Using Mac OS 9 in an emulator
Although you can download apps directly from the web browser running in OS 9, you’ll generally find it much easier to download the files in mac OS and then move them to the emulated OS 9 environment. Sheep Shaver uses a shared folder for this purpose; files you place in that folder from mac OS will appear in a virtual disk called “Unix” on the OS 9 desktop. Bear in mind that when you add a new file, you’ll need to close and reopen the Unix folder in OS 9 to see the changes.
going back even further
Most software you find online will in the form of .sit files, which have been compressed using the Stuff It utility, and so you’ll need Stuff It Expander (free, bit.
ly/mlsitexp) to enable you to double-click a .sit file in OS X to expand it; you’ll then normally see a .img disk image. Mount these in the emulated OS 9 by adding them to the list of disks in Sheep Shaver’s preferences. When you quit Sheep Shaver and restart it, the disk image will appear on the OS 9 desktop, and you can open it and run the app’s installer.
Finally, if you want to get really retro, there are apps written back when Macs used the Motorola 68000-series of processors, before even the Power PC chips. These models ran System 7 and earlier. Modern Macs have so much more computing power than these that you can run a faithful emulation of System 7 using Java Script in your web browser ( bit.ly/ 2cHZW6C). This is a great way to give you a feel for what you’re letting yourself in for, but only a few apps and games are available this way.
To run anything else, you’ll need to install Basilisk II ( basilisk.cebix.net). As before, you’ll need to own a copy of the OS and the system ROM that you’re emulating. Think of this as a more convenient way to access the software on an old Mac you already own, rather than a way of getting a whole extra virtual computer. Emulating your old Mac’s OS is also a great way to get at software on a Mac that no longer works – it’s a sort of virtual repair.
Basilisk II can emulate a Macintosh Classic or a Macintosh II, and it can theoretically run operating systems back to version 1.0 from 1984. In practice, System 6 is usually the furthest back you need to go.