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Advanced Mac Substitute is an API-level reimplementation of 1980s-era Mac OS

by zdw on 4/11/2026, 3:39:19 PM

https://www.v68k.org/advanced-mac-substitute/

Comments

by: imoverclocked

I can&#x27;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.<p>It would be fun to have a &quot;slow it down&quot; feature that also has the various floppy read&#x2F;write noises paired with it. Bonus points for different generations of hardware and having the OG HD noises to pair with those too!

4/11/2026, 5:27:12 PM


by: Batbird

This triggered flashbacks. I&#x27;m not sure if I&#x27;m remembering correctly, but I think we sometimes also used used Pascal, and it was optional for some toolboxes. It&#x27;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.

4/11/2026, 5:27:43 PM


by: hyperhello

I&#x27;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.

4/11/2026, 5:17:55 PM


by: shermantanktop

But will it run Dark Castle??<p>Many hours were wasted on that game.

4/11/2026, 5:11:30 PM


by: davidfstr

Wine for classic Mac OS? Amazing. Well done.

4/11/2026, 4:51:52 PM


by: hagbard_c

<p><pre><code> make ams-vnc .&#x2F;build.pl -i exhibit graft skif minivx xv68k freemountd listen vnc-interact ... Daemon starting up... done. T=0.037s ERROR: OpenDF is unimplemented </code></pre> Hm, doesn&#x27;t seem to work. Let&#x27;s try the X11 version:<p><pre><code> make ams-x11 .&#x2F;build.pl -i exhibit graft skif minivx xv68k freemountd interact-x11 ... T=0.275s ERROR: OpenDF is unimplemented </code></pre> Nope, it seems to be missing something. OpenDF? All I find is this: <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;github.com&#x2F;PrjEnt&#x2F;OpenDF" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;github.com&#x2F;PrjEnt&#x2F;OpenDF</a>, a long-abandoned project which seems to be a more compact version of another abandoned thing.

4/11/2026, 5:21:22 PM


by: azinman2

This is quite the feat. I’d love to know more about the process to make this, the motivation, how much time was spent, etc.

4/11/2026, 4:25:39 PM


by: homarp

how does it compare to executor? <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;Executor_(software)" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;Executor_(software)</a>

4/11/2026, 4:28:11 PM


by: homarp

related discussion <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;news.ycombinator.com&#x2F;item?id=40338443">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;news.ycombinator.com&#x2F;item?id=40338443</a>

4/11/2026, 4:30:45 PM