let me just try to explain how new versions of Basilisk II and SheepShaver are released. System crashes tend to take down the entire emulator. Software compatibility is far from perfect, although it's often 'good enough' for most use. The Windows version refuses to start with no error message unless you've installed both SDL 1.2 and GTK 2, both very painfully obsolete libraries. It also comes with some Windows 95 drivers for the CD drive, a Windows NT compatible network driver (that you don't even need), along with some readmes from the year 2000. (Macintosh files are strange, because they have a data fork and a resource fork, which is unlike almost every operating system today.) It's clunky, weird, and was last updated in 1999, but I appreciate it. It lets you browse Macintosh disk images, manage files and resources, and copy things in and out using a variety of conversion formats. I used Basilisk II a lot when writing my AOL article series, as for some reason only the Mac version of AOL gave me things to explore.īasilisk II on Windows at least comes with HFVExplorer, a nice-ish disk editor. I haven't used SheepShaver much, but Basilisk II has some very nice features like TCP/IP support, and the ability to browse your local computer. The difference is that SheepShaver targets newer PowerPC-based systems, while Basilisk II targets Motorola 68000 System 7-era systems. They share the same developers, the same configuration program, and even the same source code repository.

SheepShaver and Basilisk II are two very related Macintosh emulators. I'm writing this because the state of Macintosh emulation needs serious improvement, preferably before every working classic Mac dies out. Writing an emulator is a laborious, thankless job, and I'm not writing this to be mean. It should also be noted that I haven't talked with any of the developers of these emulators, and I mean no disrespect when writing any of these criticisms. Let's go through all the Macintosh emulators I'm aware of. Unfortunately, classic Macintosh emulation is pretty pitiful. It pioneered many conventions of the graphical user interface, it introduced the mouse to the mainstream, and the operating system was a marvel of its time. The original Macintosh platform, released in 1984 and discontinued in 2001, was nothing short of iconic.

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