mac classic lcd screen in stock

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There are only 4 screws on the back of the Classic II that hold the case together. Two on the bottom near the ports, and two on the top near the built in handle. Removal of the two near the handle require a longer tool to reach in the deep sockets. Once the screws are removed, it was a little difficult prying the front panel from the rear. I am not sure if it is designed that way or if it was the age of the plastic. Essentially the internals are mounted on a frame and screwed to the front panel, so the back is just a cover.

I searched around and found others who have done a similar mod. There are really no high definition panels out there in this small of a size. I suppose an iPad mini with retina display at 7.9 inches would be high resolution, but good luck finding a driver for it. The best I could find was 8.0 inches at 1024x768. There are plenty of 800x600, but I wanted the best I could find. I could not find anything between 8 and 9, as 8.7 would have been optimal. The 1994 Color Classic had a 10" CRT with 512x384 resolution. The Classic II had 9" monochrome CRT 512x342. My mod has a smaller screen and 4x the pixels.

The screen I chose was off eBay, a kit with LVDS driver board. When I received it, initially it worked great, then it fizzled out. I think it was a bad driver board, so I ordered a separate replacement, and it failed to work as well. I then thought it was possibly the screen so I ordered a 2nd screen. The 2nd one was dim, so I ordered a 3rd screen. Still dim, so ordered a 3rd board, different design. Screen one was confirmed dead, screen 2 and 3 worked fine with board 3. Lots of waste on this project, SMH.

The driver board supports multiple inputs (VGA, HDMI, composite 1 and 2). There are on screen controls to adjust the typical LCD monitor and the original controller came with an IR remote as well as a control panel. The 3rd driver board did not have the IR sensor mounted, so I stole it from the first fried controller. Since the original Classic II had tube monitor adjustments hidden on the rear behind a detachable panel, I thought that was the ideal place to put this screen control panel as well. I had to design and 3D print an interface panel, and figure out how to mount it, and then cut out a hole for it in the back case. I could not see the button icons when printed in black, so I printed them in white for the contrast. The internal VGA out from the GT730 drives the LCD VGA input. The HDMI input is directed to the rear panel so this Classic II can be used as an external monitor (just a pure goofy effect). The HDMI from the GT730 goes to the rear panel so you can drive an external monitor with this Hackintosh (think HTPC in the living room, or large desktop monitor).

I have mixed opinions about this "Color Classic". For me, the heart of a Mac, that which makes it a particular Mac, is the motherboard. Replace it with another motherboard and you have, at heart, another Mac.

To be sure, the case and, especially in this case, the monitor are a part of what make it a Colour Classic. It looks good, it is practical but it is neither fish nor flesh. But then, I also am happy to use CF cards to boot my PM G3 MT and I am happy to use accelerators to make the Mac much faster. Hmmmm.

This fellow (gal?) has put a lot of work into renovating old Macs. I do like what he has done with his other Macs but he is not aiming at us. I don"t really know whom his target sellers are. Investors want something as mint as possible. Those who used them in years gone by probably already have one by now and, while these people could afford one of his macs, I"m not sure as to whether you"d spend a couple of thousand on upgraded nostalgia.

My first premise: Conservate all components of the Mac Classic, don´t break anything, or alterate something that has no reverse gear. I have saved all original components, and lets go to start with it. Who knows, maybe 10 years from now I get to mount the Vintage Macintosh again.

When the Macintosh arrived, I see that the color is very... yellow... . Yes, its a machine with more than 30 years old, and formerly the cases of these Computer are make with a bromine compound, to act as a fire retardant...curious, but with years, its provocate this color on these components (Computer, keyboard, mouse, etc... ). I searched on the WEB, and find a method that call RETROBRIGHT, there are a lot of technies to apply them (you can find it in google too), but I applied the one that i Read the mosts positive comments, and the less complicated method for me.

My Proccess: 3 days of apply the product and 8 hours per day in the Sun (the was no bright sun, they were somewhat cloudy days). Some days, I wrapped the Macinstosh with transparent paper, but my recommendation is no use this paper, because this make me some stain on the plastic. And for that, I applied some days more the proccess, so that they would disappear as much as possible. With these word, I wanted to tell you that this proccess exists, and I obtained a very good results, but not a perfect result. Constantly monitor the proccess result, dont leave the product in the sun, and return when the 8 hours pass.

Later, i washed very well the Macinstosh, with a non-abrasive sponge, and a neutral soap. Dry very well with a soft cloth, and the next day, when its dry completely, I applied a special lacquer (as a UV protector, to delay the reapperance of the yellowish color... yes, that color will return after a time, hopefully many years). Here the lacquer I use (glossy finish).

My Model is Apple Design Keyboard and Mouse. They have some Yellow color like Macintosh, but with some retrobright session (more easily process than other), them looks perfectly. I clean all the internal pieces, dismount everything, and clean with Isopropyl alcohol. Here you are a photo of them (you can see the difference between the photos of the first post):

First, I tried to put one more modern Keyboard, but the connector of this machine is ADB (Apple Device Bus), and i thought that its a PS2 connector... bad luck. For a looking on Google, I found some cable, but so expensive, and finally, I learned that ADB is the identical that a S-VIDEO connector. And you can find a lot of cheap offers of S-VIDEO connectors, I bought one and mounted (sold require). For this model of keyboard, the wire is directly connect to his motherboard, other model have an individual wire... .

I think that it was a correct decisión, because I wanted use it for Music, Games (I am not a full gamer), Video, and something else... . And because the Macinstosh Classic is an original machine, I wanted use the original component for Raspberry (I bought too some fun details, that I mush show you later

First: When I bought the Macintosh, I believed that screen is broken. Consequently, I want to take advantage of the CRT Crystal, for make my own new Screen (insert a LCD, maybe 7-8 inch into de CRT Crystal). I saw some videos for people that cut the original CRT Crystalwith a Dremel (with a diamond edge), and I thought that it maybe be a good decision. But when I managed to fix the original Macintosh, I discard this option, because as I have already told us,I want to keep the original parts instact.

Second: From discard the first option... I decided to include aLCD monitor behind the monitor case. Originally, the Macintosh Classic have a 9 inch 4:3 format Monitor (more info here, https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Macintosh_Classic), but when I use it, I saw that the monitor have a black overscan. The people that make a similar project, includes a LCD for 8 inch (most popular in store), but I want to aproach the maximun of the hole for the monitor. I discart the option for a LCD with too much overscan).

Third (and finally): I want a really good Screen, because honestly, it will be the most eye-catching for the project. After some WEB analizyng, I decided to buy this option: https://shop.pimoroni.com/products/hdmi ... t-1024x768, a 10 INCH SCREEN 4:3 FOMAT for PIMORONI. I thought too for the Screen LCD for IPAD, but it was to much expensive, and I read that have some dificults to configure and install.

