The Mini vMac Mac Plus Emulator

- 2005.11.16

Low End Mac Reader Specials

Memory To Go Special: MacPro 8 Core Memory 4GB kit $192 / 2GB kit $109. MacBook Pro / MacMini / iMac Intel Core2 DUO 2GB $44 1GB $23--Free shipping available.

Download Typestyler, still the Ultimate Styling Tool for Internet, Print and Video Graphics. Works great in Classic with a Native OS X Version on the way. Free Tryout: www.typestyler.com

LA Computer Company: LA Computer Company: Specials on AppleCare, Apple Displays, MacBooks, iMac's, MacBook Pros, Laptop and iPod accessories and more. Apple A/C Adapters for laptops starting at $25.00 Call 1-800-941-7654 or Click Here.

OtherWorld Computing: Better than new Batteries for iPods NewerTech NuPower, up to 20+ Hours! Complete with Tools from $19.99. Online videos. Professional installation available.

Mac users can finally play Party Poker for Mac. Not only that, they can also learn how to play PokerStars for Mac.

Laptop Hardware Provided by TechRestore - Overnight Mac & iPod Repairs.

Compare products like desktop computers, laptops, and LCD TVs side by side! All the information and reviews to make the best purchasing decision for a new cell phone GPS products or MP3 players. The Ciao network makes searching products easy for you.

Memory For New Intel Core2 DUO MacBooks, MacBook Pro, MacMini & iMacs" 4GB Kit $80, 3GB Kit $60, 2GB Kit $40, 1GB $20. Click to Maximize your Macs...

I'm Andrew Conachey, and I'm one of the new columnists at Low End Mac. I specialize in the lowest of the low-end spectrum, and I'll be covering Apple's older Macintosh operating systems starting from 1.0 and working up to 6.0.8 - and the Macs that run them.

I'm 17 years old. My first experience with Macs was in second grade when we were finally old enough to "graduate" from Apple IIs. My school district is very poor, so even though it was 1997, we were using LC IIs.

Macintosh LC We had a 75 MHz Pentium PC at home running Windows for Workgroups 3.11. Even though our PC was by far the more powerful computer, I preferred using the Macs at school due their good looks and ease of use.

I've always been interested in why the Macintosh OS has looked so good and was so easy to use from its first release. Windows couldn't even match the flexibility and ease of use of the Mac OS until several versions later.

Emulating Ancient Macs with Mini vMac

I own a Mac Plus, but since it's so old and slow, I prefer to emulate it using Mini vMac (based on vMac) on my blueberry iMac DV. This'll also make it easier for me to import screen shots into my articles.

Mini vMac is a Mac Plus emulator based on vMac. Development of vMac has stagnated for a long time, so Paul Pratt decided to continue improving it and created Mini vMac.

To get Mini vMac installed on your computer, first download Mini vMac (link below). The file that you have to download depends on your operating system. I use the stable version of Mini vMac (2.6.1) under OS X.

Just uncompress the archives and put the application anywhere you want to. I would recommend putting it in a folder called Mini vMac. You'll see why in a minute.

In order to actually emulate a Mac Plus, you'll need to obtain a Mac Plus ROM image. Use the CopyRoms utility to copy the ROM image from your Mac Plus to a file. Next, transfer this file to the computer you will be running Mini vMac on. Name the file "vMac.rom" and put it in the same folder as the application.

It's important that you own a Mac Plus. The Mac's ROM image is copyrighted by Apple, so if you don't own the computer, you are breaking the law by using it.

To be able to use your system and program disks with Mini vMac, you'll need to use a utility such as Apple's Disk Copy 4.2 to create 400K or 800K disk images. Disk copy 6.2.2 doesn't handle 400K or 800K disks correctly, so you can't use this version.

The blinking question mark

Once you have your disk images made, start up Mini vMac. You should see the blinking question mark icon. Now just drag the disk image into the window

If you've done everything correctly, you should see the familiar Welcome to Macintosh greeting.

