What did macOS look like more than 20 years ago? You can experience it on your computer

The first time I came into contact with a computer was in the first microcomputer class in junior high school. At that time, it was Windows 2000. At that time, I couldn't even tell the essential difference between "computer" and "calculator". The first time I came into contact with macOS was even later, when it was OS X Yosemite. Both Windows and macOS have become the most mature desktop operating systems. Over the past few decades, several versions have been replaced, and many classic versions have emerged that are of great milestone significance.

The macintosh.js that this article will discuss is written in JavaScript. It is not a real operating system, but it can give you an idea of ​​what Mac OS 8 looked like more than 20 years ago.

macintosh.js emulates a 1991 Macintosh Quadra 900, which was powered by a Motorola 25 MHz 68040 processor, had 4MB of RAM, and cost $7,200.

Mac OS 8 without Dock and Launchpad

In addition to macOS users, Windows and Linux users can also install macintosh.js to experience Mac OS 8.

After all, they are all systems from more than 20 years ago, whether it is macOS or Windows. They are indeed very simple in today's aesthetics, but they were also amazing more than 20 years ago.

Times have changed, but re-experiencing these classic versions of the system, in fact, many of the operating logic is still the same. This is more obvious on the Windows system, and there are still many differences between Mac OS 8 and the current macOS 10.15, and even feel that many places are closer to Windows.

The classic top menu bar of macOS, with the colorful Apple logo in the upper left corner, is more like the Windows start menu, with the same multi-level menus, including all applications. The Launchpad we use now was officially launched on Mac OS X Lion released in 2011.

On Mac OS 8, the classic window operation buttons are not all located in the upper left corner. The close button is in the upper left corner, and you can freely adjust the window size by pressing and dragging the lower right corner of the window. The window adaptation and collapse buttons are both in the upper right corner, which is also different from the current "Close, Minimize, Full Screen".

Click the window fold button or double-click the title bar to collapse the current window to leave only the title bar.

Although there is no Dock bar or taskbar like Windows, Mac OS 8 can actually minimize applications. The currently active application icon will be displayed on the far right of the menu bar. Click it to view all currently open applications and perform hide (that is, minimize) operations.

To make it easier for everyone to experience Mac OS 8, developers have built some classic applications and games into the system, including IE browser, Netscape browser, Photoshop, Civilization II, Dungeons & Dragons, etc.

About IE for Mac

Hardcore gamers probably know that IE browser was not exclusive to the Windows platform. Although Microsoft and Apple are competitors, IE 2 was already available on Macintosh as early as 1996. At the 1997 Apple MacWorld Conference, Steve Jobs personally announced that IE would become the default browser for Macintosh. Microsoft spent $150 million on this.

macintosh.js has two built-in browsers, IE 3.0.1 and Netscape Navigator 3.0.1, which are full of memories. I think few people have had the experience of launching IE browser on macOS. Unfortunately, macintosh.js cannot connect to the Internet...

In 2003, the cooperation between Apple and Microsoft ended. Apple released Mac OS X 10.3 Panther and began to use its own Safari as the default browser until now; in 2005, Microsoft also officially abandoned the IE browser for macOS.

Other apps and games

Another one that interests me is Photoshop, which is still a relatively old version - Adobe Photoshop 3.0.5. Fortunately, macintosh.js supports importing files from local (the specific operation method can be viewed by clicking Help at the bottom, which uses the "macintosh.js" folder as a transfer), so I imported a recently taken picture to test it.

It took more than 10 seconds to load this 1.7MB, 2000*1333 resolution picture, which is indeed a bit slow. Considering the hardware level at that time, you shouldn't expect too much. After loading, the displayed picture has very obvious noise and the clarity is touching. It is indeed not a product of the same era.

This version of Photoshop does not have a default main interface when it is opened. Only all the toolbars can be seen. Users familiar with Photoshop can still tell at a glance the function represented by each icon. After all, the basic functions of Photoshop are still there, but the more complex and intelligent processing functions in later versions are not yet available.

The developer has built in a lot of classic games, including "The Oregon Trail", "Duke Nukem 3D", "Civilization II", "Dungeons & Dragons", etc. The feeling people had playing these games more than 20 years ago was probably similar to the first time I played "Meteor Butterfly Sword" on my computer.

Summarize

macintosh.js is not a complete system. It is more of a way for everyone to simply experience the UI and operation logic of Mac OS 8 as well as some applications and games. Users who have really used Mac OS X are basically hardcore players.

Windows 95 download address: https://github.com/felixrieseberg/windows95/releases

macintosh.js Download address: https://github.com/felixrieseberg/macintosh.js/releases