Mini vMac 3.2.3 user reviews

I use Linux as a host operating system; the whole process of operating the miniVmac emulator is quite easy on my host.

Referring to miniVmac 3.2.1 when running on 'Kubuntu 10.04 LTS for 64bit Desktop' (system is a single core Celeron D 3.33 GHz with 1G SDRAM), the emulated Macintosh Plus is fast and rock steady. I have downloaded several different releases of miniVmac which were precompiled by the projects author, and the versions I used were able to run the System Software versions I have, from 1.1 to 7.5.3. Maybe miniVmac can use more versions, but I do not have more versions than those which I have tried.

My ease of use rating of 4 reflects that this is not as simple to operate as a Windows word processing program, yet it is average complexity for a Linux user with even minimum command line experience. I have no ability to comment on Windows or OSX versions of the miniVmac product. Indeed, maybe I should set ease of use to 3, if only to reflect that emulation is probably not as popular outside the Linux computing audience.

Under Linux, this program is simply extracted and run from the command line, success depends on you having the correct rom file (a file you extracted only from a Macintosh Plus) stored in the proper location. Utilities to extract the original rom file are not included in the Linux product, and I know they are available elsewhere on the Internet, especially at major Macintosh software archive websites.

The emulated Mac will respond when you drag and drop a file onto the window of the emulated Macintosh Plus, acting as if you had just inserted a floppy disk or switched on a hard disk on a real Plus. Very thoughtful function, that.

Utilities are available from the miniVmac project home page whereby you can import binary files downloaded from Macintosh archives on the Internet. Your favorite (Macintosh Plus era) utilities are supported, and I have not seen any errors dialogs aside from those which I saw when I ran my real Macintosh Plus.

The developer of miniVmac is quite active in this miniVmac project, and he is rather approachable, if you really need help with HIS product. If you need help aside from operating the miniVmac emulator, you should feel free to seek help anywhere that Macintosh emulators are discussed. If you have compiling abilities on platforms aside from OSX Linux and Windows, the miniVmac project website offers assistance and welcomes your feedback about how you got it running!

Finally, if you aren't as interested in the Macintosh Plus and are interested in the emulation of a Macintosh II family system, head to the miniVmac website, development towards emulation of those systems is active and nearing release level every day.