- The screen (with his frame) is bigger than the hole for the monitor. But I think and search a lot for make a solution. You can config the Overscan for your PI, to displace the screen image. I will explain this step in the furure.

- The Hole is curve: The original Macintosh have a CRT curve monitor, and the LCD is flat, I want to resolve this for make a beatifull finish. Some people put the monitor behind, and ignore de the curve (badly finish for me), but I found a person that make a 3D frame for this project, to hide this curve between the LCD and the Case. Here I bring yoy the URL for this: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:3551263 (I printed it with a good quality material). I reuse the original up screw for the Macintosh, to hold the screen well. Here the detail of the finish:

- Protection the LCD Panel: I bought a transparent acrylic panel (1mm thickness), and with that, make the LCD protection, and a structure to put the mainboard for the screen (some similar like a view for the PICADE projoect, that mount this screen). In summary and iin order: Front Case, 3DBezel, Acrylic, Screen, Acryclic. Here the structure with acrylic panel:

Finally, the results for me is very very good. But I"m still giving it a spin, for aproach all the hole size (now I have a besel of 2-3 mm that not have image). To do this, I want to rotate the Screen image, because the original orientation of the screen, dificult me the project. Even so, i like so much. The detail for the actual overscan (that i want to fix later):

I said every times, that I want to conservate the original structure for the Macintosh, and for that, I thought to make a steal real panel, similar of the original motherboard of the Macintosh. WIth this, I can use the can use the same mechanism to anchor the steal rear panel. 1mm thickness steal panelspecifically. Hera some photos:

I want to put the power on/off button outsite de case of the Macinstosh. First I thought to use the left side button for the Macintosh, to push the Pi button power, but its very delicate, and discarded this option.

Then, the longitude for the original button power cable for the PI was so short, and its dificult to distribute the PI inside the Macintosh. I tried to use and extension cable(Male USB-C - Female USB-C) for make a solution for it, but these option lose some power for the PI, and the system became unstable.

When I connect the PI to the Screen, and all the other connect for all connector, I saw that the PI Screen start to blink, I analize the power of the PI, and read that all USB connector can give a power of 1200 mA (total). And that is insuficient for all my connected device:

The solution, I use a whole for the rear panel to put and extra USB (Female), who are connect directly to the power of the Screen (with an mobile power adapter). Then I have the enought energy for all the connector.

Distribution (Left to Right on the image): Power On/Off Button - USB 2.0 for Screen Power - Pi Power Connector - HDMI Second Screen Connector - One free hole - ADB Connector - Jack Audio Connector.

Bonus: I put an USB 3.0 Connector on the front of the Macintosh, in the hold of the Disket. The truth is that it is very concealed, and it is very useful.

Its the moment to tell us how I connect a vintage Macintosh Keyboard&Mouse, to a moder PC, Raspberry or similar. First, I thougth to buy a new keyboard for this project, but when I searches about similar project, I read something about some people that came to live his old Mac Keyboards. There is an ADB-USB Adapter that can help you to do it. I found various alternative on google, but for me its important 2 things:

I have never worked with Raspberry PI until this project. So, I read a lot about which OS to install. In this proccess, I found a posibility to install a OS, that emulated the appearance of MacOS... a Macintosh Classic from 30 years ago, with an actuallyOS...this sound good.

I decided to install Twistter OS, this is a very good OS for Raspberry (only for PI 4), that you can emulated the OS for Macos, Linux, or Windows... . Here you can download it, and read more about (https://twisteros.com/). The WEB have a DISCORD support too, that work very good (I solve some problems with it).

Here you can see the MacOS Desktop config, with the Apple Toolbar and Icon, it looks great. Switch Desktop theme is very simple, you only will to select the one you want, and Twister confir all for you (in next reboot).

You know that I put a big Screen on my Macintosh Classic (10 inch), and I make a solution for center the image, this function calls overscan on PI World.

2. Config your overscan parameter: You can edit the file /boot/config.conf (pi is my user, you must replace it in the url). Here is mine configuration, but remember that I put my Screen reverse (phisicaly):

I also configure a new personalize Splash Image for the boot sequence os the PI, something like new and old Macintosh computer, with the two logos, that I make with Procreate (Ipad Pro). If you see with detail, you can see some Easter Egg for Raspberry PI too

A few months ago, I wrote about my experience in rehabilitating a derelict Mac SE/30. It was an immensely satisfying project, but ultimately, not fully realized as I could not find a replacement SE/30 logic board to plug in. Some time passed, and the Mac sat on my desk, patiently awaiting its resurrection.

To be sure, it was a crazy idea, but I’m not one to shy away from a challenge. I had seen videos of other compact Macs kitted out with LCD displays, but many of the solutions required permanently modifying the front bezel of the Mac. What I wanted was a simple, reversible method to couple a color LCD to the Mac SE/30, while simultaneously having the SE/30 house my 2018 Mac mini and its assorted drives.

The acrylic frame and mounting bracket was designed for the purpose of installing an iPad mini inside a compact Mac case. Designed by Trav DeRose, this kit consists of a rectangular bracket that fits perfectly into the CRT mount holes on the Mac SE/30’s front bezel, along with two vertical supports to secure the display in place. Customers must provide their own screws and bolts to assemble the kit. To get to the front bezel, I removed all the guts of the Mac SE/30, which includes the CRT, analog board, power supply and floppy drive cage. (Fret not, I have all the original parts tucked away safely.)

I also wanted to see if the Mac mini would fit inside the SE/30’s chassis. It was nearly a perfect fit! It was at this point I felt confident that everything would come together.

The biggest variable in this project was the display. I initially bought a TOGUARD portable 7″ display, but it was disappointing, to say the least. The display was bulky, the picture was not sharp, and the controls were garbage unintuitive. I’ll save you some time and tell you that the Pimoroni 8″ IPS LCD is the one you’ll want. Not only does the Pimoroni 8″ LCD fit perfectly inside the confines of the compact Mac, but it has a really nice, sharp picture, with a detached LCD menu that gives you flexibility during your install. This display has been a popular choice for Raspberry Pi enthusiasts, since its 4:3 aspect ratio makes it perfectly sized for the Pi’s arcade game emulation capabilities.

The display includes a small, thin ribbon cable that will need to be connected to the display driver board. The power cable includes a micro USB connector that powers the display driver. The display’s menu buttons also attach to the driver board via a thin ribbon cable. After plugging everything up, I did a quick “fire in the hole” test by connecting the display to my MacBook Pro. Once I confirmed that the display was working, I moved onto mounting it into the SE/30’s front bezel. (Don’t forget to remove the screen protector!)

Finding a proper place for the display’s menu buttons was a bit of a challenge. I settled on securing it to one of the Mac SE/30’s chassis mounts. It’s not a great location, but it is accessible and does the job.

