--- title: Run the R Package without a Macintosh? --- I get many, many requests about a DOS/Windows version of the R Package. First of all, let me tell you that there will be a 32-bit Windows version of the Package (for a sample, see here). However, I want to near-complete the Macintosh version before I attempt the Windows one. So a Windows version is still quite a few months away. In the past, I was advising people to run a Macintosh emulator (see details below) on their Windows PC. However, I no longer recommend you go that route because it does not make much economic sense anymore. Let me explain. You can buy a used, yet fairly powerful Macintosh computer, complete with monitor and keyboard, for less than 100$CDN these days (convert to your local currency here). The systems I personally recommend are the Mac IIci and Quadra 700, with 8-20 MB of RAM and 80-500 MB of hard disk space. I have bought several of these in the last few months to use as servers (meaning 24/7 use) and they are very capable. Don't let the 1989 manufacture date of the Mac IIci scare you, it is perfectly usable for many tasks including the R Package. If you want to spend more and have more speed, there are PowerPC Macintoshes on the used market starting at around 200$CDN. If you want to spend less, the following machines will run the R Package just fine and can be had for a song, if not free: You can get more information about these and other "low-end" Macintoshes on the Low End Mac website at http://www.lowendmac.com/ Note that the R Package version 3.0 works best with System 6, while R 4.0 requires System 7 to function. Both are available for free on Apple's ftp site:

ftp://ftp.apple.com//Apple_Support_Area/Apple_Software_Updates/US/Macintosh/System/Older_System/

There are valid reasons to use an emulator, for instance if you have a really fast PC, if you don't have the desk space for another machine or if you are interested in emulators per se, but if you or your employer values your time, you should consider that getting an emulator to work can take a significant amount of time, and when it does it is quite slow (much slower than the Mac IIci above). Compared to the time it takes to install a Mac and get it running, there is no comparison. The only hangup is the possible scarcity of used Macs in your region. If you set your sights low enough, you should find plenty :-) If you still insist on using an emulator, here is my original writeup.

Using the R Package with an emulator

After experimenting with several Macintosh emulators, I have now found a way to run the R Package version 3 under Windows. And best of all, the emulator is free! This page chronicles my attempt to run the R Package (version 3) under a Windows 95 machine. I have two, a Pentium card inside my PowerMac and a Pentium desktop (separate computer). Both have a 100 MHz clock speed and run some flavor of Windows 95. Note that the emulator is available for other platforms (Linux, NeXT, Amiga, DOS...) but I did not test those. I suppose they would perform similarly.

The problem

To run the R Package, I require at least a Mac Plus and at least System 6. System 7 is nice, but R 3.0 doesn't like it very much.

The solution

I will use vMac, a Macintosh Plus emulator available free of charge on the Web.

The snag

You will need a Mac Plus ROM. If you have a Mac Plus handy (I have about 4 around me) this is easy. If you don't, well find someone who does. If you can't do that, you can always try to search the Web...

Getting started

To use the vMac emulator, you will need to download the following software packages:
  1. The vMac emulator itself, found on http://www.vmac.org/
    Please visit the vMac site as it will give you more pointers on setting up. I have put a copy of the emulator on my ftp site for quick access
  2. At least one image of a System disk (Systems up to 7.1 are free for download). I recommend System 6 for this Mac Plus, but System 7 also works. You will get better performance with System 6, though. The best site to download those images from is the vMac Application Site. Again, there is a copy of the System 6 disk image on my ftp site
  3. If you do not have DirectX installed on your computer, vMac will not run. You can download it directly from the Microsoft DirectX web site.
  4. A copy of a Mac Plus ROM. See the vMac web site for details.
Once you have all that, you should be able to run vMac and boot the virtual Mac Plus. What you need now are some applications.

Getting The R Package

vMac works best with disk images, which are nothing but a big file containing a byte-by-byte replica of a real floppy disk (800k on a Macintosh). The System 6 image above is just that. For your convenience, I make available here two disk images of the R Package:
Technical note: these images are nothing but the standard, 800k Mac disk images with the first 84 bytes chopped off
You can now boot the virtual Mac Plus and run the R Package from the image. You can also insert a Macintosh-formatted high-density (1.44MB) disk in your PC floppy drive, and it will be recognized by the Plus. This is weird because the Plus never worked with high-density disks... However, in my experience the Plus has a tendency to crash when you eject the floppy. This means you are better off working exclusively from disk images, since you will gain basic file translation by doing so (see below). If you work strictly from a floppy disk, you have the additional problem of reading a Mac-formatted floppy in your PC drive while in Windows. It is possible, there are several shareware utilities that do it such as Mac-ette but these are often shareware and I try to keep this process free.

Other utilities that will make your life easier

You can use HDExplorer 1.2 beta (also available on my ftp site) to open up image files withing Windows and move files to and from the image file. Note that if you are moving text files, you should select the "CR/LF" translation since Mac text files have lines ending with a single "CR" (carriage return, ASCII code 13) while DOS/Windows text files end with both "CR" and "LF" (linefeed, ASCII code 10). Binary files such as PICT images should not be converted ("Raw data").

That's it!

With these packages you should be able to use the R Package on your non-Mac computer. Oddly, there is a vMac emulator for the Macintosh/PowerMac and that can be useful if your machine somehow refuses to run R 3.0 (I have a few who do that here). I will make further additions to this page as time (and interest) allows, but between this and the many helpful links and pages on the vMac site, you should be all set. Please don't send me questions about the emulator, only about the R Package.

Other emulators you may wish to consider

Last updated on Saturday, March 30, 2013 by Philippe Casgrain
Created on Tuesday, June 30, 1998