SheepShaver
Encyclopedia
SheepShaver is an open source
PowerPC
Apple Macintosh emulator
originally designed for BeOS
and Linux
. The name is a play on ShapeShifter, a Macintosh II
emulator for AmigaOS
(made obsolete by Basilisk II
), which is in turn not to be confused with a third-party preference pane for Mac OS X with the same name
. The ShapeShifter and SheepShaver projects were originally conceived and programmed by Christian Bauer. However, the main developer behind SheepShaver, of late, has been Gwenolé Beauchesne.
SheepShaver was originally commercial software when first released in 1998, but after the demise of Be Inc.
, the maker of BeOS
, it became open source in 2002. It can be run on both PowerPC
and x86 systems; however, it runs more slowly on an x86 system than on a PowerPC
system, due to the translation between the PowerPC and Intel x86 instruction sets.
SheepShaver has also been ported to Microsoft Windows
.
It is capable of running Mac OS
7.5.2 through 9.0.4 (though it needs the image
of an Old World ROM
to run Mac OS 8.1 or below), and can be run inside a window so that the user can run classic Mac OS
applications and BeOS
or Linux
or Windows
applications at the same time.
Although SheepShaver does have Ethernet
support and CD
-quality sound output, SheepShaver does not emulate the memory management unit
. While adding MMU emulation has been discussed, the feature has not been added due to the effort required in implementing it, the impact on performance it will have and the lack of time on the part of the developers.
Open source
The term open source describes practices in production and development that promote access to the end product's source materials. Some consider open source a philosophy, others consider it a pragmatic methodology...
PowerPC
PowerPC
PowerPC is a RISC architecture created by the 1991 Apple–IBM–Motorola alliance, known as AIM...
Apple Macintosh emulator
Emulator
In computing, an emulator is hardware or software or both that duplicates the functions of a first computer system in a different second computer system, so that the behavior of the second system closely resembles the behavior of the first system...
originally designed for BeOS
BeOS
BeOS is an operating system for personal computers which began development by Be Inc. in 1991. It was first written to run on BeBox hardware. BeOS was optimized for digital media work and was written to take advantage of modern hardware facilities such as symmetric multiprocessing by utilizing...
and Linux
Linux
Linux is a Unix-like computer operating system assembled under the model of free and open source software development and distribution. The defining component of any Linux system is the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released October 5, 1991 by Linus Torvalds...
. The name is a play on ShapeShifter, a Macintosh II
Macintosh II
The Apple Macintosh II was the first personal computer model of the Macintosh II series in the Apple Macintosh line and the first Macintosh to support a color display.- History :...
emulator for AmigaOS
AmigaOS
AmigaOS is the default native operating system of the Amiga personal computer. It was developed first by Commodore International, and initially introduced in 1985 with the Amiga 1000...
(made obsolete by Basilisk II
Basilisk II
Basilisk II is an open source software emulator which emulates the 680x0-based Apple Macintosh computer on a variety of operating systems, including BeOS, Linux, AmigaOS, Windows NT, Mac OS X and even on the Sony PSP....
), which is in turn not to be confused with a third-party preference pane for Mac OS X with the same name
ShapeShifter
ShapeShifter is an Application Enhancer plugin for Mac OS X developed by Unsanity that allows the user to make system-wide modifications to the appearance of the operating system's graphical interface by applying GUI skins through “injection” into running code and without modifying system files,...
. The ShapeShifter and SheepShaver projects were originally conceived and programmed by Christian Bauer. However, the main developer behind SheepShaver, of late, has been Gwenolé Beauchesne.
SheepShaver was originally commercial software when first released in 1998, but after the demise of Be Inc.
Be Inc.
Be Incorporated was an American computer company founded in 1990, best known for the Be Operating System and BeBox personal computer. Be was founded by former Apple Computer executive Jean-Louis Gassée with capital from Seymour Cray....
, the maker of BeOS
BeOS
BeOS is an operating system for personal computers which began development by Be Inc. in 1991. It was first written to run on BeBox hardware. BeOS was optimized for digital media work and was written to take advantage of modern hardware facilities such as symmetric multiprocessing by utilizing...
, it became open source in 2002. It can be run on both PowerPC
PowerPC
PowerPC is a RISC architecture created by the 1991 Apple–IBM–Motorola alliance, known as AIM...
and x86 systems; however, it runs more slowly on an x86 system than on a PowerPC
PowerPC
PowerPC is a RISC architecture created by the 1991 Apple–IBM–Motorola alliance, known as AIM...
system, due to the translation between the PowerPC and Intel x86 instruction sets.
