#MAC SYSTEM EMULATOR FOR MAC OS#

These are copyrighted by Apple, so you canвЂ™t legally use them unless you also own the physical Mac they came from. This curiously named utility emulates the PowerPC hardware so that you can install OS 9 вЂ“ or even OS 8.Д«ecause itвЂ™s emulating a different hardware architecture, SheepShaver needs to use the system ROM files from one of the older Macs. You canвЂ™t run the Classic environment on an Intel Mac, even if youвЂ™re running 10.4 from within Parallels or Fusion.ДЇor that, youвЂ™ll need to download SheepShaver.

#MAC SYSTEM EMULATOR FOR MAC OS#

Perhaps you need to roll the clock back even further and run software designed for Mac OS 9? If you still have a Mac running 10.4 Tiger, you might be able to run them using the Classic environment, but this will only work on a Mac with a PowerPC processor. You can pick up a copy of Snow Leopard Server on eBay for about ВЈ50/$60/AU$85, as long as you avoid getting a copy with unlimited licences. This works just the same as the regular edition of Snow Leopard (apart from some system administration features that youвЂ™ll never use) but handily, it will also install correctly under Parallels Desktop or VMware Fusion.

The only tiny complication is that AppleвЂ™s licensing agreement doesnвЂ™t allow the regular edition of Snow Leopard to be installed on a virtual machine, so you need to buy a copy of Snow Leopard Server instead. The virtualisation software takes care of interfacing with your modern hardware, so it works even with older operating systems. Either of these can create a virtual machine that runs within your existing OS and allows you to install and run a completely different operating system on top of that. Instead, you should use either Fusion 8 or Parallels Desktop 12. Unfortunately, running Snow Leopard isnвЂ™t as simple as just taking the original install DVD and putting the system on an external drive.ДЄn operating system from five years ago doesnвЂ™t have the right drivers for lots of the hardware on a modern Mac, such as a Retina display or USB 3.0 ports.

Mac system emulator