Control a PC from a Mac over the Internet

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Operating System Solutions Archive

Discontinued products for Running Windows on a Macintosh

and Running Mac OS on other Platforms

On this page:

• Running Windows on a Macintosh
  • PC Emulators for Mac OS
  • Coprocessor cards for Macs
  • Clients for Windows application servers ("thin-client" products)
• Running Mac software on other platforms
• Running Linux and UNIX on Macs

Products that Run Windows on Macs

PC Emulators for Mac OS

HISTORY: Discontinued PC Emulation Software for Mac

Coprocessor cards for Macs (all discontinued)

Coprocessor cards are no longer being made by anyone. They were faster than software emulators because they contained an actual Intel Pentium or clone processor. If you can find an older card, coprocessor cards can run effectively in older Macs, which don't do two well with emulators. Coprocessor cards also contained RAM, and some contained PC ports, such as parallel and IBM serial ports.

Company	Product	Description
Apple Computer	PC Compatibility Cards (Discontinued)	Can only run in full-screen mode. 166 MHz Pentium on 12-inch PCI card, 16 MB RAM, PC game port. Comes with DOS 6.2. Does not include Windows. (Also shipped with the Power Mac 7300 PC Compatible.) 166 MHz Cyrix 6x86 PCI card bundled with Power Mac 4400 PC Compatible. Older models: 100 MHz Pentium on a 12-inch PCI card, or a 100 MHz 586 on a 7-inch PCI card. Both come with 8 MB of RAM. NOTE: Not 32-bit compatible unless you purchase pcSetup 2.x (see row directly below.) Apple PC Compatibility cards do not run Windows NT or OS/2.
FVDCS Inc. Unit C - 2609 Progressive Way Abbotsford, B.C. Canada, V2T 6H8 604-864-2321 FAX 604-864-2814 e-mail	pcSetup 2.x	A set of 32-bit Windows and Mac drivers and a Mac control panel that replaces Apple's PC Setup 1.6.4. pcSetup 2 allows owners of Apple and Reply DOS and PC Compatibility cards to continue using their cards with Mac OS 8.5, 8.6 and 9.0 that provides 32-bit compatibility, enabling full Windows 95 and Windows 98 compatibility. It supports long file names for Win 95/98, improved performance, more stable networking using NDIS2, and fixes Apple bugs.
Orange Micro 1400 N. Lakeview Avenue Anaheim, CA 92807 714-779-2772 FAX: 714-779-9332	OrangePC PCfx! (Discontinued)	A 12-inch PCI card designed for running games, the lowest-cost OrangePC card. Features Pentium compatible 200 MHz processor (not user upgradeable ). Comes with 32 MB RAM, users upgradable to 128 MB. nVidia RIVA 128 2D/3D graphics video accelerator, 4 MB SDRAM with a 128-bit, 100 MHz memory interface. Maximum resolution up to 1600 x1200@ 75 MHz. DirectX 3D video support. 32-bit Windows 9x Plug and Play driver; Wave, MIDI and DirectX sound emulated through the Macintosh sound hardware. Includes Windows 98.
	OrangePC 620 (Discontinued)	7-inch PCI card. Processor support (from slowest to fastest: 100-233 MHz Intel Pentium and Pentium MMX,Cyrix 6x86, 6x86L, 6x86MX, M II PR166-300, AMD-K5 and K6 166-300 MHz, IDT WinChip C6 180-240. User upgradable processor. DIMM slot allowing any: 16, 32, 64 or 128 MB Macintosh G3 compatible RAM. 2-D graphics accelerator. Software emulated through Macintosh sound hardware. Comes with Windows 95, Windows 98, or Windows NT.
	OrangePC 660 (Discontinued)	Orange Micro's current top-of-the-line is a 12-inch PCI card. Processor support (from slowest to fastest: 100-233 MHz Intel Pentium and Pentium MMX, Cyrix 6x86MX, 6x86L, 6x86, PR166-233, MII PR266-300, AMD K5, K6, and 166-400 MHz K6-2. User upgradable processor. 512k level 2 cache and a 100 MHz bus. RAM expandable up to 256 MB (single DIMM) slot; 2D/3D video accelerator chip; 4 MB video SDRAM. 32 bit Windows 9x Plug and Play driver; Wave, MIDI and DirectX sound emulated through the Macintosh sound hardware. Comes with Windows 95, Windows 98, or Windows NT.
	Other discontinued models 300series (NuBus) 400 series (PCI) 530, 540, 550	These models are no longer available from Orange Micro.
Radius 215 Moffett Park Drive Sunnyvale CA 94089 408-541-6100 800-572-3487	DOS on Mac (discontinued) ( formerly sold by Reply.)	Can only run in full-screen mode. Uses Apple's driver software or pcSetup 2.0 (see above). A wide range of processors for 12-inch and 7-inch PCI Macs. Top processor is a 200 MHz MMX Pentium (12-inch PCI card). Some NuBus models available. Includes cards for non-PCI Macs: 5200, 5200,6200,6300, and Macs with LC and PDS slots.

