However, if you have an older Mac that is not supported by OS X or some of the slower G3 machines (like the WallStreet, which officially supports up to OS X 10.2.8 Jaguar), there is still a strong case to be made for running OS 9 – and there are also certain software applications that are only supported in OS 8/9 that may be mission critical for some users.
I bought an old iBook G3/500 (it’ll arrive tomorrow) because I’ve always wanted an Mac OS 9 laptop (I’ve had several desktop OS 9 machines over the years). This article is a nice starting point for those (oh so very few) of us who want to run OS 9 in today’s world.
Where’s the link to the guide?
Looks like you were so excited to brag about your new laptop that you accidentally forgot to post the link.
http://lowendmac.com/2013/low-end-macs-compleat-guide-to-mac-os-9/
I have an iMac G4 in my basement. I’ve always wanted to try something like installing Mac OS 9 on it, just for that old-school Mac feeling it would bring.
Edited 2015-02-18 19:46 UTC
Linked fixed! Posted the same link twice :/.
I didn’t realize it until I read that article but there is actually a Mozilla port that is still being actively developed for security patching purposes. They mentioned it in the article (which is from 2013) but when you go to the Classilla website their latest version is from October 2014. That’s pretty cool.
http://www.floodgap.com/software/classilla/
The same developers also make the only semi-modern browser, also Mozilla based, for PowerPC Macs that works with OS X 10.4 (and 10.5 I think).
Tenfourfox they call it. They backport all the security fixes they can from mainline, and replace SSE(1,2,…) optimizations with Altivec code, for better PowerPC perrformance. They’ve updated their code to a level equivalent to Firefox 31.4.
They also compile for each major processor family: G3 (most compatible even when emulated), G4 (best Altivec support) and G5 (most raw speed).
And a fascinatingly bizarre one at that. Even more so under the hood than on the surface, from what I’ve read.
I don’t miss the crashes, hard locks, and unavoidable performance degradation. I still get nostalgic for the interface, though. I forget what using it was even like, but it sure does look nice…
On a tangentially related note: does anyone know where to look for documentation on Carbon, and/or earlier Classic Mac APIs? Just curious…
Apple has scrubbed most of the Carbon docs from their site. But some links are still around:
Introduction / Getting Started / Porting Guide to Carbon:
https://developer.apple.com/legacy/library/documentation/Carbon/Conc…
https://developer.apple.com/legacy/library/referencelibrary/GettingS…
https://developer.apple.com/legacy/library/documentation/Carbon/Conc…
Check out this book for more practical reference to Carbon, I read it a long time ago when I was a wee lad coding in MacOS land:
http://www.mactech.com/macintosh-c/index.html
The “toolbox” is usually what the “classic” Mac APIs tended to be gathered under:
https://developer.apple.com/legacy/library/documentation/mac/pdf/Mac…
https://developer.apple.com/legacy/library/technotes/tb/tb_39.html#/…
Cheers
Hey thanks! I didn’t expect anyone to even reply.
Just be warned; Apple’s old APIs were exercises in masochism.
For earlier Classic Mac APIs, I maintain a list of “Books about Macintosh 680×0”, which includes a section for Apple Developer Documentation:
http://www.gryphel.com/c/books/appledev.html
Many of these books are still available for download, and I provide links.
Sorry but the ibook G3 you purchased don’t boot to os9 you can only run os9 inside osx blue box.
Uh, no. It can boot OS9. I know my classic Macs.
AFAIK all iBook G3 support booting OS9. iBook G4 does not book OS9 though. I have iBook G3 600 officially supports OS9. And it is called “Classic” in OS X. The “bluebox” complete OS8 emulator in Rhapsody. Those are actually two different softwares precisely.
Sorry but this model don’t boot direct to os 9
Using os 9 under os x is just lame
The last ibook that boot os9 are the clamshells
But you don’t have to take my word check it yourself.
http://www.everymac.com/systems/apple/ibook/specs/ibook_500.html
“This model is capable of booting in Mac OS 9”
The last iBook to boot natively into OS9 was the iBook G3 900MHz. However, with a bit of hacking you can get OS9 to boot on an iBook G4.