Welcome to Macintosh

If you've made it this far, pat yourself on the back. All the hard work is done.

Once Mini vMac is up and running, you use it just like a Mac Plus. To view the emulator in full screen just type control-F. If you want the emulator to run at actual Mac Plus speed (8 MHz, press control-L.

This is just a sample of what you can accomplish with Mini vMac. I'll cover it more in detail in future columns.

Next Time

I'll start by covering System 1.0 in my next column. We'll see how each of the components of the OS has developed into OS 9.

Later on I'll cover programs that you can use with system versions below 6.0 and where you can find them.

We'll also explore why the Mac OS is so easy to use and why it was ahead of any consumer operating system at the time.

Stay tuned!

Link: Mini vMac
Link: vMac
Link: CopyRoms

Recent Classic Mac Nostalgia articles

Mac OS X 10.4.10 AirPort bug undermines use of MacBook Pro on battery power, 07.30. AirPort bug introduced with 10.4.10 update means MacBook Pro can't access certain routers with encryption enabled while running from battery. 10.4.9 was fine.
MacWrite 1.0: Defining word processing for a graphical user interface, 11.15. The Mac's first word processor introduced a lot of features and norms that show up in today's word processing software.
Software bundles: What came with the Mac 128K, 512K, and Plus, 01.03. A look at the software and system versions that Apple shipped with the original Macintosh, the 512K Fat Mac, the Mac Plus, and the Mac 512ke.
More in the Classic Mac Nostalgia index.

