download mac emulator sheepshaver for windows

Hopefully the resource fork is still preserved in your Classilla application (usually a hidden directory when MacOS was mounting a non-HFS filesystem). xls, etc.), but that was easier to fix since you could just rename the file.īut what about applications? Their type was APPL which told the MacOS that it was an application and attempt to load and execute the file directly. Windows achieved this with file extensions (e.g.doc. While this would appear frustrating to more hardcode computer users, it did make things a bit easier for the novice. As such, when you installed an application, it registered itself with the OS to indicate that it could handle files with a particular signature. The idea was that if you had a word processor document on a disk, the file could tell the computer that it needed (say) Microsoft Word to open/edit the file. This feature was achieved by every file indicating a type and a creator. This detail is well hidden from users (as was the intent) and not readily visible as there was no official command line for the Mac and thus it was harder to poke around to find.Īlong with the two forks, the MacOS also had a bit more intelligence about what files were and what application was needed to run them.

How this was achieved on MacOS was the HFS filesystem would split every file into resource (e.g. Unlike Windows or UNIX or most other operating systems that I've used over the years, MacOS tends to pack quite a bit of data into a single apparent file there is a separation from the actual application code from 'resources' such as icons, sounds, etc. Usually when you see that message is because the metadata for the file isn't set correctly this is typical if you're looking at MacOS Classic files that are not on a HFS filesystem.īrief Information on Classic MacOS Filesystems

Download mac emulator sheepshaver for windows