For the unregistered version, you will always see the “Evaluation Version” message at the bottom right of the screen. You won’t be able to do much because it doesn’t ship with Apple’s ROM files, probably to avoid legal problems with the mothership. When you first start Virtual ][, you will see a message telling you that there is no ROM file available. You can download Virtual ][ in the Applications and then drag the image contents to that folder.

Realistic sound effects, including Mockingboard emulation.

Epson FX-80 and Imagewriter II emulation.

Store a running machine and resume later on.

These are the main features of the emulator: Virtual ][ is a commercial software that, even after 12 years, is still actively maintained by its creator with constant updates and bug fixes. However, if you are a Mac OSX user, your option list is shorter, and if you start looking around, most of the options available haven’t been updated for ages, or they don’t offer a good overall experience (lack of features, poor UI, etc).įor this article, we decided to dig deep the most known option for Mac OSX – the Virtual ][ emulator, created by Gerard Putter in 2003. The Apple II family of computers has its fair share of emulators available, as shown in sites like Zophar’s Domain with its Apple II emulator list. These amazing piece of software promises to run all your beloved software directly on your modern machine, and a lot of them do deliver an almost complete experience… but how about the noises, smell, keystrokes….? This is when the emulator comes to save the day. I don’t believe you will find a single soul who would prefer to use the retro computer for the actual development instead of modern tools like cross-compilers, IDEs, etc. The noises, the smell, the keystrokes, everything helps to take you back to the good old days.īut unfortunately not everyone has the means (space, money, time, spouse’s approval) to keep that vintage computer around, ready to be used when you feel like. There is also the problem to load a program in the machine if the disk or tape is not available, or it just refuses to work, or there is no modern interface to help out.įor those who like to spend the time programming retro games or applications, the fun is to code for the machine, but not in the machine. Every retro computing aficionado will tell you that there is no better experience than running your favourite program or game in the real machine.

Apple ii mac emulator