LA Computer Company: Specials on AppleCare, iMac's, Apple Batteries and Apple A/C Adapters. Also Great prices on Used Apple Computers. Call 1-800-941-7654 Click Here.
OWC: Burn DVDs, DVD-DL, CDs, DVD-Ram - FAST! Superdrive upgrades from OWC starting from $31.99 with options for nearly every Mac. Models with Lightscribe, Blu-Ray too!
My Turn is Low End Mac's column for reader-submitted
articles. It's your turn to share your thoughts on all things
Mac (or iPhone, iPod, etc.) and write for the Mac web. Email your
submission to Dan Knight
.
If you've got old Mac games or programs that won't run with the
latest Mac OS versions, or if you're new to Macs and would like to
experience the original Mac OS's, vMac is the program for you.
vMac lets you create a virtual Mac running System 6 or System 7
inside your new Mac. It lets you runs games and programs written for
these older operating systems about as quickly as on a 68030 Mac, it
includes sound output, it can multitask, it can run in a window or
full screen, it can run up to System 7.5.5, it runs in OS X or
OS 9, and it's small and free!
To setup vMac, download the vMac program (only 1160 KB) and
vMacBoot disk image (a virtual hard disk or floppy) file from
www.bannister.org/software/vmac.htm,
leb.net/vmac/, or www.vmac.org.
The only other file you need is a Mac
Plus Image ROM (read-only memory) file. leb.net has a program
called CopyROM you can use to you copy the ROM from your Mac
Plus.
If you don't own a Mac Plus, eBay
and other sources can help you purchase one cheap. It doesn't even
have to have a hard drive. Copy the CopyROM program onto a system
boot disk, copy your ROM, and then put the resulting file together
with the vMac program and vMacBoot file in a folder on your current
Mac. That's all it takes to be up and running with a virtual old Mac
inside your new Mac.
Now you can search the Web for disk image files of old games and
programs to run in it. vMac opens you up to a whole new world of old
world Mac mania within the stability and convenience of OS X or
OS 9.
To get your own old programs running in vMac, just follow these
simple (hopefully) steps: Copy your old Mac games, files, and
applications into a folder on your Mac. One method is to use a
LocalTalk to Ethernet bridge, e.g. the EtherMac iPrint adapter
offered by Farallon for around $90 or cheaper on eBay. Other
possibilities are by using a USB to SCSI adapter costing around $50,
or a FireWire to SCSI adapter for about $100. Jagshouse.com
explains how to connect a Mac Plus to the iMac's Ethernet port via
SCSI.
Once you've got your programs copied over into one folder, convert
the folder into a disk image file. To do this, download a 30-day
evaluation copy of Aladdin's
ShrinkWrap (then pay for it if you like it). Boot to OS 9,
install ShrinkWrap, launch it, select Image, New Image from
Folder..., choose the folder containing your old program(s), type the
a name you want the disk image file to have (different from the
folder name), select Size: Custom, add 100k just to give the image
some breathing room, choose Mac OS Standard, Create, File format:
DiskDup+, uncheck copy used blocks only.
That's it. You get a disk image mountable in vMac. Restart back
into OS X (or stay in OS 9 if you prefer, because vMac can
run in both), and run vMac. When you get the flashing question mark,
select Hardware, insert Disk #1, choose the vMacBoot.dsk. You are now
in a classic Mac running Mac OS 7.1. Once that loads, select
Hardware, insert Disk #2, select the disk image you created. You will
see a new floppy disk appear on the vMac desktop. Double click it to
open it and run your programs.
ShrinkWrap deserves special mention here, too. It is an incredibly
useful utility you can use to create blank disk image files of any
size that you can use in vMac to copy programs to. I used it to
create a 20 MB disk image that contains all the files from my Mac
Plus and SE/30 running System
6.0.8. I use it as Disk #1 to boot vMac. It's like I have my old Mac
back again, but with a new life running inside my new iMac. I run
Sound Master (anybody out there remember that?) and other old
favorite control panels, and I can play StuntCopter, ShufflePuck
Cafe, and many other good ol' games and applications, all on my
OS X Mac.
The guys who developed vMac deserve a lot of credit. They develop
it in their spare time and offer it for free. Visit their site(s),
try vMac, then send them a vPat-on-the-back for their fine work that
lets us revisit how the Mac used to be.
Share your perspective on the Mac by emailing with "My Turn" as your subject.
Recent My Turn articles
Using Low End Macs for Internet Radio, 08.18.
When the local public radio station moved classical music to HD radio, it was time to find another way to listen. An old iMac with iTunes solved the problem.