Magma 6725 Mesa Ridge Road San Diego, CA 92121 619.457.0750 or 800-285-8990 FAX 619-457-0798. email

PowerBook PCI Expansion System

PCI expansion chasis for PowerBook 3400 and PowerBook G3 enables use of PC coprocessor board to run Windows on PowerBook.

Mac Clients for Windows (and other) Application Servers (Thin-Client Solutions)

A Windows NT application server is software that allows Macintosh, Windows and UNIX users on a network to view and control applications that are running on a Windows NT Server, and sometimes a UNIX server. There are several types. The first uses X11 (also called X Window or X Terminal) technology, which comes out of the UNIX world. For these, the Macs much be running X11 software called "X servers," such as eXodus for Macintosh from PowerLAN (see table below). The second type uses ICA technology from Citrix. Some products support both X11 and ICA protocols.

Company	Product	Description
ATT Laboratiories Cambridge (Formerly Olivetti Research Laboratory, ORL) 24A Trumpington Street Cambridge, England CB2 1QA	Virtual Network Computing (VNC), free	VNC is ORL's free free thin-client, remote viewing software. A Mac client is available for VNC, as are Windows and UNIX clients. There is also a Mac server that supports other OS's viewing it. Both Mac client and server can be downloaded in the "Macintosh package." There are also "Windows packages." Like some of the commercial thin-client systems, the VNC client can control Windows or UNIX machines running the X Window server software. The initial release contains documentation, binaries for several platforms, and full source code.
	VNCthing	An alternative Mac client for VNC.
Citrix Systems 6400 Northwest 6th Way Fort Lauderdale, FL 33309 USA 954-267-3000 Fax: 954-267-9319 International contacts	ICA server, client	The Citrix WinFrame ICA application server software runs on Windows NT, enables clients to run Win 32-bit applications over the network. Clients are free. Clients are available for Windows, Macintosh, DOS, and UNIX. Also a JAVA client that runs on any JAVA virtual machine.
	MetaFrame	Runs on top of Microsoft's Windows NT Terminal Server. MetaFrames adds several features to WTS, including support for ICA clients. Where Windows Terminal Server only supports Windows clients, MetaFrame supports Mac, Windows 3.1/98/98/NT, DOS, and JAVA clients.
Expertcity 888-259-3826	GoToMyPC	A cross-platform, web based remote control system that lets a Mac, Windows, or Linux/Unix user control a PC and it's software over the Internet. (It does not let Windows users control a Mac.) Unlike products such as Timbuktu, GotoMyPC is a web-based subscription service (US $15 per month) that comes with software that installs on the host PC. User can access the host PC by logging in through a web browser. (A PC Magazine review describes how it works.) GoToMyPC works through firewalls without requiring configuring or opening ports or open ports.
SourceForge.net	rdesktop (and also here) (open source)	An open source Mac OS X client for Windows NT/2000 Terminal Server (a competitor to Citrix servers). The developer says "Unlike Citrix ICA, no server extensions are required." Reader Adrian Cadden says of the software "It's a bit buggy but got potenial."
HOB	HobLink JWT	AJava client that enables Macs and other platforms to access applications running on MS Windows Terminal Servers (both NT and 2000). Unlike the Citrix MetaFrame solution, HobLink is purely client based, and doesn't require any new software on the server.