The only iBook that could be coaxed to run Rhapsody and Bluebox was the earlier Clamshell.
I had that exact model, it came with os9 pre-installed. It also came with an OSX.0 disk if you wanted to ‘upgrade’ (pre 10.1 OSX was dire compared to OS9! Some would argue that OSX wasn’t a replacement until jaguar, let alone cheetah)
I wish there was something other than SheepShaver to emulate Mac OS 9, it’s terribly unstable, then again that might just be the OS?
I may resurrect my Beige G3 from 1998…though it’s sitting in pieces at my mom’s house.
Edited 2015-02-18 21:39 UTC
The beige G3 is a great machine for MacOS 9. Thumbs-up.
It’s just unstable, I think.
Worst BasiliskII is now horribly unstable for some reason. Older versions are much, much better.
Basilisk II can use up to Mac OS 8.1, the last version to support 680×0. For people who are interested in versions prior to Mac OS 9, there are number of Macintosh 680×0 emulators. I maintain a list:
http://www.gryphel.com/c/alt/index.html
For running the earliest Macintosh software, one alternative is Mini vMac, which I’ve maintained for over a decade. It is quite stable, as far as I know.
Mac OS9? Good riddance…
I like it better than OSX. :p
http://macos9lives.com/smforum/index.php
https://www.thinkclassic.org/index.php
http://macintoshgarden.org
https://68kmla.org/forums/
… just to name a few …
I just found a 450Mhz Dual G4 PowerMac by the dumpster a week or so ago. It boots, but I haven’t had the time to do much with it yet.
I might go with MacOS 9 for a while, but I’m excited to actually run OSX on real hardware, albeit an older version.
VMWare Workstation just isn’t good enough.
I’m turning green with envy! Wish I found something like that at a dumpster. Love old Powermacs, even the oft maligned Old World (Beige pre-iMac ones, for the uninitiated) ones. Solid like tanks, I had several run for 10+ years (overlapping one after the other, not all at the same time).
Until about 2 years ago, a single processor G4 800 was my main Mac, and CPU upgrades, both faster speeds and dual procs. were ungodly expensive ($400-500? when I can buy an entire Core2Duo white box PC lock stock and barrel? Really! NO!)
If you want the best OS 9/X mix, 10.4+Classic set up to boot both native and inside OS X. 10.5 dropped Classic AFAIK. Otherwise, go for Leopard 10.5, even if the CPU(s) are < 800 Mhz it can be installed (with minor hacks to the install DVD dmg or Open Firmware tricks (Leopard Install Assistant).
In both cases you want to check out TenFourFox (from floodgap). Only semi recent browser.
Or go with Linux/BSD. Reasonably doable for the tech savvy (I assume that covers most readers of this site).
The last Mac I owned, I had probably 15 years ago, when I as helping my landlord clean out a vacant apartment, and and old Macintosh was left among the other crap they left behind.
It was an LCII. I happened to have an excess of EDO ram to stick in there, and also a couple SCSI disks that I hooked up to the SCSI2 ports.
It took literally 24 hours for the Debian installer to unpack the .DEB files for a minimal install.
But, I sure felt fancy
Edited 2015-02-19 19:59 UTC
It’s exciting to see a new OS but I think in the future jailbreak will be available for Mac OS soon.
http://www.topcydiasources.com/
http://www.bestcydia.com/
iOS 9 will soon be introduced too.
I have a project studio and a live rig.
I have a PowerBook Wallstreet with a G4 500Mhz plus 512mb of ram and a Digital Audio with a dual G4 1.3Ghz plus 1.5GB of ram. Both run OS 9.2.2 with no other applications except for Opcode Studio Vision Pro and VST instruments and effects.
I invested a lot of money into the purchase of them over a decade ago, and they still work perfectly, sound great, and I either export them as a aiff file for use in Ableton, FL Studio or Reason, or sync MIDI over ethernet and record tracks with Studio One Pro 2.
Sure, for example, I can fork out cash for NI FM8 but I already have FM7 with a gazillion DX/TX patches.
I use Mac OS 9 in a very specialized way, of course, however, its usefulness to me is still unparalleled. I will buy a new G4 if I need to in order to keep using it.