'That's Not a Computer', 07.30.
Salvaging a broken PowerBook by turning it into a desktop computer.
My 4 favorite PowerBooks, 05.28.
The PowerBook 150 has a big screen for a vintage PowerBook, the 165c has color, the 100 is diminutive, and Lombard has USB and a great keyboard.
Mac of the Day: Centris 650, Feb. 1993 - The replacement for the Quadra 700 has room for an internal CD-ROM.
List of the Day: Old Mac MP covers 604-based multiprocessor Macs and clones.
September 7 in LEM history: 98: Banner exchanges - 00: Tips from the Mac manager - Getting a Mac job - 01: Apple and the gray market - Repositioning the 'Books - 04: Tray loading iMac a good choice for OS X? - Pismo CPU upgrades - 06: Mac mini value equation - Setting up a Mac Classic II - Putting the Intel transition in perspective - 07: Region free DVD viewing, - My Newton - Solving Mac disk and hardware problems - 2 apps every MacBook should have
Listen to Just the Music with the V-Moda Vibe Earbuds, Tommy Thomas, Welcome to Macintosh, 09.05.
Well built, the noise canceling earbuds will let you hear all the nuances of your music without letting through background noise.
Best iPod touch Deals, Low End Mac Deals, 09.05.
Refurb 8 GB, $199; new, $284; refurb 16 GB, $299; new, $370; refurb 32 GB, $399; new, $453.
Best 15" MacBook Pro Deals, Low End Mac Deals, 09.05.
Used 1.83 GHz Core Duo, $999; 2.16, $1,125; new, 2.2, $1,450 after rebate; refurb 2.4, $1,699; 2.5, $1,999; 2.6 Santa Rosa, $1,849; rebates on new.
Best iMac G4 Deals, Low End Mac Deals, 09.05.
Used 15" 700 MHz CD-RW, $279; 800 Combo, $300; 1 GHz $390; 17" 800 MHz SD, $439; 1.25 GHz, $449; 20", $569.
Tomorrow's Solid State Drives and Notebooks, Dan Knight, Mac Musings, 09.04.
Flash drives are great but have some shortcomings. Some thoughts on building better SSDs and notebooks to use them.
Best Mac mini Deals, Low End Mac Deals, 09.04.
Used 1.25 GHz G4 SD, $549; 1.42 Combo, $409; new 1.83 Core2 Combo, $569 after rebate; 2.0 SD, $769 after rebate.
Best 12" PowerBook G4 Deals, Low End Mac Deals, 09.04.
Used 867 MHz Combo, no APX, $490; 1 GHz, $550; SuperDrive, $625; 1.5 GHz w/o APX, $660; w/APX, $675.
Best 17" PowerBook G4 Deals, Low End Mac Deals, 09.04.
Used 1 GHz, $779; 1.33 GHz, $799; 1.5 GHz, $859; 1.67 GHz, $910.
11 Mac Browsers Compared, Simon Royal, Mac Spectrum, 09.03.
The latest versions of Internet Explorer, Opera, Safari, Shiira, iCab, Radon, Firefox, Netscape Navigator, SeaMonkey, Flock, and Camino tested in Leopard.
Best eMac Deals, Low End Mac Deals, 09.03.
Used 700 MHz Combo, $120; 1.25 GHz SuperDrive, $150; 1.42 GHz, $349.
Best Mac OS X 10.5 'Leopard' Deals, Low End Mac Deals, 09.03.
Mac OS X 10.5, single user, $99; 5 users, $140; 10.5 Server, 10 users, $395; unlimited, $850.
Best MacBook Air Deals, Low End Mac Deals, 09.03.
Refurb 1.6 HD, $1,499; new, $1,690 after rebate; refurb 1.8, $1,699; new, $1,919 a/r; refurb 1.6 SSD, $2,099; new, $2,294 a/r; refurb 1.8, $2,299; new, $2,400 a/r.
Psystar Strikes Back, Countersues Apple, Frank Fox, Stop the Noiz, 09.03.
Psystar is trying to paint Apple as a monopoly and force it to license the Mac OS.
All of our advertising is handled by BackBeat Media. For
price quotes and advertising information, please contact
at BackBeat Media
(646-546-5194). This number is for advertising only.
Problems viewing this page with Internet Explorer
5.5 or 6? It works fine in other browsers, including IE 7. We
recommend Firefox
for those using Windows, as it is standards based and more
secure than IE 6 (and earlier). More LEM visitors use Firefox
than any other browser.