IBM	Desktop On-Call 4 (The main page for DTOC 4 is Japanese only.[There's also a trial FTP site.])	Cross-platform remote control program differs from Timbuktu (see below) and from thin-client application servers, such as VNC or Cirtix solutions, in that Desktop On-Call lets you control a host PC or Mac from a Web browser using a Java applet. Desktop On-Call was developed by IBM Japan.Versions through 2.5 available from IBM in the USA, but versions 3 and 4, sold in Japan and through distributors in other countries, have significantly greater cross-platform capabilities.
Microsoft	Remote Desktop Connection (RDC) client for Mac OS X (free)	Enables remote connection and control of Windows PCs computers over a network. It lets Mac OS X connect to Terminal Services on NT 4 Terminal Server, Windows 2000 Server, Windows XP clients (for remote help) and Windows .NET servers.
Netopia (formerly Farallon) 2470 Mariner Square Loop Alemeda, CA 94501 510-814-5100, 1-800-485-5741 Fax: 1-510-814-5020	Timbuktu Pro	Not an application server, but a peer-to-peer remote control program that can be used as an application server. The only cross-platform remote control of a Mac OS or Windows machine, as long as all machines involved have Timbuktu installed. Also does fast file transfers and real-time audio conferencing. Multiple users can view a machine, as in a classroom setting. Mac and Windows users can control a Windows NT. Windows communicated over TCP/IP and IPX. Mac can communicate over TCP/IP, IPX, and AppleTalk. Enterprise addition includes extra security and administration features.
Network Computing Devices (NCD) 350 North Bernardo Avenue Mountain View, CA 94043-5207 650-694-0650 800-800-9599 Fax: 650/961-7711 E-mail	WinCenter Connect	An add-on to Citrix WinFrame that adds support for X protocols (for Mac, Windows, and UNIX).Computers running any standard X.11 software, such as Apple's Mac X or eXodus for Macintosh from White Pines Software, can access applications running on the NT server. (WinFrame ordinarily suports ICA clients.)
	WinCenter for MetaFrame	An add-on to Citrix MetaFrame that adds support for X protocols (for Mac, Windows, and UNIX). Computers running any standard X.11 software, such as Apple's Mac X or eXodus for Macintosh from White Pines Software, can access applications running on the NT server. (MetaFrame ordinarily suports ICA Mac clients.)
PowerLAN (formerly from White Pine Software) email	eXodus	Since 1989, an X Window server for the Mac. Lets Mac users run host-based X Window applications on Unix workstations and other hosts. Fully X11R6.4 compliant. Rootless (Mac OS) Window Style. Supports hardware acceleration for OpenGL graphics.
Tektronix Click here for contact info	WinDD (Discontinued when Tektronix' thin-client devision was sold to NCD)	Gives users access to Windows 95, Windows NT, and Windows 3.1 applications running on NT. Users can read Windows documents as mail attachments and launch UNIX and Windows applications from common windows. Requires X11 software on Mac, such as Apple's Mac X or eXodus for Macintosh from PowerLAN.

Running Macintosh Software on Other Platforms:
Mac Emulators and Runtime Enviroments

Software for running Mac applications on non-Macs is rarer, mostly because the software code that makes a Mac a Mac, the Mac Toolbox ROM code, is owned by Apple and not available to other manufacturers.

