What If Mac Os Was Used For Gaming

/ Comments off

Mar 18, 2015  That’s why I’ve put together this guide to gaming on the Mac, covering everything from the best Mac hardware for gaming, to using Windows Boot Camp, to the mice and keyboards you should buy.

Mac OS
Developers
Release dates
Mac OS (Classic)January 24, 1984
macOS (OS X)March 24, 2001

What If Mac Os Was Used For Gaming Free

Key points

Mac OS X's UNIX derived kernel, XNU/Darwin, is open source along with several core technologies of the OS. They can be downloaded here.
To this day, Mac OS X still uses OpenGL 4.0 from 2010 and is no longer updated in favour of their own Metal API, which may have resulted in a large lack of recently released major games on this system since that time.
There is no official support for Vulkan API. MoltenVK, an open-source third-party program is required.
The Mac OS is tied specifically to Apple hardware; you must buy Macintosh hardware to use the OS. Although there are certain 'regular' PCs that can run the Mac OS (know as 'Hackintoshing') it is highly controversial due to it violating Apple's EULA and notoriously inconsistent in its results.
Terminology on the Mac differs heavily compared to standard x86 PCs, i.e. Wi-fi is 'Airport', V-Sync is 'Beam Sync', memory compression is 'Extended Memory', etc.
Prior to the release of the original 1984 Macintosh, Apple had three series of command-line driven terminal computers known as the Apple I, II and III. These systems were not compatible with the Macintosh and should not be mistaken with it. They additionally had another graphical driven system prior to the Macintosh called the LISA; again also not compatible.
An open source clone of Apple's Cocoa API for other platforms is available in the form of GNUStep. Note however that unlike WINE, apps still must be recompiled for the other OSes due to GNUStep not emulating the Mach-O binary format OS X uses.

Communities

Was
/r/macgaming
/r/mac

Mac OS is a popular family of operating systems. It was one of the first systems to Pioneer the Graphical User Interface. It is also one of few platforms to have survived a move to a new processor architecture. It actually survived two; once from Motorola's 68k to IBM's PowerPC, and again to intel.

  • 1'Classic' Mac OS
  • 2macOS ((Mac) OS X)
    • 2.1Useful Programs

'Classic' Mac OS[edit]

The 'classic' Mac OS is characterised by its lack of the command line, and encompasses the different Mac OS' from 1984 to 2001. It lacks primitive multitasking and protected memory and is composed largely on 68k assembly code.

Emulation[edit]

Unfortunately due to its age, in order to run apps from the old 'Classic' System you need an emulator. You can effectively think of the following as the Macintosh equivalent to DOSBox. Three option are available: Sheep Shaver, Basilisk, and Mini vMac. To categorize them in the simplest way possible, Mini vMac is for black and white 16/24-bit 68000 based Macs, Basilisk is for color 32-bit (020, 030 & 040) 68k Macs, Sheep Shaver is for classic PowerPC Macs.

Unlike DOSBox, these Mac emulators require official Apple Mac Operating Systems and firmware/boot ROMs. Unfortunately, these are illegal to distribute (with exception to System 7.5.1 to 7.5.5 which was released as freeware and Mac ROMs found in official classic updates).
They do not emulate 3D hardware acceleration for video nor audio. They also do not emulate the MMU and, in Sheep Shaver's case, FPU.

macOS ((Mac) OS X)[edit]

macOS (re-branded from 'Mac OS X' in 2012 to 'OS X', and then 2016 to its present name) is the latest version of the Mac OS operating system (initially released on March 23, 2001), and is also the basis for iOS, as well as its other siblings in Apple's product lineup. It is instead based on NeXTSTEP (which in itself is derived from UNIX).

Since the release of 10.15, also known as 'Catalina' in October 2019; the only programs (or in this platform, apps) that function are ones that are coded for 64-bit processors. Many earlier apps prior to circa 2012 are affected. So far, your only hope to get these older apps work is to either wait for the software publisher to update the app for supporting 64-bit processors; or install an earlier version of the OS (10.14, aka 'Mojave' and earlier) that supports 32-bit apps - which is not possible on newer Macs released after 10.15's release.
What if mac os was used for gaming windows 10

Useful Programs[edit]

Wine[edit]

Wine is one of the easiest and most popular way for Linux users to run programs written for Microsoft Windows. The Wine team has created a port for OS X that is well maintained and in a usable state.