With the display installed it was time to test it out. Initially the color and brightness of the display were lacking. After some adjustments to contrast, brightness, and saturation, there were slight improvements. The big improvement to picture quality came when I applied the Rec.709 Gamma 2.4 color profile in the macOS Display control panel.

The Color Classic was pretty shite as a computer. The Color Classic II was a good one, but Apple decided Americans and Canadians wouldn’t be allowed to have them. There were several crippled/hobbled models of Macintosh Apple would have been much better off having never made – or not deliberately sabotaging their hardware capabilities.

Apple made the IIsi with one small bank of RAM soldered to the mainboard, and one bank of SIMM sockets. Not a bad idea for a lower cost model based on the IIci. But then they had its built in video use main RAM for video RAM, and made it have to alternate access to Bank A between the CPU and Video. The IIsi RAM Muncher extension was written to use up all the non-video space in Bank A to do nothing so that whenever the system checked for needing CPU access to Bank A it would instantly get handed back to video. The other dumb thing Apple did to the IIsi was use the same PDS connection on the SE30, IIci, and IIsi, but have each of the three incompatible so addon cards would have to be specifically designed for each model or use an adapter. The aftermarket settled on making adapters for many of the 68030 Macs to the IIci PDS.

The LC, the only Mac to use the 68020 CPU, was hard limited to only being able to use up to 10 megabytes RAM, 2 megabytes soldered plus two 30 pin slots for a pair of 4 meg SIMMs. Despite that and other limitations (such as the lack of a math coprocessor socket and running a 32bit CPU on a 16 bit bus), it had 256K of dedicated VRAM, which could be upgraded to 512K. The LC II was a slightly tweaked LC. It had a 68030, still on 16 bit bus. Same deal with VRAM as the LC. It supported an FPU, but that used the PDS. Fortunately, like with the IIsi, several expansion cards came with an FPU, but that made upgrades like network cards more expensive if you wanted one with an FPU. Still had the same 10 meg RAM limit but had 4 meg soldered so to get to 10 meg, 12 meg had to be installed. The computer just ignored 2 meg of RAM.

The most crippled Macintosh ever was the Mac TV. They took a Performa AV and made it awful. Max RAM was 8 megs, at a time when 16 meg *minimum* was becoming the norm in the PC clone world. The computer display topped out at 256 colors while the TV display was capable of 32bit color, only in full screen. Single frame captures could be made from the TV tuner, video capture wasn’t possible. Why Apple didn’t just take their best 68K Performa, put it in a black case, give it a remote control, and call *that* Mac TV is a question a lot of people would love to know the answer to. Why did Apple go on and on about the “convergence” of computers and audio-visual entertainment, then made the shittiest Macintosh to champion their “convergence” machine???

Here’s a list of Apple gear that could have and should have been better, though not updated since 2014 https://lowendmac.com/2014/road-apples-second-class-macs/

We know the classic Mac fans in the audience won’t be happy about this one, but the final results are simply too clean to ignore. With a laser-cut adapter and a little custom wiring, [Travis DeRose] has come up with a repeatable way to modernize a Compact Macintosh (Plus, SE, etc) by swapping out all of its internals for an iPad mini.

He goes over the whole process in the video after the break, while being kind enough to spare our sensitive eyes from having to see the Mac’s enclosure stripped of its original electronics. We’ll just pretend hope that the computer was so damaged that repair simply wasn’t an option.

Those with some first hand iPad experience might be wondering how you wake the tablet up once the Mac is all buttoned back up. That’s an excellent question, and one that [Travis] wrestled with for awhile. In the end he came up with a very clever solution: he cuts into a charging cable and splices in a normally-closed momentary push button. Pushing the button essentially “unplugs” the iPad for a second, which just so happens to wake it up. It’s an elegant solution that keeps you from having to make any modifications to that expensive piece of Apple hardware.

Introduced as the first sub-$1,000 Macintosh in October 1990, the basic Classic came with 1 MB of RAM, a SuperDrive, and space to mount an internal SCSI hard drive. The hard drive version came with 2 MB of memory and a 40 MB hard drive. RAM expansion was via a 1 MB daughter card with two open slots, which could accept a pair of 256 KB or 1 MB SIMMs. This made memory upgrades far easier than on the Plus or SE, since the motherboard didn’t have to be removed. At the same time, it means you should avoid any used Classic without 2 MB or more memory unless you have a source for the memory card.

What Apple was thinking releasing an 8 MHz computer so late in the game is beyond me. By 1990, 8 MHz was just too slow for practical use, although that didn’t keep Apple from selling it or people from buying it. At this point, a 16 MHz Classic would have been sweet (see our review of the 16 MHz Brainstorm upgrade in a Mac Plus for details on that).

A feature unique to the Classic is the ability to boot from ROM by holding down command-option-x-o at startup. The ROM Disk is called “Boot Disk” and is 357 KB in size. The ROM Disk uses Finder 6.1.x and System 6.0.3 – this combination is specifically designed for the Classic. The only control panels are General, Brightness, and Startup Disk. MacsBug and AppleShare Prep are also part of the System, which loads into 294 KB of the Classic’s RAM. Because this is in ROM, there is no way to add anything to the ROM Disk.

Color display? Aura Systems made ScuzzyGraph II, a SCSI peripheral that provided 8-color video for people who didn’t want to buy (or couldn’t afford) a Mac II. 1989 cost was $995 to $2,495, depending on resolution.

You can convert a non-working compact Mac into a Macquarium. (Please, don’t even think of converting a working one – you can always find someone interested on the Classic Macs or Vintage Macs lists.)

A Vintage Mac Network Can Be as Useful as a Modern One, Carl Nygren, My Turn, 2008.04.08. Old Macs can exchange data and share an Internet connection very nicely using Apple’s old LocalTalk networking.

Creating Classic Mac Boot Floppies in OS X, Paul Brierley, The ‘Book Beat, 2008.08.07. Yes, it is possible to create a boot floppy for the Classic Mac OS using an OS X Mac that doesn’t have Classic. Here’s how.

Know Your Mac’s Upgrade Options, Phil Herlihy, The Usefulness Equation, 2008.08.26. Any Mac can be upgraded, but it’s a question of what can be upgraded – RAM, hard drive, video, CPU – and how far it can be upgraded.

Why You Should Partition Your Mac’s Hard Drive, Dan Knight, Mac Musings, 2008.12.11. “At the very least, it makes sense to have a second partition with a bootable version of the Mac OS, so if you have problems with your work partition, you can boot from the ’emergency’ partition to run Disk Utility and other diagnostics.”

Antique Macs are still useful computers, Charles W Moore, From the MacCave, 2008.09.09. Charles W Moore’s first online article looks at the utility of compact Macs – and foreshadows his longterm affection for PowerBooks.

