Running Mac Os 9 (Classics) Apps in Snow Leopard

[mrt209]

Hi,

my parents are researchers and have been using Macs for many years now. They are dependent on a couple of Mac OS 9 programs and are therefore using G5s with Tiger.

The problem with using the G5s is that whenever they have classics programs open in tiger (all day), the CPU runs at 99% and the computers get extremely hot. My dad, who uses classics the most, is on his 4th or 5th G5 now in the last 4 years. It doesn't help that he always has 10 million windows open and never restarts his mac... I barely got him to start putting his mac to sleep

I know that my parents would benefit a lot from using Snow Leopard and getting the 2010 Mac Pros, so my question is if there's a reliable/stable way of emulating Mac Os 9 in Snow Leopard. I looked into this a couple of years ago, and although there were a couple of emulators, none of them seemed very stable.

If there are stable emulators, does anyone know if the CPU will still run at 99% when using classics programs? Are there any other options for running Classics apps that I might have missed?

Thanks for your help

 

[r.j.s]

The only way is to use SheepShaver ... but it is going to be slow and the apps may not run well.

If they NEED classic, they NEED to stick with PPC.

 

[MacDawg]

What programs are they using that are dependent on Classic?
Perhaps there are some alternatives they haven't considered

 

[maflynn]

I never got sheepshaver working well.

 

[velocityg4]

None of the emulators I have ever used were particularly stable.

 

[jzuena]

SheepShaver has been pretty stable for me, but it is a pain in the a** to get set up.

 

[velocityg4]

Come to think of it they would probably be better off getting the top dual CPU G4 that can natively boot into OS 9 for the classic apps, if I recall correctly that would be the Dual 1.25Ghz Mirror Drive Door not the FW800 G4. Then use an Intel Mac for modern apps.

Edit: Since you say they are researchers I would not fiddle around with those emulators. I assume they are doing critical research for their work and can't afford to have the computer crash in the middle of a workload. Those emulators are also slow.

 

[maflynn]

I have a G4 cube, that I used for that reason. Its now collecting dust. I think its time for me to unload that baby :/

 

[mrt209]

Thanks for the help, I tried Sheepshaver before and had a lot of issues with it so I guess its best to just stick with the G5s.