Running 68k Apps Under OS X

 

Subject: Re: non-PPC apps on OS X?

Date: Saturday, June 16, 2001 11:28 AM

From: Perry Clarke

Sara wrote:

> I just need an answer to a simple question. Will OS X continue with

> Apple's commitment to allow non-PPC native programs to run? We have

> some old software that will need to run at our overseas sites and I am

> wary of OS X being required on new Macs.

Out of curiosity I tried a few old applications (Acta, Lightning Paint, ResumeMaker, several games)

and they all worked great with the exception of a backgammon game dated 1984 which wouldn't

show its main window. There aren't many current operating systems out there that will run 12 year

old programs!

Subjectively I'd say I had better success with old apps on my G4 500MP with OS X than I had

several years ago on a 7100 with OS 8.1.

Having said all that, you will need to try the actual applications you want to run for a completely

definitive answer.

Perry

Subject: non-PPC on Mac OS X

Date: Sunday, June 17, 2001 3:29 AM

From: a brody

Sarah Witherow wondered if 68k Apps would still be supported. I managed to run suntar for 68k

Macs in the Classic environment of Mac OS X. Seeing as she is located in Washington DC, she should

take a couple hours on a weekend and visit the new Apple Store in Tysons Corner and bring along

several 68k Apps on CD. Apple will let you test software on their store computers to an extent. The

store is located at the Bloomingdales corridor of Tysons Corner I. They are open at 11 AM both

Saturday and Sunday. Please forward this message to her. With the numerous apps though showing

on http://www.versiontracker.com,

http://guide.apple.com/action.lasso?-database=MacOSGuide&-layout=cgi_search&-response=ussearch/list_osx.html&-maxrecords=10&-noresultserror=uscategories/noresultscat.html&osx_optimized=Y&-search,

and http://osx.hyperjeff.net/Apps/ she should consider looking there to see if there is software that can

substitute for what she does now. She could contact the developers of these applications to see if any

are willing to develop some software.

Sincerely,

abrody

http://www.index-site.com/

Subject: Re: non-PPC apps on OS X

Date: Saturday, June 16, 2001 1:48 PM

From: Jiro Fujita

Sara Witherow asked if non-PPC native apps runs on OS X or not. In my experience, you can. In

fact, we have a few old in-house applications that are written in Microsoft QuickBasic under System

6, and they even run just fine.

We have had a number of problems running them under MacOS 8 and 9 (particularly under MacOS

8.6 and up), but the other day, I decided to see if they run under MacOS X or not. To my surprise,

they run better under MacOS X than MacOS 8 and 9. This really made my friend happy, as he has

many iMacs that he could be using this application.

This also made me happy, as I was considering to rewrite the application in Java (now I don't have an

immediate reason to learn, and I can't spare too much time right now). Since I don't typically run 68k

apps any more, so I do not gurantee this is something universally true, however.

Jiro Fujita

Subject: Re: non-PPC apps on OS X?

Date: Friday, June 15, 2001 1:17 PM

From: abbreon@socrates.Berkeley.EDU

A quick response to Sara's question: YES!

I've been able to run Word 5.1 in Classic. I haven't used it much, but it seems as well-behaved as ever.

I love this version of Word and have had no reason to upgrade :)

[Except for an inability to print to my Epson EPL-5700i :(...]

Next on my list to try: Balance of Power (it ran under OS 8!) I hope others are having fun with their

68000 apps...

-Adam