Cracking Open the Apple Macintosh Classic, Mark Kaelin, Tech Republic, 06.17. “In this Cracking Open Photo Gallery, TechRepublic examines just what went into a Mac Classic – and what technology was like in 1991.”

Supporting a classic Mac ‘habit’ on the cheap, Rick Lawson, Pioneers in Mac Development, 2008.06.09. Mac nostalgia leads to a year-long rediscovery of the pleasures of old Macs and the classic Mac OS.

Digital vs. film photography, megapixel myths, G3/G4 SuperDrive upgrade, and a newly acquired Mac Classic, Dan Knight, Low End Mac Mailbag, 2008.01.11. The differences between film and digital photography, the value of old 35mm SLRs, the importance of good lenses, a $50 18x dual-layer SuperDrive, and writing on a Mac Classic.

Vintage Mac Networking and File Exchange, Adam Rosen, Adam’s Apple, 2007.12.19. How to network vintage Macs with modern Macs and tips on exchanging files using floppies, Zip disks, and other media.

Getting Inside Vintage Macs and Swapping Out Bad Parts, Adam Rosen, Adam’s Apple, 2007.12.14. When an old Mac dies, the best source of parts is usually another dead Mac with different failed parts.

Solving Mac Startup Problems, Adam Rosen, Adam’s Apple, 2007.12.12. When your old Mac won’t boot, the most likely culprits are a dead PRAM battery or a failed (or failing) hard drive.

Mac approaching 25th birthday, OS 8 on Performa 630, Mac Classics in use 24/7, and more, Dan Knight, Low End Mac Mailbag, 2007.12.04. Also more thoughts on vampire video, realigning the Road Apple label, the fate of DropStuff, and an unidentified cable in a Power Mac 8600.

Better and Safer Surfing with Internet Explorer and the Classic Mac OS, Max Wallgren, Mac Daniel, 2007.11.06. Tips on which browsers work best with different Mac OS versions plus extra software to clean cookies and caches, detect viruses, handle downloads, etc.

A (Mac) classic spookfest, Tommy Thomas, Welcome to Macintosh, 2007.10.31. How to set up those old compact Macs with screen savers to enhance your Halloween experience.

Simple Macs for Simple Tasks, Tommy Thomas, Welcome to Macintosh, 2007.10.19. Long live 680×0 Macs and the classic Mac OS. For simple tasks such as writing, they can provide a great, low distraction environment.

8 MHz forever? Apple’s Macintosh Classic was no faster than the first Mac, Leo Titus LeBron V, Collection Spotlight, 2007.09.26. A successor to the 1986 Mac Plus and 1987 Mac SE, the 1990 Mac Classic was slow, limited, and barely enough for basic tasks like writing.

Interchangeabilty and Compatibility of Apple 1.4 MB Floppy SuperDrives, Sonic Purity, Mac Daniel, 2007.09.26. Apple used two kinds of high-density floppy drives on Macs, auto-inject and manual inject. Can they be swapped?

My first mobile Mac: A Classic II, Jacek A. Rochacki, Miscellaneous Ramblings, 2007.06.25. When a PowerBook 100 was beyond the author’s means, he bought a second-hand Mac Classic II and fabricated his own carrying case to make it mobile.

Mac System 7.5.5 Can Do Anything Mac OS 7.6.1 Can, Tyler Sable, Classic Restorations, 2007.06.04. Yes, it is possible to run Internet Explorer 5.1.7 and SoundJam with System 7.5.5. You just need to have all the updates – and make one modification for SoundJam.

Importance of G3 support in 10.5, clever USB/FireWire solution, upgrade options, and more, Dan Knight, Low End Mac Mailbag, 2007.05.01. Also the loss of the PowerBook brand, upgrading to an Intel iMac, Korg and the Mac, Quadra boot problems, and the value of a Mac Classic.

Format Any Drive for Older Macs with Patched Apple Tools, Tyler Sable, Classic Restorations, 2007.04.25. Apple HD SC Setup and Drive Setup only work with Apple branded hard drives – until you apply the patches linked to this article.

Making floppies and CDs for older Macs using modern Macs, Windows, and Linux PCs, Tyler Sable, Classic Restorations, 2007.03.15. Older Macs use HFS floppies and CDs. Here are the free resources you’ll need to write floppies or CDs for vintage Macs using your modern computer.

Jag’s House, where older Macs still rock, Tommy Thomas, Welcome to Macintosh, 2006.09.25. Over a decade old, Jag’s House is the oldest Mac website supporting classic Macs and remains a great resource for vintage Mac users.

30 days of old school computing: Setting up a Mac Classic II, Ted Hodges, Vintage Mac Living, 2006.09.07. Fond memories of using a Classic II in elementary school lead to it being the first Mac set up for a month of vintage, very low-end computing.

Vintage Macs with System 6 run circles around 3 GHz Windows 2000 PC, Tyler Sable, Classic Restorations, 2006.07.06. Which grows faster, hardware speed or software bloat? These benchmarks show vintage Macs let you be productive much more quickly than modern Windows PCs.

Floppy drive observations: A compleat guide to Mac floppy drives and disk formats, Scott Baret, Online Tech Journal, 2006.06.29. A history of the Mac floppy from the 400K drive in the Mac 128K through the manual-inject 1.4M SuperDrives used in the late 1990s.

Compact Flash with SCSI Macs, PB 1400 CD-RW upgrade problems, and Web incompatibilities, Dan Knight, Low End Mac Mailbag, 2006.06.16. Suggested ways to use Compact Flash with vintage Macs and PowerBooks, problems getting CD-RW to work with a PowerBook 1400, and more thoughts on website incompatibilities.

Moving files from your new Mac to your vintage Mac, Paul Brierley, The ‘Book Beat, 2006.06.13. Old Macs use floppies; new ones don’t. Old Macs use AppleTalk; Tiger doesn’t support it. New Macs can burn CDs, but old CD drives can’t always read CD-R. So how do you move the files?

System 7.5 and Mac OS 7.6: The beginning and end of an era, Tyler Sable, Classic Restorations, 2006.02.15. System 7.5 and Mac OS 7.6 introduced many new features and greater modernity while staying within reach of most early Macintosh models.

System 7: Bigger, better, more expandable, and a bit slower than System 6, Tyler Sable, Classic Restorations, 2006.01.04. The early versions of System 7 provide broader capability for modern tasks than System 6 while still being practical for even the lowliest Macs.

Web browser tips for the classic Mac OS, Nathan Thompson, Embracing Obsolescence, 2006.01.03. Tips on getting the most out of WaMCom, Mozilla, Internet Explorer, iCab, Opera, and WannaBe using the classic Mac OS.

