.com.
To add additional disk space to MacOS9: This system includes a 4GB disk image. If you need additional disk space, then visit this page at Macintosh Garden and download one of the provided disk images (I recommend the third download, with a 10GB disk image). Then follow these steps:
- Use something like the 7z file manager app to extract the downloaded disk image.
- Rename the extracted disk image to something like Second.dsk (for convenience, use the .dsk extension, whatever the original extension might be).
- Move the renamed disk image into the MacOS9Programs folder.
- Use Notepad or any text editor to edit the SheepShaver_prefs file in the same folder and add this line after the first line: disk Second.dsk (using whatever name you gave the to the disk image file).
- Save the SheepShaver_prefs file and restart MacOS9.
'Cannot map second Kernel Data' error: If, on your system, SheepShaver starts up with the error message 'Cannot map second Kernel Data area: 487', then go to the Programs folder inside the MacOS9 folder, rename SheepShaver.exe to SheepShaver-old.exe and rename SheepShaver-noJIT.exe to SheepShaver.exe. This alternate version will probably be slower, but should at least run. (This error message occurs unpredictably on some systems but not on others.)
Further details may be available later if you ask for them.
What the MacOS9 app contains
The MacOS9 application contains a standard US-English Mac OS 9 installation, without features that can't be used in this system, such as file-sharing. It also includes a large number of standard Mac OS applications, plus some Control Panels, Extensions, Scripting Additions, and a gray desktop image that you can easily change if you prefer.
The file transfer system uses two AppleScripts: either the MacOS9StartUp script or the BackgroundScript script described above. The MacOS9AppData folder uses an OS9Action folder action script found in the Scripts:Folder Action Scripts folder.
In the MacOS9 disk image, the Transfer folder alias and From Windows folder are required by the file-transfer system, as are the MacOS9AppData folder and the WinPath.txt file found in the System Folder.
The Transfer folder is an alias of the Windows folder named Transfer (inside the MacOS9 folder, typically in your user folder). In contrast, the File Transfer folder on the MacOS9 desktop is a mere convenience for use when copying files from the Computer or This PC folder.
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Acknowledgments
This system is built on software provided by many people who are more expert than I am. The included build of SheepShaver was built by Ronald P. Regensburg and posted at the E-Maculation support forum for SheepShaver. The AppleScripts used in this application could not have been written without the help of many experts at Macscripter.net, and the AutoIt script that provides the launcher application could not have been written without the help of many experts in the forum at AutoItScript.com.
Support
Because part of this system is written in the AutoIt scripting language, some anti-virus programs will flag it as malware. Absolutely do not waste your extremely valuable time alerting me to this; do not waste your extremely valuable time writing me an e-mail asking if the software is safe. Do not take my word for it that this is all the result of a false positive. Upload the software to a site like VirusTotal.com for testing. If you do not trust my software, do not use my software.
Please do not ask me to help you customize the 'classic' Mac OS or advise you about any applications. Please ask for support in the E-Maculation support forum for SheepShaver. If you want to get in touch with me about the AppleScript and AutoIt used in this system, then please visit this page.
Edward Mendelson (em thirty-six [at] columbia [dot] edu, but with two initials and two numerals before the [at] sign, not spelled out as shown here).
