68K Macintosh Emulators

Last updated: Sun 17:30 12/29/1996.

Main List

• Executor (DOS/NeXTStep/Linux & X) -- runs 68K Macintosh executables under MS-DOS, NeXTStep, and Linux & X (all for 80x86 only, I believe) preliminary version is available. This emulator is supposedly one of the fastest in existence in terms of relative performance, particularly considering that the 80x86 and 68K architectures use different byte-ordering. It is made by ARDI, who have several papers available on their site about the technology.

• MAE (UNIX & X) -- runs 68K Macintosh executables on UNIX & X machines. Currently this seems to be restricted to SPARCs running Solaris and PA-RISC machines running HP-UX. This product is made by Apple themselves, and is presumably drawn from similar technology as the PowerMac OS 68K emulator (see below).

• PowerMac OS -- runs 68K Macintosh executables on the PowerMac from Apple. It is fully integrated with the system (you couldn't take it out if you tried ;-), and supports a wide range of the old programs. This line of emulators from Apple are distinguished in that they emulate even the trickiest parts of the old 68K Macintoshes, which in many cases had programs that directly accessed internal data structures and hardware registers not in the published interfaces. Even many low-level OS drivers can be run with emulated code. Indeed, the PowerMac OS actually *relies* on this emulation scheme, as some of it's components have never been converted to PowrePC code. This probably qualifies it as the worlds first OS that is simultaneously dual-architecture. Some incompatibilities do exist, but this is far more the exception than the rule.

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