AppleInsider Staff
A developer was able to start up the nearly 20-year-old Mac OS 7.5.5 (née System 7) onto his Apple Watch running the latest WatchOS 2 update, exemplifying the extent to which computing has evolved over the past two decades.
Enlisting the help of Mini vMac, Developer Nick Lee was able to get Mac OS 7.5.5 up and running on his Apple Watch loaded with Apple's latest watchOS 2 software.
The impressive feat, first spotted by MacRumors, is accomplished entirely on Apple Watch with relatively snappy performance despite what is today considered a low-power system-in-package design.
Along with raw processing power, Apple's S1 integrated chip design packs in a full communications array including Wi-Fi and Bluetooth technology, NFC hardware, accelerometer, audio package, touch controller, wireless induction controller and more.
When it first launched in 1991, Mac OS 7 ran on certain Macintosh Quadra series or then-current PowerBook models. By the time version 7.5.5 debuted in 1996, the operating system required a Power Macintosh 5500 to function effectively, which is decidedly less portable than Apple Watch.
William Gallagher
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Malcolm Owen
71 Comments
It has to be said though that nearly 20 years have passed (effing time really does fly damn it...) since, one should expect such a computing feat. Had it been 10 years I 'd be marvelling at this too, but 20 is a very long time indeed.
[quote name="AppleInsider" url="/t/186867/video-shows-apple-watch-running-mac-os-7-5-5-via-emulator#post_2738794"]When it first launched in 1991, Mac OS 7 ran on certain Macintosh Quadra series or then-current PowerBook models. By the time version 7.5.5 debuted in 1996, the operating system required a Power Macintosh 5500 tower to function effectively, which is decidedly less portable than Apple Watch.[/quote] The Power Macintosh 5500 wasn't a tower; it was an all-in-one, as were all the Power Macintosh models whose model numbers started with a 5. All of the tower models started with an 8 or a 9, with the exception of the 6400 and 6500, which IIRC were the only consumer-level towers that Apple made.
Why? Because is not good enough. How about letting us run any classic OS?
Wonderful. A feat of daring do. I'm waiting until someone writes an app for Apple Watch simulating the Eight Ball fortune teller.
A Power Mac? What? I run 7.5.5 on my Quadra 700 without incident. A 68040 will run 8.1 fine if it has enough RAM. 7.0.1 or 7.1 runs peachy on my /30 and PB180.