Basilisk II Software Compatibility

Product: Basilisk II
Version: 142 (recommended!)
Summary: The following programs were tested. Overall, we'd rate Basilisk's compatibility and (non-FPU-intensive) performance as excellent. (on a 200 MHz or faster PC, Basilisk II outperforms any 680x0 Mac ever released.)

Versions shown are not necessarily the latest releases that will work; but were the most recent versions available for our testing. In general, all releases earlier than the listed version will also work.

No Problems Noted

  • Aaron 1.1
  • Add/Strip 3.03
  • Adobe Acrobat 2.1
  • Adobe After Effects 3.1
  • Adobe Dimensions 2.0
  • Adobe Illustrator 6.01
  • Adobe PageMaker 6.01
  • Adobe PageMill 1.0
  • Adobe Photoshop 3.0.5
  • Adobe Premiere 4.2
  • Adobe Streamline 3.0
  • Adobe Type Manager 3.9
  • Agax (anti-virus utility)
  • Aladdin Expander 5.5
  • Aladdin Stuffit Deluxe
  • Aldus Fetch 1.2a
  • Aldus TextureMaker 1.0
  • AppleCD Audio Player (tested successfully on Win98/MacOS 7.6 with a LaCie SCSI CD-recorder.)
  • Apple CD-ROM driver 5.3.1, from System 7.6, supports many third-party CD-ROM drives.
  • Apple iDisk (requires Open Transport 1.1.2 and AppleShare 3.8.3, plus setup as described here.)
  • Apple Macintalk 3 (text-to-speech requires 68040 emulation to be selected)
  • Apple ResEdit 2.13
  • Apple QuickTime 4  *
  • Apple QuickTime 3.02
  • Apple System 7.x (all versions)
  • Apple MacOS 8.0 and 8.1: works correctly with Basilisk II build 100 (Nov. 27, 1999) or later.
  • Apple MacTCP (required for Internet access during 68020 emulation only)
  • Apple Disk First Aid
  • Astarte/Adaptec Toast (version 3.5.6 tested at 4X with a LaCie SCSI CD-recorder.)
  • Casady & Greene QuickDex
  • ClarisWorks 5.0
  • Compuserve Information Manager (MacCIM)
  • Connectix Speed Doubler
  • Corel WordPerfect 3.5e (Corel has made this program freely available!)
  • CorelSCSI
  • Dramatica Writer's Dream Kit 1.7
  • HexMac HexWeb
  • Disinfectant 3.6
  • Elastic Reality
  • Equilibrium DeBabelizer 1.6.5
  • Fetch 3.0
  •  FileTyper 4.0
  • FirstClass Intranet Client 5.02
  • GDT (Infowave) PowerPrint
  • GIF Builder 0.4
  • GraphicConverter 2.5
  • HDT Primer and HDT Prober
  • Jag II
  • JPEGtrans
  • Kaleidoscope
  • Macromedia Dreamweaver (Versions of Dreamweaver up to and including the 4.0 release support 68K Macs.)
  • Macromedia Director 4.04 (68K)
  • Macromedia Fontographer 4.1
  • Macromedia FreeHand 5.5
  • Macromedia FreeHand 7
  • Macromedia xRes 3
  • Metacreations Bryce  *
  • Metacreations Detailer
  • Metacreations Expression
  • Metacreations Headline Studio 1.0
  • Metacreations Infini-D 4.1.1  *
  • Metacreations Painter 5.0
  • MetaCreations Painter 3
  • MetaCreations Bryce 2  *
  • Metacreations Poser 2.0 *
  • Metacreations Ray Dream Studio
  • Microsoft Word 6.01 (and earlier releases)
  • Microsoft Office for Macintosh (versions 6.0 and 5.1 tested.)
  • Microsoft Internet Explorer 2.1
  • Microsoft Internet Explorer 4.01
  • Microsoft Outlook Express
  • MoviePlayer
  • MPack 1.5
  • Netscape Communicator 4.08
  • Netscape Navigator 3.01 (install in 68040 mode)
  • Norton Utilities 2.0
  • Now Utilities (SuperBoomerang, etc.)
  • Now Up to Date 5.0
  • Pixar MovieTool
  • Pixar Typestry 2.11
  • Pseud040
  • QuarkXPress 3.2
  • QuickDex
  • RealAudio Player
  • Sculptor 1.1
  • SoftFPU
  • SolidNirvana
  • SoundEdit 16 version 2
  • Sparkle 2.41 (MPEG player) *
  • Specular Collage 2.01
  • Specular TextureScape 2.0
  • Specular Infini-D 3.2
  • Specular LogoMotion 2.0
  • TerrainMaker
  • Transparency
  •  Virtual Home Space Builder 2.0
  • Virtus Alien Skin TextureShop
  • Virtus Voyager
  • Virtus VRML
  • VistaPro 3.0
  • Yonawat Amapi 2.11

Apps marked * may require SoftFPU or Basilisk's built-in FPU emulation to run and, in any event, will be very sluggish.

Some Problems Application anomalies are noted in red.

  • Adaptec UDF Reader: couldn't read CDRW discs.
  • After Dark 3.0: screen saver kicked in while scrolling (!?)
  • Electric Image Animation System 2.8 Broadcast: couldn't connect (or emulate) dongle.
  • Hewlett Packard DeskScan 2.7: works, but can't find ScanJet IIcx (SCSI) scanner.
  • MacPaint 1.5 cosmetic issue only: lines on top of menubar.
  • Metacreations Bryce 2: very slow.
  • Metacreations Poser 2.0 very, very slow.
  • Microsoft Office 98: requires PowerPC.
  • Pixar Typestry 2.11 very slow.
  • ScreenMovie 68K 1.0: crashes.

For Further Reading:

  • Basilisk II: Mac emulator
  • Emulators - relive the golden age of computing.
  • Emulators part 2 - PC, Mac and PostScript emulation.
  • Blue Label 1.5 - A look at Lismore's PC emulator for the Macintosh.
  • Ghostscript: Postscript interpreter
  • The Macintosh Emulation Station has an excellent collection of Basilisk II-compatible Mac freeware and shareware titles.

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