SheepShaver is capable of running Mac OS 7.5.2 through 9.0.4 (though it needs the image of an Old World ROM to run Mac OS 8.1 or below ), and can be run inside a window so that the user can run classic Mac OS and either BeOS, Intel-based Mac OS X, Linux, or Windows applications at the same time.Īlthough SheepShaver does have Ethernet support and CD-quality sound output, it does not emulate the memory management unit. Īs a free software, a few variants exist to simplify the installation process on Intel-based Macs: SheepShaver has also been ported to Microsoft Windows.
It can be run on both PowerPC and x86 systems however, it runs more slowly on an x86 system than on a PowerPC system, because of the translation between the PowerPC and Intel x86 instruction sets.
SheepShaver was originally commercial software when first released in 1998, but after the demise of Be Inc., the maker of BeOS, it became open source in 2002.