After being introduced on October 23, 1999 as "The Best Operating System Ever," Apple laid Mac OS 9 to rest at the 2002 World Wide Developers Conference; Steve Jobs began his keynote address with the famous OS 9 funeral.

It was unknown at the time that a small dose of "coup de poudre," including the pufferfish neurotoxin TTX and the drug Datura were slipped into an OS 9 sub-routine the day before causing Mac OS 9 to merely appear dead!

While some claim that Mac OS 9 is an outdated piece of garbage since it lacks protected memory and full pre-emptive multitasking; there is a basic premise that states opinions are like a$%holes... everybody has one.

There are countless Mac OS 9 users who actually prefer it over modern Mac OS (X). If you found this site after a few Google searches then perhaps you do also. Mac OS 9 LIVES... even if it is classified as "End of Life" (as official development on it has ended) the resurrection is complete and it will exist in the OS Matrix of eternity. As long as there is one user left breathing (hopefully me), then this website will be a dedication to the compulsive preoccupation with installing and utilizing Mac OS 9 and its applications.

Why Mac OS 9?

User responsiveness

It feels fast... without a pretty, translucent GUI running over a Unix-based kernel there is nothing to slow OS 9 down. You click around and things actually happen, in real time, with no OS X spinning wheels or Windows circles to keep you guessing. For audio recording enthusiasts, many hardware interfaces with ASIO2 drivers yield an experience close to zero latency when playing virtual synths or drum machines.

There are graphic artists, publishers, and writers that claim they can create projects faster with OS 9 because it "thinks" the way they do; they focus on one or two things (applications) at a time and see them to completion. It is true that the "pre-emptive multitasking" advantage present in OS X can be illustrated by downloading CD-ROM ISOs and rendering chaos theory formulas while simultaneously instant messaging and posting on FaceBook what you ate... but in reality, what did you create ?

Abandonware .... Their Loss is Your Gain

The legality of abandonware is arguable, but there are thousands of well-written Mac OS 9 applications that are now up for grabs. Some programs that originally cost hundreds of dollars or more are no longer for sale, and others have literally been given away for free.


sonicWORX Power bundle was $300, then released free on April 25th, 2005
This abundance of free software in which the developers have, quite literally, abandoned spans categories from business software to audio recording. I’m not going to talk you through finding your own abandonware here, but suffice to say it’s a very simple matter to discover titles to download.

Low Budget / no budget requirements

Many of the fastest G4 Macs that are capable of booting directly to Mac OS 9 (both laptops & desktops) can be purchased on eBay for around $200 or less. In some cases, this is only 10% of their original cost. Power Mac G4 Towers (Quick Silver, MDD) and PowerBook G4 Titaniums (867 Mhz., 1.0 Ghz.) are the ultimate flagships in the OS 9 arena; both run OS 9 blazing fast.

As for the "No Budget" category, many scrap and e-waste facilities will give away Beige or Blue/White G3 towers (you might have to tip them $20). For this reason, I am focusing this site on non-Intel PPC Macs that are Beige G3s and newer and are running Mac OS 9.2.2. I apologize in advance to those who will send hate e-mail via their supped-up Performa 5200.

So, you're looking for a OS 9 capable Macintosh?

First, try not to get bitten by the "Mac Bug" (I have personally collected and still own all of the below... pick one only) :-)

Direct booting into OS 9 - there is no "class" in Classic

Without getting too bogged down in the technical jargon; the computer must be capable of booting to Mac OS 9 directly and without OS X present whatsoever. This is as opposed to running OS 9 via the “Classic Environment” (a hardware and software abstraction layer in Mac OS X that allows OS 9 applications to run on Mac OS X).

The main problem with Classic is that it does not allow the direct access to hard drives and audio cards (if you're building an audio or video studio Mac). Retro gaming also benefits greatly from booting directly to OS 9. Tiger was the last to support the Classic Environment and Leopard and Lion need to "shave sheep," so take my advise and spend less money and get some classic hardware for your classic OS; if you are unsure if a model can boot directly to OS 9 then check out all the details at this incredible site.

G4 - try to pull as many Gs as possible

Select a Power Mac G4 tower (or PowerBook G4 laptop). These Power PC units will be the fastest units that can still boot directly to OS 9 and they will have more cache (memory that resides within the CPU that cannot be changed). G4 models with 1 to 2 MB processor cache are twice as fast when processing audio & video as the cheaper G4 eMacs, iBooks and iMacs.

Another very popular option is buying Mac Mini G4 for the small footprint and fast performance. Mac OS9 is officially unsupported, but thanks to hacking efforts of our community, OS 9 runs perfectly well on most models!

Be aware that you must check out the machine’s technical specs very carefully to insure you get at least 1 MB cache and that the G4 can boot directly to OS 9 (all Intel CPUs are automatically out of the question). Also, be aware that more expensive dual processor G4s may not be any faster since most OS 9 applications will ignore the second CPU all together.

If you follow my guidelines you won’t need a dual processor. I have personally been involved with audio projects that have over 60 tracks of 32 bit audio with effects on a single core G4. By the way, some of the fastest OS 9 Power Mac Towers (Quicksilver G4 933 MHz and MDD 1.25 GHz 2003) can both be purchased for around $200. The MDD (Mirrored Drive Doors) G4 is significantly louder than the Quicksilver G4 and is sometimes called the "Wind Tunnel" G4 tower - avoid it if you can't stand loud computers.

Author: DieHard