Not OT: Classic apps and the Intel Mac

[J. Peterson]

>I still use a number of 68K apps I picked up for a song because they do the
>job, they're fast, and they were cheap. I'm not giving that up so easily.

I've had great luck with BasiliskII running on Windows.  Even funky older 
68K programs work (like my own "Wallpaper for the Mind", that compiles code 
and jumps to it on the fly).

I found BasiliskII a few years ago when I wanted to set up a time-lapse 
photography station, and use an old Mac as a camera controller.  I didn't 
want to drag the Mac back and forth to work to test the software, so I 
developed it under BasiliskII running on a Windows laptop.

I just set up (and ran!) an appropriate vintage copy of Code Warrior under 
BasiliskII and tested the camera controller with it, including the serial 
port access.  Later I found I could access my old Mac files by popping a 
SlimSCSI card into my laptop, and using BasiliskII to access my old Mac 
SCSI drives (including a Jaz).  Need to get something off an old Mac 
CD-ROM?  No problem!  It's like having 1992 in a window.

What's really funny is how much -faster- the old System 7.5 stuff runs 
under this emulator on modern 1Ghz hardware.  Mac OS boots in a second or 
so; amazing to watch after all that time a dozen years ago waiting 30-40 
seconds on the original Macs.

Although it requires a separate "disk" file (unlike Classic on Mac OS, 
which shares the filesystem), I've found it to be a more complete 68K mac 
emulator than running "Classic" on Mac OS X.

Some links:

- Basilisk II homepage: http://basilisk.cebix.net/
- Windows port: (download) http://www.oldos.org/howtos/mac68kemu.php
- Windows w/JIT compiler: http://www.gibix.net/projects/basilisk2/
- Nice documetation (shareware): http://os-emulation.net/basiliskii.html

Cheers,
jp