The Joy of Six: Apple’s fast, svelte, reliable, and still usable System 6, Tyler Sable, Classic Restorations, 2005.12.06. System 6 was small enough to run quickly from an 800K floppy yet powerful enough to support 2 GB partitions, 24-bit video, and the Internet.

10 things new classic Mac owners should know, Paul Brierley, The ‘Book Beat, 2005.12.06. New to compact Macs? Ten things you really should know before you get too confused.

How to set up your own Mac Plus (or later) web server, Joe Rivera, Mac Fallout Shelter, 2005.11.29. All you need is an old Mac Plus with 4 MB of RAM, a hard drive, System 7 or later, some free software, and an Internet connection.

Which system software is best for my vintage Mac?, Tyler Sable, Classic Restorations, 2005.11.22. Which system software works best depends to a great extent on just which Mac you have and how much RAM is installed.

Mac SE alive and kicking on Web, Leander Kahney, Wired, 2004.05.19. “…a pair of German Web designers has created a working simulation of Apple Computer’s classic Mac SE on the Web.” Very cool.

The compact Mac trio: Hardware overview, Dan Knight, The Old Gray Mac, 2001.07.30. Introduction to and hardware overview of the Mac Plus, SE, and Classic.

Never connect an Apple II 5.25″ floppy drive to the Mac’s floppy port. Doing so can ruin the floppy controller, meaning you can’t even use the internal drive any longer.

Macs with black-and-white only displays (1-bit, no grays) may find Netscape Navigator 3 makes it impossible to view some pages and sites. The workaround is to use Navigator 2.

Reliably supports serial speeds to 19.2 kbps, although default is 9600 bps. May have better throughput at 28.8 kbps despite some dropped and retransmitted packets. Throughput with a 56k modem may be limited. See 56k modem page. For more information on Mac serial ports, read Macintosh Serial Throughput.

RM2JTMH5P–Apple Computer"s January 1984 publicity photo of their brand new Macintosh computer. Apple announced the new Macintosh as having a 32-bit microprocessor, a built-in 3.5 inch disk drive, a 9-inch black-on-white display, 64k of ROM and 128k of RAM, as well as a detachable keyboard and a mouse pointing device. Suggested retail price - $2,495.

RMCPNR9H–computing / electronics,computer,Apple Macintosh 512k,with integrated 9 inch bw-monitor and 3.5 inch floppy disk drive,USA,1984,keyboard,keyboards,computer mouse,clicker,mice,mouses,512 kilobyte random access memory,processor Motorola 68000,8 megahertz,original price 1984: 3.195 dollar,design,classic,nickname: Apple Mac,cubes,Mac cube,personal computer,history of computer,computer engineering,invention,inventions,80s,W. M. Weber Collection,EDP,IT,still,studio shot,hardware,consumer electronics,home computer,compact unit,compa,Additional-Rights-Clearences-Not Available

RF2DH6XGP–Macintosh LC III from 1994. Retro personal computer manufactured by Apple Computer Inc. with monitor, keyboard and mouse, isolated on beige background

RM2H5GX17–An Apple Macintosh Classic II computer is pictured in a shop window, Nov. 6, 2021, in Mobile, Alabama. The Macintosh Classic II was sold 1991-1993.

RM2E6RH7Y–Hans-Henrik Duessel from Svendborg, Denmark, displays his old Apple Macintosh Classic computer from 1990 beside his newly purchased Apple iPad after being among the first to purchase the new device during an iPad launch event at the Apple retail store in Hamburg May 28, 2010. REUTERS/Christian Charisius (GERMANY - Tags: BUSINESS SOCIETY SCI TECH IMAGES OF THE DAY)

RM2D218AY–Journalist Michael Bager from Denmark works on his laptop beside a colleague"s old Apple Macintosh Classic computer from 1990 and the Apple iPad during an iPad launch event at the Apple retail store in Hamburg May 28, 2010. REUTERS/Christian Charisius (GERMANY - Tags: BUSINESS SOCIETY SCI TECH)

RMS0118X–Vintage old computer Apple Macintosh Mac book e-book classic vs modern culture evolution library retro black and white classical icon symbol paper energy Steve Jobs

RMM1EEKA–Macintosh Portable, release date September 1989, exhibited at MacPaw"s Ukrainian Apple Museum in Kiev, Ukraine on January 26, 2017.. Ukrainian developer MacPaw has opened Apple hardware museum at the company’s office in Kiev. The collection has more than 70 original Macintosh models dated from 1981 to 2017.

RMCPNR2F–computing / electronics,computer,Apple Macintosh 512k,with integrated 9 inch bw-monitor and 3.5 inch floppy disk drive,USA,1984,keyboard,keyboards,computer mouse,clicker,mice,mouses,512 kilobyte random access memory,processor Motorola 68000,8 megahertz,original price 1984: 3.195 dollar,design,classic,nickname: Apple Mac,cubes,Mac cube,personal computer,history of computer,computer engineering,invention,inventions,80s,W. M. Weber Collection,EDP,IT,still,studio shot,hardware,consumer electronics,home computer,compact unit,compa,Additional-Rights-Clearences-Not Available

RMPYEPYC–Old,computer,computers,including,Macintosh Classic,on,display,in,shop,window,of,this,electronic,shop,in,Mirepoix,Ariege,department,South,of,France,

RF2J7MNFF–Vilnius, Lithuania - 03 September, 2020: Vintage classic Apple iBook laptop computer isolated on white background. Front view Macintosh picture

RMM1EE3P–Apple IIe; release date January 1983; exhibited at MacPaw"s Ukrainian Apple Museum in Kiev; Ukraine on January 26; 2017. Ukrainian developer MacPaw has opened Apple hardware museum at the company’s office in Kiev. The collection has more than 70 original Macintosh models dated from 1981 to 2017.

RM2H1HCMR–Vilnius, Lithuania - 03 September 2020: Technical specification data plate on the back of classic vintage Apple desktop computer Macintosh SE from the

RF2D0XEE7–An old retro Apple Macintosh Classic personal computer from 1990s with a floppy disc drive that does not fit a CD, Denmark, September 28, 2020

RFR989E3–Prague, Czech Republic - August 28, 2018: Macintosh Colour Classic computer on display inside Apple Museum in Prague, the largest private collection o

RMPY6FT6–Old,computer,computers,including,Macintosh Classic,on,display,in,shop,window,of,this,electronic,shop,in,Mirepoix,Ariege,department,South,of,France,

RM2CY6T14–The motherboard of the Apple Macintosh Classic is seen during the "History of Computers" exhibition in Sarajevo November 30, 2013. 110 computers from the 1970s to 2008 are displayed during the exhibition, ahead of the opening of the Sarajevo museum of old computers. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic (BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA - Tags: SCIENCE TECHNOLOGY SOCIETY)

RMM1EE4D–Apple IIe; release date January 1983; exhibited at MacPaw"s Ukrainian Apple Museum in Kiev; Ukraine on January 26; 2017. Ukrainian developer MacPaw has opened Apple hardware museum at the company’s office in Kiev. The collection has more than 70 original Macintosh models dated from 1981 to 2017.

