I have a plan. It all depends on this question.

Is it possible to run OS9 and OS9 applications on a brand new iMac?

Here's the way I'm thinking. Get rid of the old G4s, get two more brand new iMacs (we already have two so I know how they work), partition new iMac disks and run OS9+apps from there*. No interference with new iMacs otherwise.

Then, ta daa, all four (iMacs) will network / see each other / file-share. Sounds good to me. Have I said enough?

If something sounds too good to be true, it probably is.

*I have the original installation disks for the apps in question and can get an OS9 from Apple downloads, apparently. Just the user-files to copy over but I can cope with that.

Try looking at SheepShaver

Any downloads that are available for OS 9 are only updates up to and including 9.2.2 (the version on which Classic is based), not stand-alone OS installs. You'd need a full retail version of OS 9 to be able to use any of those updaters (if applicable).

This suggests an alternative route, i.e., using the last model Mac that could run Classic and running your software there. By now these are only available used, I suppose. It would also be prudent to try your software under Classic first to see if there are any problems before you'd commit to this course.

Btw, in addition to Paul’s link, you might check out Gwenole Beauchesne’s SheepShaver Web pages and, for more recent activity on this front, E-Maculation and its associated SheepShaverForums.

Do not partition your hard drive. The only way to run OS 9 on a new Mac is with a utility called SheepShaver, which is kind of like Virtual PC--it keeps everything in a virtual hard disk "file," not on a real partition.

SheepShaver does let you run OS 9 programs, but it is crude and clumsy and it is not easy to install (it requires an Apple ROM image file, and since the Apple ROM image files are copyright by Apple, it is against the law for the SheepShaver programmers to give you the file. That means they can give you everything except the ROM image; you have to find a suitable ROM image file on your own.)

The SheepShaver link that oldMacMan gave you is obsolete; that version was released in 2006 and has not been updated since. The person who owns that particular Web site has abandoned the project.

It is surprisingly difficult to find the current version of SheepShaver; a simple Google search only points you to old, abandoned Web pages. The newest version I can locate is SheepShaver 2008 (note: this is a direct download link for the software and manual).

OK thanks everyone. I thought my (stupid) plan was too simple to be workable.

Back to replacing the CD burner in the old G4 then. (another thread)

Shame, though. It would have been good to have all four Macs actually talking to each other instead of the current old-old + new-new network.

There's no reason why you couldn't do that now if all Macs are on a LAN. You may not be able to 'see' your OS 9 Macs from those running Mac OS X, but you could try to connect the other way around: by connecting from the OS 9 Macs to the OS X Macs. Select the Chooser, then AppleShare, followed by clicking the 'Server IP Address...' button in the lower right. Then type in your target Mac's IP address*, hit OK and voila (that is, if you have the login password of that target Mac)!

There are various utilities to get IP addresses of target Macs, but you can find it in their System Profiler's 'Network' panel under Built-in Ethernet (About This Mac > More Info > Network), or in the TCP/IP pane of their Network System Pref panel.

Happily, that is no longer so!

SheepShaver for Mac - Emulator for Classic Mac OS environment turned up yesterday.

Per the SheepShaver Web site:

1. Using SheepShaver it is possible to emulate a Macintosh computer capable of running Mac OS 7.5.2 through 9.0.4.
2. Please note that SheepShaver requires the use of a ROM image and a copy of Mac OS.

For those interested:

1. Supposedly functional copies of OS 9 can be purchased here (I'm going to buy OS 9.0.4 and post back.), and
2. The PowerMacintosh ROM image can be obtained here. (Thanks to tacit for the link.)

I'm finally going to take a shot at installing it and re-installing my OED2.

A heads-up for those like me who rush in where wise men fear to tread: Sheepshaver requires a retail OS 9.0.4 disc, not a machine specific version as is offered by FastMac.

There is a hack linked in the Sheepsaver documentation, but I don't think I'll be able to work through it.

Looks like I threw out about $40 bucks by not reading the Sheepshaver documentation and FastMac return policy before diving in to the pool.

Oh, well... It's neither my first screwup nor my worst.

But who knows... Maybe it'll be my last.

(And in the event that it was, please note that the world is on schedule to end on October 21.)

Oh it was delayed? hmm, owell at least I already have my bags packed.