Recent Content on Low End Mac

Beyond the Mac mini, Dan Knight, Mac Musings, 05.16. What if Apple were to think different and eliminate the built-in optical drive, cut $100 from the price, and offer an expansion chassis?
Best Mac mini deals, Low End Mac Deals, 05.16. Used 1.25 GHz G4 Combo, $449;; refurb 1.5 Core Solo, $450; 1.66 Duo SD, $489; 1.83, $599; ; new 1.83 Core2, $569 after rebate; 2.0 SD, $769 a/r.
Best 15" PowerBook G4 deals, Low End Mac Deals, 05.16. Used 1 GHz Combo, $550; 1.25 SD, $575; 1.33, $625; 1.5, $675; 1.67, $725; hi-res, $800.
Best classic iPod deals, Low End Mac Deals, 05.16. Used 20 GB, $120; 30, $140; 40, $160; 60 color, $189; 30 video, $180; 60, $200; refurb 80 classic, $209; new, $230; refurb 160, $299; new, $330.
BlackBerry's bold challenge to iPhone, Zune sales still flat, 3G iPhone launch nigh, and more, iNews Review, 05.16. Also a new Google Reader for the iPhone, an iPod-based supercomputer, remote Mac access from iPhone and iPod touch, new cases, and much more.
Open source virtualization for Macs, iMac shutdowns, Psystar reviews, and more, Mac News Review, 05.16. Also aluminum iMac USB power concerns, Penryn iMac twice as powerful as fastest G5 iMac, Radeon vs. GeForce in top-end iMac, Odysseus email client in beta, and more.
Limited USB bus power in Santa Rosa Macs, 1 TB in your 'Book, MacBook cooler, and more, The 'Book Review, 05.16. Hitachi first to market with 320 GB 7200 rpm notebook drive, Apple to refund for sparking power adapters, 10 hour external MacBook Air battery, bargain 'Books from $150 to $2,699, and more.
Mac Pro beats HP and Dell at their own game: Price, Frank Fox, Stop the Noiz, 05.16. Whether comparing the top-end or low-end of Mac Pro options, comparable models from Dell and HP cost more.
Best iBook G4 deals, Low End Mac Deals, 05.16. Used 12" 1.07 GHz Combo w/AP, $350; 1.33 GHz w/o AP, $400; 14" 933 MHz w/AP, $400; 1.07 GHz, $425; 1.33 SuperDrive, $450; 1.42, $500.
Best iPhone deals, Low End Mac Deals, 05.16. New 8 GB iPhone, $399; 16 GB, $499.
Best Mac Pro deals, Low End Mac Deals, 05.16. Refurb 2.66 GHz 4-core, $1,888; 2.8, $1,999; 3.0, $2,299; 8-core '07, $2,499; new 2.8 4-core, $2,199; 8-core, $2,598 after rebate; 3.0 '08 $3,399 a/r; 3.2, $4,169 a/r.
Mac of the Day: 17" PowerBook G4/1 GHz Mar. 2001 The first PowerBook with a 17" display, also the first with FireWire 800.
List of the Day: Leopard List Low End Mac's email list covering Mac OS X 10.5.
May 17 in LEM history: 01: On the Web - 02: Educational computing done wrong - Learning Linux on a PC? - 04: Pismo CPU upgrades - 06: MacBook Pro speed bump - Classic option for Intel Macs - X11: Your window for using Unix apps on the Mac - 07: World's fastest G3
Leopard is the way to go, even on most old G4 Macs, Carl Nygren, My Turn, 05.14. The useful and just cool features in Mac OS X 10.5 make this the biggest step forward in the history of the Mac OS.
Windows on Macs: Three paths for integration, Jason Packer, Macs in the Enterprise, 05.14. Mac users have three routes for running Windows apps: Run Windows using Boot Camp or virtualization, or use a compatibility layer such as WINE.
Mac OS 9 still nice, anticipating Odysseus, PowerBook 1400 upgrades, and more, Charles W. Moore, Miscellaneous Ramblings, 05.14. Also rebuilding PowerBook batteries, FastMac vs. NuPower replacement batteries, and only one G4 upgrade left for WallStreet PowerBooks.
Up-to-date or low-end, we need technology in our schools, John Hatchett, Recycled Computing, 05.14. Modern computers are great educational tools, but sometimes less distracting options (like no Internet) make more sense.
Best iMac G4 deals, Low End Mac Deals, 05.14. Used 15" 800 MHz Combo, $320; SuperDrive, $380; 1 GHz Combo, $400; SD, $485; 17" 1.25 GHz, $459; 20", $750.
Best Mac OS X 10.0-10.3 deals, Low End Mac Deals, 05.14. Mac OS X 10.0.3, $40; 10.1, $49; 10.2, $60; 10.3 DVD, $50; CD, $100; 10.1 Server, unlimited users, $109; 10.3 Server, $130.
Best MacBook Air deals, Low End Mac Deals, 05.14. 1.6 GHz, 80 GB, $1,694 after rebate; 1.8 GHz, $1,994 a/r; 1.6 GHz, 64 GB SSD, $2,689 a/r; 1.8 GHz, $2,950 a/r; SuperDrive, $99.
More links in our archive.

About LEM | Support | Usage | Privacy | Contacts

Classic Mac Nostalgia articles copyright ©2005-07 by Andrew Conachey. Entire Low End Mac website copyright ©1997-2008 by Cobweb Publishing, Inc., unless otherwise noted. All rights reserved. Advice presented in good faith, but what works for one may not work for all. Please report errors to .
LINKS: We allow and encourage links to any public page as long as the linked page does not appear within a frame that prevents bookmarking it.
Access our RSS news feed at http://lowendmac.com/feed.xml.
Email may be published at our discretion; email addresses will not be published without permission, and we will encrypt them in hopes of avoiding spammers. If you prefer your message not be published, mark it "not for publication." Letters may be edited for length, context, and to match house style.
PRIVACY: We don't collect personal information unless you explicitly provide it. For more details, see our Terms of Use.
Low End Mac is an independent publication and has not been authorized, sponsored, or otherwise approved by Apple Inc. Apple, the Apple logo, Macintosh, iBook, iMac, eMac, iPod, PowerBook, MacBook, Mac Pro, Apple TV, and AirPort are registered trademarks of Apple Inc. Additional company and product names may be trademarks or registered trademarks and are hereby acknowledged.