RM2KAWADW–Macintosh models exhibited at MacPaw"s Ukrainian Apple Museum in Kiev, Ukraine on January 26, 2017. Ukrainian developer MacPaw has opened Apple hardware museum at the company’s office in Kiev. The collection has more than 70 original Macintosh models dated from 1981 to 2017. (Photo by Oleksandr Rupeta/NurPhoto)

RM2K250EK–Vilnius, Lithuania - 03 September, 2020: Vintage classic Apple iBook laptop computer isolated on white background. Front view Macintosh picture

RMPY6FPB–Old,computer,computers,including,Macintosh Classic,on,display,in,shop,window,of,this,electronic,shop,in,Mirepoix,Ariege,department,South,of,France,

RMM1EE1R–Apple IIe; release date January 1983; exhibited at MacPaw"s Ukrainian Apple Museum in Kiev; Ukraine on January 26; 2017. Ukrainian developer MacPaw has opened Apple hardware museum at the company’s office in Kiev. The collection has more than 70 original Macintosh models dated from 1981 to 2017.

RM2KAWAEA–Macintosh models exhibited at MacPaw"s Ukrainian Apple Museum in Kiev, Ukraine on January 26, 2017. Ukrainian developer MacPaw has opened Apple hardware museum at the company’s office in Kiev. The collection has more than 70 original Macintosh models dated from 1981 to 2017. (Photo by Oleksandr Rupeta/NurPhoto)

RM2H1P4B8–Vilnius, Lithuania - 03 September, 2020: Vintage classic Apple desktop computer from the eighties with integrated monitor and keyboard isolated on whi

RMPYEPY0–Old,computer,computers,including,Macintosh Classic,on,display,in,shop,window,of,this,electronic,shop,in,Mirepoix,Ariege,department,South,of,France,

RMM1EE1D–Apple IIe; release date January 1983; exhibited at MacPaw"s Ukrainian Apple Museum in Kiev; Ukraine on January 26; 2017. Ukrainian developer MacPaw has opened Apple hardware museum at the company’s office in Kiev. The collection has more than 70 original Macintosh models dated from 1981 to 2017.

RF2CBBEH4–TERRASSA, SPAIN-AUGUST 9, 2020: 1992 Apple Macintosh PowerBook Duo 210 portable notebook personal computer in the National Museum of Science and Techn

RM2KAWAE8–Macintosh models exhibited at MacPaw"s Ukrainian Apple Museum in Kiev, Ukraine on January 26, 2017. Ukrainian developer MacPaw has opened Apple hardware museum at the company’s office in Kiev. The collection has more than 70 original Macintosh models dated from 1981 to 2017. (Photo by Oleksandr Rupeta/NurPhoto)

Mac OS (originally System Software; retronym: Classic Mac OSoperating systems developed for the Macintosh family of personal computers by Apple Computer from 1984 to 2001, starting with System 1 and ending with Mac OS 9. The Macintosh operating system is credited with having popularized the graphical user interface concept.

Apple released the original Macintosh on January 24, 1984. The first version of the system software, which had no official name, was partially based on the Lisa OS, which Apple previously released for the Lisa computer in 1983. As part of an agreement allowing Xerox to buy shares in Apple at a favorable price, it also used concepts from the Xerox PARC Alto computer, which former Apple CEO Steve Jobs and other Lisa team members had previewed.Macintosh Toolbox ROM and the "System Folder", a set of files that were loaded from disk. The name Macintosh System Software came into use in 1987 with System 5. Apple rebranded the system as Mac OS in 1996, starting officially with version 7.6, due in part to its Macintosh clone program.Mac OS 8 in 1997.Mac OS 9 in 1999.

Initial versions of the System Software ran one application at a time. With the Macintosh 512K, a system extension called the Switcher was developed to use this additional memory to allow multiple programs to remain loaded. The software of each loaded program used the memory exclusively; only when activated by the Switcher did the program appear, even the Finder"s desktop. With the Switcher, the now familiar Clipboard feature allowed copy and paste between the loaded programs across switches including the desktop.

With the introduction of System 5, a cooperative multitasking extension called MultiFinder was added, which allowed content in windows of each program to remain in a layered view over the desktop, and was later integrated into System 7 as part of the operating system along with support for virtual memory. By the mid-1990s, however, contemporary operating systems such as Windows NT, OS/2, and NeXTSTEP had all brought pre-emptive multitasking, protected memory, access controls, and multi-user capabilities to desktop computers. The Macintosh"s limited memory management and susceptibility to conflicts among extensions that provide additional functionality, such as networking or support for a particular device,

After two aborted attempts at creating a successor to the Macintosh System Software called Taligent and Copland, and a four-year development effort spearheaded by Steve Jobs"s return to Apple in 1997, Apple replaced Mac OS with a new operating system in 2001 named Mac OS X; the X signifying the underlying Unix system family base shared with Jobs"s development of the NeXTSTEP operating systems on the NeXT computer. It retained most of the user interface design elements of the Classic Mac OS, and there was some overlap of application frameworks for compatibility, but the two operating systems otherwise have completely different origins and architectures.

The final updates to Mac OS 9 released in 2001 provided interoperability with Mac OS X. The name "Classic" that now signifies the historical Mac OS as a whole is a reference to the Classic Environment, a compatibility layer that helped ease the transition to Mac OS X (now macOS).

The Macintosh project started in late 1978 with Jef Raskin, who envisioned an easy-to-use, low-cost computer for the average consumer. In September 1979, Raskin began looking for an engineer who could put together a prototype. Bill Atkinson, a member of the Apple Lisa team, introduced Raskin to Burrell Smith, a service technician who had been hired earlier that year.

Apple"s concept for the Macintosh deliberately sought to minimize the user"s awareness of the operating system. Many basic tasks that required more operating system knowledge on other systems could be accomplished by mouse gestures and graphic controls on a Macintosh. This would differentiate it from its contemporaries such as MS-DOS, which use a command-line interface consisting of terse, abbreviated textual commands.

In January 1981, Steve Jobs completely took over the Macintosh project. Jobs and a number of Apple engineers visited Xerox PARC in December 1979, three months after the Lisa and Macintosh projects had begun. After hearing about the pioneering GUI technology being developed at Xerox PARC from former Xerox employees like Raskin, Jobs negotiated a visit to see the Xerox Alto computer and Smalltalk development tools in exchange for Apple stock options.drag and drop and direct manipulation.