Running Mac OS on PCs or UNIX machines can be done with an emulators or a runtime environment. An emulator, the slower of the two, translates operating system calls into those for a non-native processor. A runtime environment is a native implementation of the OS environment running on top of a Unix (or Unix-like) kernel.

At this point, PearPC is the only software that emulates a PowerPC processor (and Mac OS X) in Windows. The rest all emulate the older 680x0 ("Classic") processor.

For reader comments, see our Mac Emulators for PCs page.

Company or Organization	Product	Host Operating Systems	Description
Apple Computer	Macintosh Application Environment (MAE) 3.0) Discontinued on 6/1/98.	Solaris and HP-UX	A runtime enviroment that operated in a UNIX X window on Sun SPARC workstations and HP 9000 and 700 workstations. MAE is the most complete Mac environment for another platform. Based on System 7.5.3, MAE 3.0 includes AppleTalk and MacTCP networking, AppleScript, Drag and Drop, PC Exchange, and AppleGuide. MAE 3.0 emulates a 68LC040 processor, and lets you run off-the-shelf Mac software.
ARDI Suite 4-101 1650 University Blvd., NE Albuquerque, NM 87102 email	Executor 2.0	Windows, Linux x86	A 680x0 emulator for Windows. Runs some pre-OS X software, but has limitations. The company's engineers have reverse-engineered much of the old Mac Toolbox of pre-OS X Macs.
Christian Bauer	Basilisk II also here	Windows 95/98/NT, BeOS 4, Amiga, and UNIX	From one of the creators of SheepShaver (see below), an open source 680x0 Mac emulator for Windows 95/98/NT, BeOS, Amiga, and UNIX. Emulates either a Mac Classic (which runs Mac OS 0.x thru 7.5) or a Mac II series machine (which runs MacOS 7.x, 8.0 and 8.1), depending on the ROM being used. Supports sound output, color display, 1.44 MB floppies, CD-ROM, Ethernet, SCSI. Emulates extended ADB keyboard and 3-button mouse. Can exchange files with the PC operating system using a "Host Directory Tree" icon on the Mac desktop .
Emulators, Inc 14150 NE 20th Street, Suite 302 Bellevue, WA 98007 206-236-0540 fax: 206-236-0257 email	SoftMac 2000	Windows 95, Windows 98, or Windows NT/2000/XP	Emulates the 68000-to-68040 Macintosh at the hardware level, emulating the various chips (like Virtual PC). Runs Mac OS 6-to-8.1.Can run Mac OS in a Windows window and can use Mac disk media. Supports sound and printing. Also emulates Atari. Limitted to 256 colors max.
	Fusion 3.0 (free download) (Purchased form Microcode Solutions, new code added to v. 3)	Windows, but you run in DOS mode.	Version 3 added a new 68040 engine core that uses Pentium II/III/Celeron/Athlon optimized code similar to that in SoftMac.
