Slack developer Felix Rieseberg has transformed Mac OS 8 into an application that you can install on your Mac or PC. After transforming Windows 95 into an application in 2018, Rieseberg decided to convert a 1991 Macintosh Quadra complete with Mac OS 8.1 into a single Electron application. It even includes a number of applications and games, thanks to an old MacWorld demo CD from 1997. The application can be installed on macOS, Windows and Linux.
The macintosh.js application is written entirely in JavaScript, and uses a virtual machine to emulate a Macintosh Quadra 900 with the Motorola CPU that Apple used prior to its transition to IBM’s PowerPC chips. Rieseberg has managed to obtain classic games like Duke Nukem 3D, Civilization II, Dungeons and Dragons, Namely, Oregon trail, Bowling Alley 19 Bowlingand Built-in damage running. There’s even a ton of pre-installed apps and tests, including Photoshop 3, Premiere 4, Illustrator 5.5, StuffIt Expander, and Apple’s Website Building Kit.
While Internet Explorer and Netscape are pre-installed, the versions are so old that Rieseberg says “I couldn’t even open Google.” Either way, it’s impressive that a 90s version of Mac OS has been ported to run in JavaScript.
If you are interested in trying out the app, all standalone versions are under 250MB and can be downloaded from GitHub. Enjoy, once again, a trip down the memory lane.
