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TICKET ARCHIVE -> Old Software + New Intel iMac HELP!

burf90 - Jan 23, 2007 - 5:02 pm

Hi. I've used this site a few times and have had great results, so I'm hoping you can help me pull off the (seemingly) impossible...

My Dad just bought a new iMac with an Intel processor. Neither of us realized that this meant that there was no Classic Mode, so that he has no way to install most of his old programs. He can live without the majority of them, but there is one game that he plays endlessly and he will REALLY miss it, if we can't find some way to install it. The game is Hoyle Board Games. It's the latest version that was made for both PC & Mac and is still sold at some of the Mac sites, but it's still pretty old (circa 1999-2000). The newer versions are Windows only. So...

Has anyone found a way to install and run old software on one of these Intel/Macs? When we try to use the install program, we get a message saying it can't be installed. If I copy the already installed program from his old iMac directly to the hard drive of the new iMac we get a message saying it can't be run. I considered buying VirtualPC, so he could run it through that, but the Apple website says that VirtualPC won't run on an Intel iMac either. Arrrrrrrrgh!!! So I need to know if there is some way to "cheat" and get this game installed and running! Any ideas???

Here are the specs for the new iMac:
Model - iMac5,1
Processor - Intel Core 2 Duo, 2.16 GHz (1 processor/2 cores)
L2 Cache/processor - 4 MB
RAM: 1 GB
Bus Speed: 667 MHz
Boot ROM version - IM51.0090.B03

BTW, you guys are the GREATEST! Thanks in advance!

Natobasso - Jan 23, 2007 - 6:38 pm

Intel macs don't natively run Classic anymore (because of the new Intel architecture) but you can run emulators that allow OS 7-9.0.4 to be run on your mac like bootcamp or parallels run (pc emulators).

Go here for more information:
http://www.macosxhints.com/article.p...4879&lsrc=osxh

Let me know if this helps!

burf90 - Jan 24, 2007 - 10:09 pm

Hi. Thanks for the info and link. I took a look and I'm not sure if this is going to help or not. My experience with emulators has been that they require a lot of playing around to get them to work correctly. My dad is in his 80's and, while he's pretty smart, he doesn't learn as easily as he used to. I don't live with him, so he'd be on his own to try to get the game going, once I set it up for him. He probably won't want to even try an emulator, unless I can find one that will pretty much allow him to click one link on the desktop to start up his game.

The two emulators they were discussing in that thread sounded like they are not without issues and he would not be able to resolve them on his own. If there is no other way to do this, I guess I'll have to try, but I was hoping for a simpler solution.

Do you know of a VERY stable and easy to use Windows emulator that will run on the new Intel iMac? The game disc is for both PC & Mac, so a Windows emulator would work, too.

Thanks for your help!

Natobasso - Jan 25, 2007 - 12:12 pm

Check out Bootcamp or Parallels for Windows emulation. Very stable due to the Intel chip macs being so similar to pcs now.

Bootcamp: http://www.apple.com/macosx/bootcamp/

Parallels: http://www.parallels.com/

burf90 - Jan 26, 2007 - 12:56 am

Thanks! Parallels looks like the best choice, since my Dad won't have to reboot every time he wants to go from the game to the Internet or some other app. Thanks again for both your advice and speedy responses!

Natobasso - Jan 26, 2007 - 11:29 am

You bet! Come back here any time. Also, have your father sign up on macosx.com and he can come to the Forums any time he has a question -- no matter how simple the question might be.