The final release of Mac OS 9 occurred 10 years ago in 2001. Mac OS X was launched that same year, and Steve Jobs symbolically buried his old nemesis in 2002. The old Mac OS survived for another few years, running on dual-booting G4s or as Classic mode under OS X until the release of Leopard and the Intel Macs.
Mac OS 9 Isn’t Dead Yet…
Mac OS 9 - the latest version of the 'classical» Macintosh Operating System (Mac OS), Apple introduced Oct. 23, 1999, before the release of Mac OS X. During the presentation, in Mac OS 9, it was announced '50 new features,' including the possibility of a 128-bit encryption and Sherlock 2. The license type of the downloaded software for Mac OS X is shareware. This license type may impose certain restrictions on functionality or only provide an evaluation period. The version of Aiseesoft HD Converter for Mac you are about to download is 9.2.8. The download was scanned for viruses by our system. The Mac OS 9 Lives Forum is dedicated to. Installing, Maintaining, and Extending the functionality of Mac OS 9 Each Section can be Expanded or Compressed by clicking the Title of the section This will shrink the Forum to display Only the Sections you want. In that case, you will need to perform an erase and install of Mac OS X 10.2.x then re-update to Mac OS X 10.4.x per Knowledge Base document #301468, or attempt copying the Mac OS 9 system folder.
Apple is a very forward thinking company, but sometimes you can’t escape your past. Some operating system releases have a way of surviving long past their expiration dates – Windows XP, anyone? Based on recent personal experience it’s safe to say that Mac OS 9 isn’t dead yet!
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Recently I wrote about Reinstalling Mac OS 9 on a PowerMac G4 MDD. A client needed the older OS to run a pre-OS X version of Digidesign Pro Tools, and that Mac model requires a system-specific (non-retail) install of Mac OS 9.2.2. Obtaining and reinstalling this older software proved an interesting experience, so I posted the info online for other vintage Mac nerds.
Turns out that column has had surprising popularity. Many more hits than average, and I’ve been directly contacted by many people since that posting looking for copies of OS 9 to install on their old Macs.
Like my first client, a few folks are also running Pro Tools or other old DAW applications and looking to get things setup on a fast single- or dual-processor G4 tower. Professional audio software is not cheap, and many users have a slew of third party plugins in addition to the primary application. When OS X came along many systems weren’t upgraded due to the total expense involved, which means a lot of working but now incompatible hardware and software is still out in the field.
System32 Folder
Another client who contacted me works for a national medical diagnostic company. They are using some lab equipment which has control software that only runs in Mac OS 9. A few QuickSilver G4 towers had been procured for installation but their IT manager couldn’t get a stable OS 9 System running on the machine. He needed to get a working setup going to replicate throughout their facilities.
Like the MDD the QuickSilver was produced after the last retail OS 9 CD was released, and some later models require a system-specific installation. As with the MDD, this was only available on the bundled Software Restore CDs. I don’t have a set of QuickSilver Restore CDs but I suspected that the liberated version of 9.2.2 from the MDD’s Restore disc would work on that model, and my client agreed to give it a try.
Verdict: yes, it works fine. Sweet!
A few days later, I (fortuitously) inherited a QuickSilver myself, and confirmed again that this does work. However on my particular model I needed to disable the ATI Video Accelerator extension to fix a hang at the desktop after bootup. Ah yes, incompatible System Extensions, don’t we all have warm fuzzy memories of those (not).
What surprises me is how many people are still using a ten-year-old Operating System for productive tasks. A not-insubstantial set of folks still need (or want) to run OS 9 for reasons both business and personal. We know that Macs themselves are well-built machines that stand the test of time, it appears Mac OS versions do so as well.
One technical note for those trying to recreate an OS 9 system themselves: be sure to partition your boot disk in Apple Partition Map format with Mac OS 9 drivers. Drives formatted under Mac OS X 10.5 (or higher) will not contain these drivers and will be invisible to the older System Software. You will need to format the drive using Disk Utility in Mac OS X 10.1.x – 10.4.x and check the option to Install Mac OS 9 Drivers, or use Drive Setup in Mac OS 9.
Finally, a helpful tip from one reader about how to find those elusive Software Restore discs:
I was at the Apple store today and while talking to my genius I mentioned my problem. He went out back and got me a shiny new set of system discs for my specific machine that they had hanging around […]
Viva la Mac OS 9!!!
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Update June 2012: Mac OS 9 for PowerMac G4 MDD has been made available for download via the Macintosh Garden.
Posted by Adam Rosen on May 15th, 2011 in Vintage Mac Museum Blog | 33 Comments »
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Disclaimer: Apple does not necessarily endorse any suggestions, solutions, or third-party software products that may be mentioned in the topic below. Apple encourages you to first seek a solution at Apple Support. The following links are provided as is, with no guarantee of the effectiveness or reliability of the information. Apple does not guarantee that these links will be maintained or functional at any given time. Use the information below at your own discretion.
First of all, you'll need Roxio's Toast, CharisMac's Discribe or other CD burning software to make a bootable CD, because Apple's Disc Burner can't create bootable CDs. This is a way that can be used with different burning applications (they just have to be able to install the necessary wrapper code to make a volume bootable): *start Disk Copy (usually located in the Utilities-folder), select Image>>>Create new Image.. from the menu * fill in a name for the CD, make sure that a size of 663,000K (CD-ROM 12cm, full) is selected and 'Mount Image' is checked (checking the 'Zero blocks'-option also is a good idea) *save the image (usually to the desktop) *you can now use a Mac OS installer (your original Mac OS install CD, for example) to install a System Folder to that disc image (once installed, you can also update that system using any [download] updater) and add all applications you want (try to install them whenever possible, because simply copying things over will not always work) *when using Mac OS 9.2.x, remove these files from the System Folder: 'Classic', 'Classic Support' and 'Classic Support UI' *now run those applications on the disk image which require registration (e.g. a serial number) - otherwise they will ask for registration when booted from the CD and therefore might not work *disable any AutoUpdate- / LiveUpdate-features, as the applications on the CD can't be updated anyway once they've been burned *when running applications from the disk image, some applications might create preference files in the System Folder you are currently booted to - in that case, just copy those preference files to the System Folder on the disk image afterwards *now you should remove anything that may have been stored in 'Startup Items' or 'Shutdown Items' inside the disk image's System Folder; you might also want to remove some useless control panels, extensions, etc. and set the Energy Saver control panel to 'never go to sleep'; also set all other preferences/control panels to your preferred settings (once again, you might need to copy files over from the System Folder you're booted to for these changes to take effect) *when finished, burn the CD [when using Toast Titanium, set it to 'Other', select 'Mac Volume', click 'Select', choose the disc image from the menu, select 'bootable' and click 'Record'] - in case you're given the choice, make sure to select 'Mac OS Standard (HFS)' volume format, not 'Mac OS Extended (HFS+)' Useful links: * Mac OS 9.1 updater (updates Mac OS 9.0 - 9.0.4 to 9.1) * Mac OS 9.2.1 updater (updates Mac OS 9.1 or 9.2 to 9.2.1) * Mac OS 9.2.2 updater (updates Mac OS 9.2.1 to 9.2.2) * Disk First Aid 8.6.1 (in case you use an earlier version) * Movie from Macworld on the subject * How do I make a bootable CD for my Mac using Toast? (Article from Roxio's Knowledge Base) * Bootable CD tips from Symantec (Norton Utilities) Mac Os 9.2 System Folder Download Free
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