Macintosh on Workbench "as Amiga applications"?

Anything about Mac emulation that does not belong in the above categories.

Moderators: Cat_7, Ronald P. Regensburg

Post Reply
PurpleMelbourne
Space Cadet
Posts: 3
Joined: Wed Dec 26, 2018 2:00 am

Macintosh on Workbench "as Amiga applications"?

Post by PurpleMelbourne »

Firstly I wonder if this can already be done to some degree?
Is it already possible to for example, have MS Word for Mac open in a windows on Workbench screen, while Photoshop is open on Workbench in another windows? So that is to say each program shows up on Workbench without displaying a MacOS windows?

Given the recent new direction of CPU accelerators and complete computer transformations with FPGA accelerator cards like the Vampire from Apollo, there are new possibilities. You could have an Atari, or 68k-Mac with Super-AGA Amiga chipset in it. And they could all run the same Operating System and able to use not only the software they have always had, but also the software from the other two systems too.

Some Amiga people have been mapping out where the Amiga needs to go from here to be able to come back. I'm of the view that being able to run 68k-Mac software on Workbench (such as Photoshop and MS Word) would be a great benefit to us, and also give the 68k-Mac users a new OS choice with which to run their software as well as to use ours as the software libraries combine. And then with software compatibility, Workbench could become a new OS/GUI choice to 68k-Mac people as well as the Atari people too.

Is it currently possible to display Macintosh programs on Workbench as Amiga programs, without the full Mac OS in a windows?

And if not, then technically what would be possible in the way or stripping back (and ideally replacing all Apple owned code) the Mac OS so as to be able to run Mac programs as Amiga programs in a Virtualization Container?

Currently ShapeShifter / Baselisk run a full Virtualization Machine of an emulated Macintosh.
I'm specifically wondering about going more minimal and having it only as a Window instead. And later also having the choice of doing this from a Server to re-target onto another (Amiga) system via network.
User avatar
adespoton
Forum All-Star
Posts: 4227
Joined: Fri Nov 27, 2009 5:11 am
Location: Emaculation.com
Contact:

Re: Macintosh on Workbench "as Amiga applications"?

Post by adespoton »

What you're looking for is Executor ported to the Workbench. I'm not aware of anyone having accomplished this, but it seems it should be possible. All the parts required are documented now, it's just a matter of porting to PPC (the current executor code is all 32-bit Intel IIRC). But Executor enables 68k Mac software to run without the Mac toolbox, and that logic shouldn't depend on a specific chipset. As the link above shows, it's already been ported to x86 OS X.
Jorpho
Master Emulator
Posts: 380
Joined: Fri Sep 17, 2004 4:22 am

Re: Macintosh on Workbench "as Amiga applications"?

Post by Jorpho »

adespoton wrote:I'm not aware of anyone having accomplished this, but it seems it should be possible. All the parts required are documented now, it's just a matter of porting to PPC (the current executor code is all 32-bit Intel IIRC).
I dimly recall one occasion waaaay back when it was in active development when they excitedly announced getting the Macintosh version of Photoshop PPC running under Linux PPC with Executor. But it's quite likely that the relevant code for that particular trick did not get released.
PurpleMelbourne
Space Cadet
Posts: 3
Joined: Wed Dec 26, 2018 2:00 am

Re: Macintosh on Workbench "as Amiga applications"?

Post by PurpleMelbourne »

Fantastic, that looks exactly like I was hoping for.

I've emailed the developer from 12 years ago, and with luck he'll see that email.

The details on GitHub mention that it works for System 6 and some programs for System 7... so that's less promising. But its a really good start :-)

https://github.com/ctm/executor
User avatar
ClockWise
Site Admin
Posts: 4397
Joined: Mon May 20, 2002 4:37 am
Location: Uiwang

Re: Macintosh on Workbench "as Amiga applications"?

Post by ClockWise »

More recent contact details might be at:

http://ardi.com/more
PurpleMelbourne
Space Cadet
Posts: 3
Joined: Wed Dec 26, 2018 2:00 am

Re: Macintosh on Workbench "as Amiga applications"?

Post by PurpleMelbourne »

Thanks very much. I've tried again with the updated details :-)
Post Reply