Unlike the IBM PC, which uses 8 kB of system ROM for power-on self-test (POST) and basic input/output system (BIOS), the Mac ROM is significantly larger (64 kB) and holds key OS code. Much of the original Mac ROM was coded by Andy Hertzfeld, a member of the original Macintosh team. He was able to conserve precious ROM space by writing routines in assembly language code optimized with "hacks," or clever programming tricks.Macintosh Toolbox, and some of the desktop accessories (DAs). The icons of the operating system, which represent folders and application software, were designed by Susan Kare, who later designed the icons for Microsoft Windows 3.0. Bruce Horn and Steve Capps wrote the Macintosh Finder, as well as a number of Macintosh system utilities.

Apple aggressively advertised their new machine. After its release, the company bought all 39 pages of advertisement space in the 1984 November/December edition of Lisa. Apple quickly developed MacWorks, a product that allowed the Lisa to emulate Macintosh system software through System 3, by which time it had been discontinued as the rebranded Macintosh XL. Many of the Lisa"s operating system advances would not appear in the Macintosh operating system until System 7 or later.

Early versions of Mac OS are compatible only with Motorola 68000-family Macintoshes. As Apple introduced computers with PowerPC hardware, the OS was ported to support this architecture. Mac OS 8.1 is the last version that could run on a 68k processor (the 68040).

In systems prior to PowerPC G3-based systems, significant parts of the system are stored in physical ROM on the motherboard. The initial purpose of this is to avoid having the OS use up most of the 128KiB RAM of the initial Macintosh—the initial ROMs were 64KiB. This architecture also allows for a completely graphical OS interface at the lowest level without the need for a text-only console or command-line mode: boot time errors, such as finding no functioning disk drives, are communicated to the user graphically, usually with an icon or the distinctive Chicago bitmap font and a Chime of Death or a series of beeps. This is in contrast to MS-DOS and CP/M computers of the time, which display such messages in a mono-spaced font on a black background, and require the use of the keyboard rather than a mouse, for input. To provide such niceties at a low level, early Mac OS depends on core system software in ROM on the motherboard, which also ensured that only Apple computers or licensed clones (with the copyright-protected ROMs from Apple) can run Mac OS.

Several computer manufacturers over the years made Macintosh clones that were capable of running Mac OS. From 1995 to 1997, Apple licensed Macintosh ROMs to several companies, notably Power Computing, UMAX and Motorola. These machines normally ran various versions of Classic Mac OS. Steve Jobs ended the clone-licensing program after returning to Apple in 1997.

Support for Macintosh clones was first exhibited in System 7.5.1, which was the first version to include the "Mac OS" logo (a variation on the original Happy Mac startup icon), and Mac OS 7.6 was the first to be named "Mac OS" instead of "System". These changes were made to disassociate the operating system from Apple"s own Macintosh models.

The Macintosh originally used the Macintosh File System (MFS), a flat file system with only one level of folders. This was quickly replaced in 1985 by the Hierarchical File System (HFS), which had a true directory tree. Both file systems are otherwise compatible. An improved file system named HFS Plus ("HFS+" or "Mac OS Extended") was announced in 1997 and implemented in 1998.

On the other hand, these forks would provide a challenge to interoperability with other operating systems. In copying or transferring a Mac OS file to a non-Mac system, the default implementations would simply strip the file of its resource fork. Most data files contained only nonessential information in their resource fork, such as window size and location, but program files would be inoperative without their resources. This necessitated such encoding schemes as BinHex and MacBinary, which allowed a user to encode a dual-forked file into a single stream, or inversely take a single stream so-encoded and reconstitute it into a dual-forked file usable by Mac OS.

System 1.0, 1.1, and 2.0 use a flat file system named Macintosh File System (MFS). The Finder provides virtual folders that could be used to organize files, but these folders are not visible from any other application and do not actually exist on the disk.

System 3.0 (Finder 5.1) was introduced with the Macintosh Plus, officially implementing HFS, 800K startup drives, support for several new technologies including SCSI and AppleShare, and Trash "bulging" (i.e., when the Trash contains files, it gains a bulged appearance).

System 4.0 was released with the Macintosh SE and System 4.1 first shipped with the Macintosh II—these new machines required additional support for the first expansion slots, the Apple Desktop Bus (ADB), internal hard drives and, on the Macintosh II, external color displays and the first Motorola 68020 processor.

These releases can only run one application at a time, except for desk accessories, though special application shells such as Multi-MacSwitcher (discussed under MultiFinder) could work around this. Visible changes are best reflected in the version number of the Finder, where major leaps are found between 1.x, 4.x, 5.x, and 6.x.

Towards the end of 1987, Apple introduced a package titled "Apple Macintosh System Software Update 5.0".Disk First Aid and Apple HD SC Setup. Because the disks are named System Tools, users and the press commonly referred to this version as "System Tools 5.0".

The primary new feature of System 5 is MultiFinder, an extension which lets the system run several programs at once. The system uses a cooperative multitasking model, meaning that time is given to the background applications only when the foreground application yields control. A change in system functions that applications were already calling to handle events make many existing applications share time automatically, as well as being allowed to perform tasks in the background.InfoWorld tested four multitasking options for PC and Mac, viewing MultiFinder positively overall, but noting that its presence halved the speed of file transfer and printing compared to the single-tasking System 6 without MultiFinder.

System Software 6 (also referred to as "System 6") is a consolidation release of the Macintosh system software, producing a complete, stable, and long-lasting operating system. Two major hardware introductions requiring additional support under System 6 are the 68030 processor and 1.44 MB SuperDrive debuting with the Macintosh IIx and Macintosh SE/30. Later updates include support for the first specialized laptop features with the introduction of the Macintosh Portable. From System 6 forward, the Finder has a unified version number closely matching that of the System, alleviating much of the confusion caused by the often considerable differences between earlier Systems.

On May 13, 1991, System 7 was released. It was a major upgrade over System 6, adding a significant user interface overhaul, new applications, stability improvements and many new features. Its introduction coincides with the release of and provided support for the 68040 Macintosh line. The System 7 era saw numerous changes in the Macintosh platform including a proliferation of Macintosh models, the 68k to Power Macintosh transition as well as the rise of Microsoft Windows, increasing use of computer networking and the explosion in the popularity of the Internet.

One of the most significant features of System 7 is virtual memory support, an essential subsystem anticipated for years, which only exists for previous Systems in a third party extension named Virtual from Connectix.32-bit memory addressing, necessary for the ever-increasing amounts of RAM available to the Motorola 68030 CPU, and 68020 CPUs with a 68851 PMMU. This process involves making all of the routines in OS code use the full 32-bits of a pointer as an address—prior systems used the upper 8 bits as flags. This change is known as being "32-bit clean". While System 7 itself is 32-bit clean, many existing machines and thousands of applications were not, so it was some time before the process was completed. To ease the transition, the "Memory" control panel contains a switch to disable this feature, allowing for compatibility with older applications.

