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It started even further back almost 34 years ago. The first PowerPC Macs shipped with Motorola 68000 emulation in 1994, but development was being investigated
by bcrl 4y ago
It started even further back almost 34 years ago. The first PowerPC Macs shipped with Motorola 68000 emulation in 1994, but development was being investigated back in 1988 or so. Apple has successfully made this kind of transition before, and it's entirely possible they will do so again in the future!
- MikeRichardson 4y agoThe first version of 68K emulation they shipped was not great. At least one third party (Connectix) sold a faster version that replaced the OS provided routines with their own.
- acdha 4y agoI think that highlights the different incentives for an OS vendor and a third-party: Apple needed to be compatible but they didn’t want to be in that business long-term and focused more on getting developers to port their apps. Connectix arrived a year later and they had to deliver speed since nobody would buy it unless they did.
- hedgehog 4y agoIn defense of the original emulation strategy it shipped on time, fit in the ROM, and worked reliably with good compatibility. The first round of PowerPC Macs were so much faster than the 68k Macs than even emulated apps worked better. I don't remember the history any more but Apple did eventually do a new emulator, while Connectix made some other emulation products (PlayStation, PC) and eventually sold to Microsoft. I've read that Connectix people helped seed Microsoft's virtualization efforts.