Top
Best
New

Posted by zdw 3 hours ago

Advanced Mac Substitute is an API-level reimplementation of 1980s-era Mac OS(www.v68k.org)
117 points | 23 comments
rcarmo 6 minutes ago|
This is pretty neat. I have been spending the past few months adding an ARM64 JIT to Basilisk II (https://github.com/rcarmo/macemu) and totally appreciate what's involved (I'm currently stuck patching a Quadra ROM to bypass NuBus hardware detection...)

Will definitely give it a try, since I would _love_ to have a Classic Mac environment with some modern creature comforts (like file sharing) in tiny machines.

msephton 9 minutes ago||
So has this beaten MACE to the finish line? Or are the goals different? https://mace.home.blog
imoverclocked 2 hours ago||
I can't imagine how fast this is compared to the original hardware that ran it. I remember using a Mac 512k with a single floppy drive (no hard drive support) and doing the insert-floppy-dance. Computers were far more mechanical then.

It would be fun to have a "slow it down" feature that also has the various floppy read/write noises paired with it. Bonus points for different generations of hardware and having the OG HD noises to pair with those too!

jdwithit 7 minutes ago||
"Fond" memories of playing King's Quest IV as a little kid on my parents' Apple IIe. You had to swap in a new 5.25" floppy almost every time you walked to another screen. I was fascinated by the game but my god was it tedious to constantly flip and swap the disks around. Google says it came on 8 double sided disks, I could have sworn it was a couple dozen.
drzaiusx11 1 hour ago||
There was a show HN retro HW project somewhat recently that included sound emulation on board. Maybe that author is reading this, but their sound emulation was probably my favorite part (not to disregard the actual hard parts! I just found it charming)
londons_explore 50 minutes ago||
I am amazed that 1980's software works on binary API compatibility rather than relying on API quirks like timing, memory alignment quirks, memory layout from specific allocator behaviour, etc.

It only takes one unintentional reliance on an implementation detail to make an application not run on another OS implementation...

wmf 25 minutes ago|
There were plenty of apps that relied on implementation quirks.
hyperhello 2 hours ago||
I'd like to see something like Carbon for old apps so that they boot in modern window frames (without the missing Tahoe corners) and can save to files.
davidfstr 2 hours ago||
Wine for classic Mac OS? Amazing. Well done.
bsimpson 19 minutes ago|
Sounds like Wine + FEX
shermantanktop 2 hours ago||
But will it run Dark Castle??

Many hours were wasted on that game.

Chazprime 15 minutes ago||
Hell, I’d go straight for Beyond Dark Castle… it really took the series to a whole different level.
rvnx 2 hours ago||
Still wondering why the main character looks like Sammy from Scooby Doo

and yes:

https://github.com/jjuran/metamage_1/commit/30cb0e260d5ff478...

homarp 3 hours ago||
how does it compare to executor? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Executor_(software)
Batbird 2 hours ago||
This triggered flashbacks. I'm not sure if I'm remembering correctly, but I think we sometimes also used used Pascal, and it was optional for some toolboxes. It's been a long time though so I could be mistaken. That might have been pre-Mac? But good times, though. Boy, is the world a different place.
DavidSJ 1 hour ago|
The original Mac system software was written in Pascal and most Mac toolbox calls took Pascal-style (prefixed by length) rather than C-style (terminated with null character) strings. But you could write application code in either language keeping this caveat in mind.
homarp 3 hours ago|
related discussion https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=40338443
More comments...