The Mace Project	DICONTINUED Mace (freeware)	Windows, Linux-on-PC	Another experimental Macintosh 680x0 emulator, which has not evolved past early stages. Mace does not emulate a Macintosh, instead it emulates the Macintosh operating system and Toolbox (the ROM) resulting in the ability to run Macintosh software. Mace will NOT require a Macintosh ROM or the Mac OS like most Macintosh emulators. The emulation of the Mac OS and Toolbox (ROM) will be less compatible than other emulators. Mace will make Macintosh applications look like Windows applications.
Mac-on-Linux	Mac-on-Linux (freeware)	LinuxPPC	An open source Macintosh emulator that runs on top of LinuxPPC. It runs on Macintosh hardware, so the processor is NOT emulated. It can boot Mac OS 8.6-to-9.2 within Linux without a ROM image.
Maui X-Stream Inc.	CherryOS DISCONTINUED	Windows XP	A G4 (AltiVec) emulator for Windows XP that can run Mac OS X on a PC. Some of its features include: Network and Internet access Drag and drop copying of files from Windows and Mac OS X CD/DVD drive access
Microcode Solutions	Fusion Sold to Emulators, Inc., who upgraded it to version 3 and are giving it away (see above)	Windows, but you run in DOS mode.	Emulates Macs with 68040 processor. Uses Mac ROM images: you must own the Mac ROM chips (ie, a Mac). Fusion gives you software to extract the ROM data. Mac OS 8.0 and 8.1 support with 1 MB ROM (Quadras, Centras, or later). Supports Mac SCSI drives, CD-ROMs. It turns your PC into a "virtual Mac," in that it takes over the PC, preventing you from running Windows software.
PearPC Project	PearPC	Windows, Linux	The first PowerPC emulator running in Windows and Linux on Intel-based PCs. PearPC can run Mac OS X "with some caveats," according to the developers, Sebastian Biallas and Stefan Weyergraf, who give the warning: Please note that this is an experimental program not meant for productive use. There are still unimplemented instructions, mysterious bugs and missing features. Don't use it on important data, it WILL destroy them sooner or later!
SheepShaver by Marc Hellwig, Christian Bauer	SheepShaver	Mac OS 9 for PowerPC	An Open Source PowerPC Mac OS run-time environment for x86 PCs and also Mac hardware. (When running in Mac OS X, Sheepshaver functions similarly to Classic.) Sheepshaver runs Mac OS 7.5.2 through Mac OS 9.0.4 on these systems.
The vMac Group	vMac (freeware)	Windows 95, Windows 98 Windows NT, DOS, OS/2, Linux, NeXTStep for Intel, Unix X Window	A Mac Plus, Motorola 68000 emulator that requires (but doesn't provide) Mac Plus ROM chips. You use utilities to create a software "ROM image" which runs on Windows. The most recent version of Mac OS that vMac runs is System 7.5.5. vMac currently runs in black and white. Comes with a "ROM dumper" utility to create Mac ROM image file from Mac ROMs in a working Mac. vMac is available as a free download.