SheepShaver has also been ported to Microsoft Windows
Microsoft Windows
Microsoft Windows is a series of operating systems produced by Microsoft.Microsoft introduced an operating environment named Windows on November 20, 1985 as an add-on to MS-DOS in response to the growing interest in graphical user interfaces . Microsoft Windows came to dominate the world's personal...
.
It is capable of running Mac OS
Mac OS
Mac OS is a series of graphical user interface-based operating systems developed by Apple Inc. for their Macintosh line of computer systems. The Macintosh user experience is credited with popularizing the graphical user interface...
7.5.2 through 9.0.4 (though it needs the image
ROM image
A ROM image, or ROM file, is a computer file which contains a copy of the data from a read-only memory chip, often from a video game cartridge, a computer's firmware, or from an arcade game's main board...
of an Old World ROM
Old World ROM
Old World ROM Macintosh computers are the Macintosh models that use a Macintosh Toolbox ROM chip, usually in a socket . All Macs prior to the iMac use Old World ROM, while the iMac and all subsequent models until the introduction of the Intel-based EFI Models are New World ROM machines...
to run Mac OS 8.1 or below), and can be run inside a window so that the user can run classic Mac OS
Mac OS
Mac OS is a series of graphical user interface-based operating systems developed by Apple Inc. for their Macintosh line of computer systems. The Macintosh user experience is credited with popularizing the graphical user interface...
applications and BeOS
BeOS
BeOS is an operating system for personal computers which began development by Be Inc. in 1991. It was first written to run on BeBox hardware. BeOS was optimized for digital media work and was written to take advantage of modern hardware facilities such as symmetric multiprocessing by utilizing...
or Linux
Linux
Linux is a Unix-like computer operating system assembled under the model of free and open source software development and distribution. The defining component of any Linux system is the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released October 5, 1991 by Linus Torvalds...
or Windows
Microsoft Windows
Microsoft Windows is a series of operating systems produced by Microsoft.Microsoft introduced an operating environment named Windows on November 20, 1985 as an add-on to MS-DOS in response to the growing interest in graphical user interfaces . Microsoft Windows came to dominate the world's personal...
applications at the same time.
Although SheepShaver does have Ethernet
Ethernet
Ethernet is a family of computer networking technologies for local area networks commercially introduced in 1980. Standardized in IEEE 802.3, Ethernet has largely replaced competing wired LAN technologies....
support and CD
Compact Disc
The Compact Disc is an optical disc used to store digital data. It was originally developed to store and playback sound recordings exclusively, but later expanded to encompass data storage , write-once audio and data storage , rewritable media , Video Compact Discs , Super Video Compact Discs ,...
-quality sound output, SheepShaver does not emulate the memory management unit
Memory management unit
A memory management unit , sometimes called paged memory management unit , is a computer hardware component responsible for handling accesses to memory requested by the CPU...
. While adding MMU emulation has been discussed, the feature has not been added due to the effort required in implementing it, the impact on performance it will have and the lack of time on the part of the developers.
See also
- vMacVMacvMac was an open source emulator for Mac OS, Windows, MS-DOS, OS/2, NeXTSTEP, Linux / Unix, and other platforms. Although vMac has been abandoned, Mini vMac, an improved spinoff of vMac, is currently developed. vMac and Mini vMac emulate a Macintosh Plus and can run Apple Macintosh System versions...
- Basilisk IIBasilisk IIBasilisk II is an open source software emulator which emulates the 680x0-based Apple Macintosh computer on a variety of operating systems, including BeOS, Linux, AmigaOS, Windows NT, Mac OS X and even on the Sony PSP....
- Classic (Mac OS X)Classic (Mac OS X)Classic, or Classic Environment, was a hardware and software abstraction layer in Mac OS X that allowed applications compatible with Mac OS 9 to run on the Mac OS X operating system...
- ExecutorExecutor (software)Executor is software for x86-based PCs that allows older 68k-based Apple Macintosh programs to be run under various x86-based operating systems. Executor was created by ARDI...
- PearPCPearPCPearPC is an architecture-independent PowerPC platform emulator capable of running many PowerPC operating systems, including Mac OS X, Darwin and Linux. It is released under the terms of the GNU General Public License . It can be executed on Microsoft Windows, Linux, FreeBSD and other systems based...