Qemu

(Last updated October 28, 2023)

Qemu is a versatile open source emulator capable of emulating various guest systems on various host systems. We only cover Qemu's capabilities to run System 7.1 up to Mac OS X 10.5 while emulating the m68k or powerpc architecture on the Intel architecture. Qemu emulates the Power Mac G4 with G4/G3 processor (PowerMac3,1) or the Quadra 800 with 68040 processor.

Community-provided Qemu builds for macOS and Windows hosts are available through our forum. These include builds from the official source and experimental builds.

By running qemu-system-ppc on Linux, MacOS, or Windows, users can currently emulate Mac OS 9.0.4 up to Mac OSX 10.5 (This includes the classic environments.)

Guides: qemu-system-ppc on macOS or Windows

Forum: qemu-system-ppc support forum

By running qemu-system-m68k on Linux, MacOS, or Windows, users can currently emulate System 7.1 up to 8.1, A/UX 3.x or NetBSD

Guides: qemu-system-m68k on macOS or Windows

Forum: qemu-system-m68k support forum

For those so inclined there is this forum thread, in which the development history of Qemu's capability to run Mac OS and OSX can be retraced. Be warned, it is the longest thread in the forum…