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Step back in time to the Macintosh of the 1990s and run complete virtual installations of System 7 and Mac OS 8 in a browser window.
There’s only one flaw in the new virtual versions of 1990s Mac software, and that’s that they run at the speed of 2020s Macs. What you see is straight Mac SE/30 or Quadra 700, but everything is as fast as Apple Silicon can make it.
You can do real work in these simulated operating systems, they even offer the ability to drag documents or files to and from macOS Monterey. But whether it’s for convenience or more likely for pure fun, here’s how to do it.
A bit of context
Newer versions work the same whether you choose System 7 or OS 8, and they work in a browser window. This means that they can be run without any prior configuration – and it also means that they can be run in full screen.
It’s still a 1990s Mac with some assumptions about screen size, so you won’t fill a 27-inch iMac’s monitor from side to side, but you can significantly expand what was previously available.
When you do, you’ll see all the once-familiar screen furniture, like windows without tabs. Or the gray close box in a gray header.
Please note there are errors. Some included applications, such as Microsoft Word version 5.1a, will display error messages because certain files are not present in the emulator.
However, the app loads and works normally. Also, this is a faithful reproduction of the 1990s, you must have some errors in Microsoft Word.
How to Run System 7 or Mac OS 8
That’s it. A Mac with System 7.5.3 from 1995, or Mac OS 8.1 from 1997, runs in your browser. You cannot directly change the size of the emulated Mac, but you can resize your browser window.
When you do, the emulated Mac snaps into the largest shape it can display. It’s a little tricky to do, because it’s very easy to see the emulated Mac showing up at the top of your browser window.
You cannot scroll or drag to move around the emulated Mac screen, but you can drag and resize the browser window.
What you can do in the emulator
Although you cannot resize or move the screen, you can drag icons on it, and you can resize windows in the emulator. You’ll wonder where all the launch speed went, because at first it can feel unresponsive when you click a window’s cursor to move it around.
It’s not an emulator bottleneck, though. We’ve been used to the way OS X and now macOS Monterey do things for years.
Once you remember that you can only resize a window in the bottom right, also know that keyboard shortcuts won’t work. Do command-N to open a new folder in the System 7 Finder and you’ll get a new browser window instead.
You get used to it though. And when you do, take a look at the included files and folders. There are classics here, like Word, and games like Dark Castle.
Do real work in the emulator
You probably won’t. It’s just a deep, nostalgic pleasure. But if you want to give it a try, the productivity apps included in the emulators work just fine.
There is a problem, of course, whether it’s in a browser. So if you lose your internet connection, you could lose your job.
However, your work is not limited to the browser. Drag any file from your Mac onto the browser window, and it’s loaded onto the Mac.
It appears in a special downloads folder in the emulator – and there is also a downloads folder. In the emulator, drag any document to Uploads and your browser will download it to your Mac.