Executor is a software application that allows
Motorola 68000-based
classic Mac OS programs to be run on various
x86
x86 (also known as 80x86 or the 8086 family) is a family of complex instruction set computer (CISC) instruction set architectures initially developed by Intel based on the Intel 8086 microprocessor and its 8088 variant. The 8086 was intr ...
-based
operating system
An operating system (OS) is system software that manages computer hardware, software resources, and provides common services for computer programs.
Time-sharing operating systems schedule tasks for efficient use of the system and may also i ...
s. Executor was created by ARDI (Abacus Research and Development, Inc.). As of 2005, Executor development has been indefinitely postponed; as of 2008, it was made available as
open source software.
Overview
Unlike other true Macintosh emulators, Executor requires no startup
ROM
Rom, or ROM may refer to:
Biomechanics and medicine
* Risk of mortality, a medical classification to estimate the likelihood of death for a patient
* Rupture of membranes, a term used during pregnancy to describe a rupture of the amniotic sac
* ...
images or other Apple intellectual property. Executor, much like
Wine
Wine is an alcoholic drink typically made from fermented grapes. Yeast consumes the sugar in the grapes and converts it to ethanol and carbon dioxide, releasing heat in the process. Different varieties of grapes and strains of yeasts are m ...
for running Windows applications on Unix-like platforms, translates
Macintosh Toolbox
The Macintosh Toolbox implements many of the high-level features of the Classic Mac OS, including a set of application programming interfaces for software development on the platform. The Toolbox consists of a number of "managers," software compone ...
API calls and
QuickDraw
A quickdraw (also known as an extender) is a piece of climbing equipment used by rock and ice climbers to allow the climbing rope to run freely through protection such as a bolt anchors or other traditional gear while leading.
A quickdr ...
routines into equivalent Win32 or
POSIX
The Portable Operating System Interface (POSIX) is a family of standards specified by the IEEE Computer Society for maintaining compatibility between operating systems. POSIX defines both the system- and user-level application programming inter ...
API calls. The MS-DOS version of Executor runs using the
CWSDPMI protected mode DOS extender
A DOS extender is a computer software program running under DOS that enables software to run in a protected mode environment even though the host operating system is only capable of operating in real mode.
DOS extenders were initially develope ...
.
Executor translates 68k
big-endian
In computing, endianness, also known as byte sex, is the order or sequence of bytes of a word of digital data in computer memory. Endianness is primarily expressed as big-endian (BE) or little-endian (LE). A big-endian system stores the most sig ...
binary code into x86 little-endian binary code.
Executor can only run Macintosh programs designed to run on
68000
The Motorola 68000 (sometimes shortened to Motorola 68k or m68k and usually pronounced "sixty-eight-thousand") is a 16/32-bit complex instruction set computer (CISC) microprocessor, introduced in 1979 by Motorola Semiconductor Products Secto ...
-based Macintosh hardware. Executor can mimic either Macintosh
System 7.0.0, or
System 6.0.7 for older applications that are incompatible with System 7.0.0.
Due to the
GUI
The GUI ( "UI" by itself is still usually pronounced . or ), graphical user interface, is a form of user interface that allows users to interact with electronic devices through graphical icons and audio indicator such as primary notation, inste ...
-oriented nature of classic Mac OS applications, Executor has its own GUI environment known as Browser. Browser attempts to somewhat mimic the classic Mac OS desktop and the
Finder application without having features such as the trash can or Mac OS control panels.
The default Apple menu also does not exist in Browser but is replaced with a rough equivalent; running Mac applications will have Apple menu functions available. Executor does not have support for
networking of any type, including
AppleTalk support. Executor also lacks the ability to run components (such as extensions or control panels) that are highly integrated with classic Mac OS versions.
Due to the differences between the actual MacOS ROM and the emulation provided by Executor, other compatibility issues exist. For example,
heise Magazine reports issues with installation of many programs, and running early versions of
StarWriter and
Adobe PageMill. However, once installed,
Microsoft Word
Microsoft Word is a word processor, word processing software developed by Microsoft. It was first released on October 25, 1983, under the name ''Multi-Tool Word'' for Xenix systems. Subsequent versions were later written for several other pla ...
,
Excel
ExCeL London (an abbreviation for Exhibition Centre London) is an exhibition centre, international convention centre and former hospital in the Custom House area of Newham, East London. It is situated on a site on the northern quay of the ...
and
BBEdit Lite are usable.
Executor can run on x86-based PCs running
Microsoft Windows and various specific
Linux
Linux ( or ) is a family of open-source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991, by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged as a Linux distribution, w ...
distributions. All versions of Executor require a minimum configuration of a 90 MHz
Pentium
Pentium is a brand used for a series of x86 architecture-compatible microprocessors produced by Intel. The original Pentium processor from which the brand took its name was first released on March 22, 1993. After that, the Pentium II and P ...
processor, 32 MB of RAM with 4 MB available to Executor, and a minimum of 8 MB of hard drive space for installation.
However, the Unofficial Macintosh Emulation Pages reports successfully running Executor with 24MB of RAM on Windows 95.
The Linux version of Executor has been tested under
Red Hat Linux
Red Hat Linux was a widely used commercial open-source Linux distribution created by Red Hat until its discontinuation in 2004.
Early releases of Red Hat Linux were called Red Hat Commercial Linux. Red Hat published the first non-beta rele ...
5 through 7,
SuSE 6,
Caldera OpenLinux
Caldera OpenLinux (COL) is a defunct Linux distribution. Caldera originally introduced it in 1997 based on the German LST Power Linux distribution, and then taken over and further developed by Caldera Systems (now SCO Group) since 1998. A suc ...
2,
Debian 2.1, and
Yellow Dog Linux
Yellow Dog Linux (YDL) is a discontinued free and open-source operating system for high-performance computing on multi-core processor computer architectures, focusing on GPU systems and computers using the POWER7 processor. The original deve ...
.
Older versions of Executor also run on
MS-DOS
MS-DOS ( ; acronym for Microsoft Disk Operating System, also known as Microsoft DOS) is an operating system for x86-based personal computers mostly developed by Microsoft. Collectively, MS-DOS, its rebranding as IBM PC DOS, and a few ope ...
and
NeXTSTEP
NeXTSTEP is a discontinued object-oriented, multitasking operating system based on the Mach kernel and the UNIX-derived BSD. It was developed by NeXT Computer in the late 1980s and early 1990s and was initially used for its range of proprieta ...
. Executor was originally developed to run Mac programs on the NextStep platform and other MC680x0-based Unix systems like SunStation. During that time, two other similar products also existed for Unix systems: Liken from
Xcelerated Systems Inc, and Equal from
Quorum Inc.
Current status
Currently, Executor isn't being supported or developed. Clifford Matthews, ARDI's founder, released serial codes that worked until December 31, 2006, and again until the end of June 2007. On July 23, 2007, a new working serial code with no expiration date was released, while the status of Executor remains unchanged.
After considering an
open source release of the
source code
In computing, source code, or simply code, is any collection of code, with or without comments, written using a human-readable programming language, usually as plain text. The source code of a program is specially designed to facilitate the wo ...
for some time, Matthews released the source code for the
executor
and
syn68k
applications on October 5, 2008, under a very permissive MIT-style license.
References
External links
ARDI - Executor websiteGitHub - Executor project siteE-Maculation's Executor setup guideExecutor 2000 (actively maintained fork)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Executor (Software)
Compatibility layers
Classic Mac OS