SUMMARY: Is there a Macintosh emulator for the Sun?

From: Kees Huizing (keesh@wsinti01.info.win.tue.nl)
Date: Thu Feb 18 1993 - 06:44:41 CST


keesh@wsinti01.info.win.tue.nl (Kees Huizing) writes:

The answer is very simple. There is one product, named Liken. The day after
I posted the question I was called by the Dutch distributer of this
and all the other answers say basically the same.

Liken emulates a Mac Plus in an X-window on your screen. Mac HD disks are
supported, colour is not, neither is sound. System 7 is being worked at.
>From the answers I got the impression that it works neat and is compatible
with most of the macintosh applications. The price is quite steep, in my
opinion: the equivalent of $1600 (*in The Netherlands*, in the US it is
$695). This makes a Mac Classic next to your Sun a cheap competitior.

Below you find the most informative answer I have received (thanks, Duncan
Coward).

=============================================================================
                                                        The Florida SunFlash

          Liken - Macintosh Emulation For SPARC machine

SunFLASH Vol 38 #16 February 1992
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
This is an interesting third party product announcement. Liken
is a product that will allow you to run Mac apps on a Sun just
as DOSwindows or SoftPC allows you to run DOS apps. I think that
Liken is a product of
        Xcelerated Systems, Inc.
        3944 Murphy Canyon Road, Suite C201
        San Diego, CA 92123
        Voice: (619)576-3080
          FAX: (619)576-2504
while Sunburst are a reseller. I Could be wrong, but there is enough
interest in this product that I'll post this article while verifying
the relationship between Sunburst and Xcelerated Systems.
I have an evaluation copy of Liken and it's neat!
-johnj
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sunburst Computers, Inc. 619-633-1680 - phone 619-633-1169-fax

                                   Liken TM

Liken is a SunOS application that runs Apple Macintosh applications
and Macintosh System Software such as Finder and the Desktop
Accessories on a SPARC workstation. Liken provides an easy to use
environment for Macintosh compatible applications.

Liken provides an emulation of a Motorola 68000 processor, and allows
the use of the SPARC display, keyboard, mouse, hard disk, floppy disk,
and CDROM drives. Liken runs under the Open Windows SunOS windowing
system and is specifically designed to operate with customer-supplied
Apple Macintosh System Software v. 6.0.7.

Environment

The environment provided by Liken is similar to a Macintosh Classic
with 4 MB of memory, one floppy disk, an optional CDROM disk and
multiple hard disks. The Liken window size is adjustable from that of
a Macintosh Classic screen size (512 pixels wide by 342 pixels high) to
that of the Sun screen (1152 wide by 900 high). Liken uses the left
most Sun mouse button as the Macintosh single button. Liken provides
the same functionality as the Extended Macintosh keyboard using the Sun
keyboard.

Application Support

Most Macintosh applications run successfully in the Liken environment.
However, because of the physical differences between a Macintosh and
a SPARC workstation as well as the different capabilities provided by
the SunOS operating system, some restrictions arise. Only high density
floppy diskettes are supported. Color applications which run on a
monochrome Macintosh Classic should work under Liken. Applications
sound support is equivalent to running with the sound turned off.
Macintosh applications requiring Macintosh specific communication
hardware are not supported due to the differences in the physical
capabilities of the SPARC workstation.

Liken supports applications which conform to the standard published
guidelines. If an application is dependent on a specific model of
computer, it may not work under Liken. However, if an application has
been written to work on all models, then it is expected to work.

The SPARC hardware environment is utilized by the Liken program.
Therefore, the only possible devices which can be supported are those
which are available on the SPARC. The applications running in the
Liken environment are provided access to hardware devices though
standard driver interfaces or through the file system. If an
application assumes the presence of particular hardware and attempts to
manipulate it is likely to run into difficulties.

Applications which determine if the display is color or monochrome
through the standard drawing interface should function. Liken only
supports black and white mode and returns this indication to the
application. Applications which make assumptions about the physical
hardware display and attempt to manipulate the display are likely to
fail.

                    Compatible / Incompatible Applications

This list represents partial testing on Liken 1.0 , as of publishing
time. Compatible applications were loaded after Liken was successfully
installed using a distribution on a 1.44 MB diskette.

Compatible Incompatible

Hypercard 2.0 Any app which uses
Microsoft Word 4.0 V7.0 Installer
Micorsoft Excel 3.0 SimCity
MacWrite II Canvas V3.0
WordPerfect 2.0 FrameMaker
MacDraw II ResEdit2.1
M.Y.O.B. 2.0
Aldus PageMaker 4.01
Quicken 1.5
Cosmic Osmo
Where in the World is
   Carmen San Diego V1.3
MacPaint 2.0
FileMakerPro 1.0V2
Microsoft Works 2.00e
Microsoft Powerpoint 2.01
Reader Rabbit 2.2
Math Rabbit 1.0
Crystal Quest V2.20

Hypercard is a registered trademark of Apple. MacWrite, MacDraw,
MacPaint and FileMaker are registered trademarks of CLARIS
Corporation. PowerPoint is a registered trademark of Microsoft
Corporation. WordPerfect is a registered trademark of WordPerfect
Corporation. M.Y.O.B. is a trademark of TELEWARE, Inc. Aldus
PageMaker is a registered trademark of Aldus Corporation. Quicken is a
registered trademark of Intuit. Cosmic Osmo is a trademark of
AcTiVision. Where in the World is Carmen San Diego is a registered
trademark of Broderbund Software, Inc. Reader Rabbit is a trademark of
The Learning Company. Math Rabbit is a registered trademark of The
Learning Company. SimCity is a trademark of Maxis. FrameMaker is a
registered trademark of Frame Technology Corporation. Canvas is a
trademark of Deneba Systems, Inc.

Technical Specifications

Floppy disk device /dev/rfd0 and /dev/fd0

CDROM device /dev/rsr0 and /dev/sr0

Printer Postscript

Installation Directory /usr/Liken

Manual pages Available

Emulation M68000 without 68881 co-processor

Liken Window Size (minimum) 512 x 342
                                (maximum) 1024 x 768

Macintosh Simulated 4MB Memory Size

Macintosh System Software v. 6.0.7

SunOS Version 4.1.1 or Later

Open Windows Version 2.0 or 3.0

Disk Space Required Approx 5 MB's for installation

Licensing Information

$695.00 single user license. Liken is licensed per CPU with HostID
protection. Server Licensing will be supported in a future revision.

30 Day Money-Back Guarantee

All Sunburst Computer's products come with an unconditional 30 day
money back guarantee. If for any reason you are unsatisfied with any
product it represents, Sunburst will give you a 100% refund.

Evaluations

Due to the anticipated volume of Liken, we will be unable to send
copies out for evaluation. However, we are confident Liken will meet
or exceed specifications and Sunburst offers an unconditional 30
day money back guarantee. If for any reason you are dissatisfied with
this product or other products Sunburst represents, just ship the
product back to us within 30 days of purchase and a full refund will be
mailed within 5 working days. No questions asked!

616-633-1680 sales@sunburst.com

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=============================================================================

In the Netherlands, the distributor is West Solutions BV, Begijnhof 80,
Postbus 3318, 2601 DH Delft. tel. 015-123190/fax. 147889.

-- 
Kees Huizing - Eindhoven Univ of Techn - Dept Math & Comp Sc - The Netherlands
e-mail: keesh@win.tue.nl   telephone: +31-40-474120    fax: +31-40-463992



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