Over on both MacVoices and MacNotables we get more than a few emails asking if there will ever be an emulator or any kind of support for Mac OS 9 applications in Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard. The simple answer to that is:

No.

Classic is dead in Leopard and it just doesn’t make economic sense for Apple to continue to support an OS version that is now years out of date. From a user perspective that might annoy you, but from a business perspective it is easily understandable. Continuing to dedicate resources to supporting OS 9 or the Classic environment doesn’t generate any revenue for either Apple or the software developers who haven’t upgraded their software.

Whether you understand or agree, the fact is that you’re not going to see Claris Emailer or any of your Classic apps running on your shiny new (or even not-so-new) Leopard machine.

It is always best if you can migrate your projects from old software to new for a host of reasons, but if you are one of those who have Classic apps that is mission-cricital, or even is one that you just don’t want to live without, here are a couple options to keep you reasonably happy.

Keep Tiger Running
This is the simplest answer. but the least satisfying: just don’t upgrade. You won’t be able to take advantage of all the latest capabilities of Leopard or later OS versions, but you will keep your Classic environment intact. The downside is that you are frozen at a point in time with no opportunity to take advantage of advances in the Mac OS and other software, and you are still running an emulation for the programs that would perform better and faster in a native environment

Create a Classic Workstation
The best solution is obvious: create a dedicated workstation for your Classic apps. Depending on your budget and just how old the apps are that you find irreplaceable, select a late model Mac that can accommodate them, and the version of the earlier Mac OS that supports them. By “earlier version,” I am referring to Mac OS 9…or even 8. Running a version of Mac OS X means that you’re back to emulating what you are trying to run natively, and that defeats the whole purpose of this project.

You might have an older Mac sitting around the house you can use for the workstation, but if you’re looking at purchasing a machine just for this, start by considering an older MacBook or even iBook. They can easily be tucked away if not needed, take up less desk space, and come with their own monitor.

If that’s still a little salty, buy what you want, but be certain it has USB capability, then install a KVM switch (Recommended: 2 Port Compact USB KVM Switch from IOGEAR) to share keyboards, monitors and mice. Even if you’re using a flat-panel iMac as your current machine, you can still share the keyboard and mouse, saving desk space and expense.

Set up the workstation on your network (yes, it will probably have to be a wired connection) and voila! Your documents can be moved between Macs for backup, archiving, or manipulation on both the legacy and current Macs.

Once your workstation is perfected and tuned to work with your software, invest in a second hard drive and re-aquaint yourself with creating a mirror of your main drive in OS 9. You’re now working with legacy software and hardware, and will want to be able to restore it easily rather than having to re-create everything if a problem manifests itself. You might be surprised how difficult it can be to obtain “new” copies of out-of-date software, so backups and safe storage of the original discs or (gasp!) floppies become even more important.

By implementing this solution you can sleep soundly knowing that the next release of the Mac OS will not affect your beloved classic applications.