System 7.1 is mainly a bugfix release, with a few minor features added. One of the major new features of System 7.1 was moving fonts out of the System file into the Fonts folder in the System Folder. Previously a resource-copying utility such as ResEdit or Font D/A Mover was required for installing fonts. System 7.1 is not only the first Macintosh operating system to cost money (all previous versions were free or sold at the cost of the floppies), but also received a "Pro" sibling (version 7.1.1) with extra features. System 7.1.2 was the first version to support PowerPC-based Macs. System 7.1 also introduces the System Enablers as a method to support new models without updating the actual System file. This leads to extra files inside the system folder (one per new model supported).

Stability improved in PowerPC-based Macs with Mac OS 7.6, which dropped the "System" moniker as a more trademarkable name was needed in order to license the OS to the growing market of third-party Macintosh clone manufacturers. Mac OS 7.6 required 32-bit-clean ROMs, and so it dropped support for every Mac with a 68000 processor, as well as the Mac II, Mac IIx, Mac IIcx, and Mac SE/30.

Mac OS 8 was released on July 26, 1997, the same month Steve Jobs became the de facto CEO of Apple. It was mainly released to keep the Mac OS moving forward during a difficult time for Apple. Initially planned as Mac OS 7.7, it was renumbered "8" to exploit a legal loophole and accomplish Jobs"s goal of terminating third-party manufacturers" licenses to System 7 and shutting down the Macintosh clone market.

Mac OS 8 added a number of features from the abandoned Copland project, while leaving the underlying operating system unchanged. A multi-threaded Finder was included; files could now be copied in the background. The GUI was changed in appearance to a new shaded greyscale look named Platinum, and the ability to change the appearance themes (also known as skins) was added with a new control panel (though Platinum was the only one shipped). This capability was provided by a new "appearance" API layer within the OS, one of the few significant changes.

Apple sold 1.2 million copies of Mac OS 8 in its first two weeks of availability and 3 million within six months. In light of Apple"s financial difficulties at the time, there was a large grassroots movement among Mac users to upgrade and "help save Apple". Even some pirate groups refused to redistribute the OS.

Mac OS 8.1 introduced an updated version of the Hierarchical File System named HFS+, which fixed many of the limitations of the earlier system and continued to be used in macOS up until macOS High Sierra, when it was replaced with the Apple File System. There are some other interface changes such as separating network features from printing, and some improvements to application switching. However, in underlying technical respects, Mac OS 8 is not very different from System 7.

Mac OS 8.5 focuses on speed and stability, with most 68k code replaced by modern code native to the PowerPC. It also improved the appearance of the user interface, although the theming feature was cut late in development.

first version to require a 68040 processor, dropping support for the remainder of the Macintosh II series and other 68030 Macs. It also added support for the PowerPC G3 processor

last Mac OS release to run on a 68k processor, and it added support for USB on the iMac and added support for the HFS+ filesystem, also called Mac OS Extended

first version to run solely on a PowerPC processor, and it added built-in support for FireWire. It also added Sherlock and added support for the Power Macintosh G3

Mac OS 9 added improved support for AirPort wireless networking. It introduced an early implementation of multi-user support. Though not a true multi-user operating system, Mac OS 9 does allow multiple desktop users to have their own data and system settings. An improved Sherlock search engine added several new search plug-ins. Mac OS 9 also provides a much improved memory implementation and management. AppleScript was improved to allow TCP/IP and networking control. Mac OS 9 also makes the first use of the centralized Apple Software Update to find and install OS and hardware updates.

Mac OS 9 also added some transitional technologies to help application developers adopt some Mac OS X features before the introduction of the new OS to the public, to help ease the transition. These included new APIs for the file system and the bundling of the Carbon library that apps could link against instead of the traditional API libraries—apps that were adapted to do this could be run natively on Mac OS X as well. Other changes were made beginning with the Mac OS 9.1 update to allow it to be launched in the Classic Environment within Mac OS X.

The macOS architectural legacy is the successor to Mac OS 9 and the Classic Mac OS legacy. However, unlike the Classic Mac OS, it is a Unix-based operating systemNeXTSTEP and technology developed at NeXT from the late 1980s until early 1997, when Apple purchased the company, and its CEO Steve Jobs returned to Apple.BSD codebase and the XNU kernel,open source Darwin operating system.

An early version of the operating system, Mac OS X Server 1.0, was released in 1999. It retains the "Platinum" appearance from the Classic Mac OS and even resembles OPENSTEP in places, with the first version to arrive with the new Aqua user interface. The desktop version, Mac OS X 10.0, followed on March 24, 2001, supporting the new Aqua user interface. Since then, several more versions of the operating system have been released. Mac OS X was renamed "OS X" in 2011 and "macOS" in 2016.

Users of the Classic Mac OS generally upgraded to Mac OS X, but it was criticized in its early years as more difficult and less user-friendly than the original Mac OS, for the lack of certain features that had not yet been reimplemented in the new OS, for being slower on the same hardware (especially older hardware), and for incompatibilities with the older OS.Steve Jobs encouraged people to upgrade to Mac OS X by staging a mock funeral for Mac OS 9 at WWDC 2002.

PowerPC versions of Mac OS X up to and including Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger include a compatibility layer for running older Mac applications, the Classic Environment. Originally codenamed the "blue box", the environment runs a nearly complete Mac OS 9 operating system, version 9.1 or later, as a Mac OS X application. This allows applications that have not been ported to the Carbon API to run on Mac OS X. This is reasonably seamless, though "classic" applications retain their original Mac OS 9 appearance and do not gain the Mac OS X "Aqua" appearance.

Early New World ROM PowerPC-based Macs shipped with Mac OS 9.2 as well as Mac OS X. Mac OS 9.2 had to be installed by the user—it was not installed by default on hardware revisions released after Mac OS X 10.4. Most well-written "classic" Mac OS applications function properly under this environment, but compatibility is assured only if the software was written to be unaware of the actual hardware and to interact solely with the operating system. The Classic Environment is not available on Intel-based Mac systems or the latest Apple silicon Macs due to the incompatibility of Mac OS 9 with both the x86 and ARM hardware.

Third-party Macintosh emulators, such as vMac, Basilisk II, and Executor, eventually made it possible to run the Classic Mac OS on Intel-based PCs. These emulators were restricted to emulating the 68k series of processors, and as such most couldn"t run versions of the Mac OS that succeeded 8.1, which required PowerPC processors. Most also required a Mac ROM image or a hardware interface supporting a real Mac ROM chip; those requiring an image are of dubious legal standing as the ROM image may infringe on Apple"s intellectual property.

A notable exception was the Executor commercial software product from Abacus Research & Development, the only product that used 100% reverse-engineered code without the use of Apple technology. It ran extremely quickly but never achieved more