Running Linux and UNIX On Mac Hardware

Unlike that Windows-on-Mac products listed above, running Unix and Linux on Macintosh hardware is not emulation, but the "real deal" a version of Unix that runs natively on the PowerPC (or 680x0) hardware.

A good source of information about the various versions of Linux that run on Macintosh is the Linux on PowerPC FAQ.

Company	Product	Description
Apple Computer	Darwin (free download or nominal payment for CD set)	The open source operating system core of Mac OS X. Darwin 1.0 is based on FreeBSD UNIX and the Mach 3 kernel. Though aimed at developers, Apple says Darwin 1.0 has "one-click installation." Includes "preliminary support for Intel, allowing developers to begin bringing Darwin to the Intel platform. All sources compile for Intel, and there is preliminary support for some Intel systems. However, in order for Darwin to run on Intel, driver development and work on platform support will be necessary."
	Mac OS X Server	Apple's next-generation commercial server product release in March of 1999. It is based on the same Mach kernel used in MkLinux and inlcudes BSD 4.4 environment. Includes many of the services of AppleShare IP (web, file, print, etc.). Also includes a feature called Netboot that allows recent Mac models to boot and run software from the server.
Debian	Debian GNU/Linux (freeware)	Debian uses the Linux kernel (the core of an operating system), but most of the basic OS tools come from the GNU project. Comes with more than 3950 packages, precompiled software packages. Not generally geared for consumers.
Gentoo.org	Gentoo Linux for PowerPC (freeware)	A versatile and fast, Linux distribution for x86, PowerPC, Sparc andSparc64 that's geared towards Linux power users. (You have to compile the source code yourself.) Gentoo Linux includes an advanced package management system called Portage, a true ports system in the tradition of BSD ports.
HFS for Linux	HFS for Linux	Code that provides HFS drive support for PC versions of Linux, including Red Hat.
Linux for PowerPC	Linux/PPC	Another version of Linux Unix that runs on Mac-compatible PPC machines and PReP-compliant (non-Mac) PPC machines. Does not run on Mach kernel, but is "monolithic." Produced by a non-profit group. Free download or low-cost CD-ROM. Be sure to read the on-line installation guide.
	LinuxPPC 2000	Linux for Macintosh, based on RedHat 6.1. Includes a Macintosh runtime environment called Mac-on-Linux, which lets you run Mac OS in LinuxPPC. (You'll need a Mac OS ROM copy you create with the included "ROM grabber" utility and a separate disk partition.) However, LinuxPPC says it will not provide tech support for Mac-on-Linux.
MandrakeSoft	Mandrake for PowerPC	Runs on Macs with G3 or G4 processors. Inlcudes Mac on Linux, an application allows you to launch all your Mas OS software under Linux. (You need your own copy of Mac OS.) Includes GDE and Gnome GUIs and applications for them. Includes the Mandrake Control Center, a user-friendly utility for set-up and configuration of the system and peripherals.
MkLinux.org (formerly Apple)	MkLinux	MkLinux was Apple's port of Linux to Power Macintosh. Based on the Mach kernel (used in Mac OS X). The only version of Linux to work on a NuBus Power Mac. Was at Apple's web site for a while, but was spun off to a separate organization after Darwin was launched.
OpenBSD	OpenBSD for PowerPC and OpenBSD for 68k Mac	A free UNIX derived from the same kernel as NetBSD (next row bellow), but different. Available for multiple platforms. The PowerPC version supports these processors: 603, 603e, 604, 604ev, 750 (G3). The 68k version supports 68020, 68030, or a 68040 processors.
The NetBSD Project	NetBSD/MacPPC	NetBSD is a free version of Unix available for multiple platforms. Available for PowerPC Macs as well as 680X0 Macs. Runs on a variety of models, including PowerBooks and iMacs. NetBSD is available as a free download and as a CD-ROM.
PenquinPPC	hfsplus for Linux	Package that provides access to HFS+ drives from Linux.
SuSE Linux (German language here)	SuSE Linux 7.0 PowerPC Edition	From this distributor of Linux for x86 systems, the first Mac version shipped in mid-2000. The company says that SuSE Linux "includes all of the Open Source software found in the Intel version, and is identical to use and administer to other SuSE Linux versions." Verision 7 comes on five CD-ROMs containing over 1000 applications, including "image processing software, desktop applications, emulators, and the wide range of available window managers, network tools and editors." It also inlcudes MoL (Mac on Linux), a network-capable Mac OS environment in a window or in full-screen mode. Includes 60 days installation support via telephone, Email and fax.
TurboLinux	TurboLinux for PowerPC PPC version discontinued	A package that included both the Mach microkernel used in Apple's MkLinux and the native kernel ported by Paul Mackerras and the pmac team. A Mac installer let you choose which kernel you want and installs the appropriate control panels, extensions, etc.
Tennon Intersystems 800-662-2410, 805-963-6983	MachTen	The longest-running Unix for Mac (since 1990). Hundreds of applications available. Mach kernel and BSD 4.4 (both of which are used in Mac OS X). Available for Power Macintosh and clones and 680X0 Macs--also runs on PowerBooks. Power MachTen is a faster version for Power Macs.
Terra Soft Solutions, Inc.	YellowDog Linux	Linux server products for Power PC Macs, iMacs, PowerMac G3s, and Blue & White G3s. According to the company , it is " designed specifically for internet, intranet, development, and other mission-critical environments that demand the most out of the operating system."

Unix tools for Mac

Company	Product	Description
MacSOS	UNIX Console v1.0	Solaris UNIX system analysis and performance tool for Mac OS. Includes graphical interface for UNIX commands. Designed for Solaris. Includes dumb telnet terminal,display of BSD printer spools, disk utilisation module, load analysis, CPU and RAM usage analysis, SAMBA and EtherShare client overview modules.

Other MacWindows Solutions Product Categories