Mouse fixes[edit]

Mouse Acceleration Preference Pane allows you to adjust, or disable, mouse acceleration in macOS; something that's not normally tweakable.

Additionally macOS once had a bug that induced mouse lag, going as far back as 10.4 (Tiger). For the longest time the solution was to remove or disable Apple's AppleUpstreamUserClient.kext via the terminal[1][2][3], i.e.

A slightly more solid fix is available in the form of SmoothMouse. Note that it requires 10.8 (Mt. Lion) or later to function, though some earlier betas for 10.6 were available. OS X 10.12 (Sierra) and later do not have mouse lag issues.

Similar programs existed for the Classic Mac OS as well.

Boot Camp[edit]

Boot Camp is an official piece of software included with macOS that assists users in installing and running Microsoft Windows in a partition on the hard drive. The most recent version only includes support for Windows 10, though earlier releases supported XP through 8.1.

The Shell[edit]

The Unix shells 'bash' and 'zsh' (the former being the default on every release until 10.14 ('Mojave'), the latter being the default since 10.15 ('Catalina'); though both are available as options) available on macOS are very useful tools for doing system tasks. If you use macOS as your main operating system, then it is highly recommended that you learn how to use them.Google Code University provides a good starting guide.

Rosetta[edit]

Rosetta is a software emulator for Intel Macs that enables them to run older (OS X native) PowerPC apps. This can be useful for running games that didn't receive a Universal Binary update post-2006, such as the Mac OS X release of Fallout.

Removed in OS X 10.7 'Lion' and later.
Only emulates G3 and most G4 instructions. PowerPC 64-bit and 32-bit G5 applications are not supported.

Classic Environment[edit]

Similar to Microsoft's NTVDM for DOS apps, the classic environment was a compatibility layer for OS X that allowed it to run classic apps at roughly native speeds. Note that the Classic environment is NOT an emulator, and as the classic OS is based entirely on PowerPC (and/or 68k) code, it does not function on Intel Macs.

Removed in 10.5 'Leopard' (both Intel and PowerPC).
Apps that require direct hardware access crash under Classic.
Some applications that draw on the screen are glitched starting in 10.3 'Panther', due to the Classic Environment switching to a double-buffered window.

References

  1. ↑https://discussions.apple.com/thread/5652229?tstart=0
  2. ↑https://cindori.org/fix-for-mouse-jumping-using-certain-gpus/
  3. ↑http://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/245024-mouse-lag-graphicsenableryes/

Gaming on the Mac isn't as big as on PC, but there's still some great games out there for Apple computers. In some cases you'll be OK using a keyboard and mouse, but for a lot of people, kicking back and using a controller is the way to game.

If that sounds like you and you're looking for a good controller, look no further. Here's what to get.

What If Mac Os Was Used For Gaming Pc

Xbox One controller

You can't just plug and play the Xbox One controller on the Mac, but getting it working really doesn't take much effort. And when it's up and running you'll have one of the best controller experiences on any platform right there for your Mac games.

The Xbox One controller isn't all that expensive and has an offset design for its thumbsticks which many find much more comfortable than Sony's side-by-side arrangement. It's a great size, not too heavy and has nice big bumpers and triggers.

The standard black controller is around $45, but there are a ton of special edition designs out there for various prices that might be more to your liking.

Sony DualShock 4

While the Xbox One controller is preferable for many, others swear by Sony's DualShock 4. It's a very different design but equally proficient in its own right for Mac gaming. Again, it's not exactly plug and play, but the process of making sure it's working properly is very simple.

The DualShock 4 is very comfortable in the hand with great triggers and bumpers, albeit both a little smaller than on something like an Xbox controller. The biggest difference is the side-by-side analog sticks.

It's lightweight so it's great for long gaming sessions, and Sony also has an official adapter to allow you to use it with your Mac wirelessly, though they can be hard to find. But for around $50, this is another great controller and it works perfectly with Steam.

Steam Controller

Steam is more commonly associated with PC gaming but there's still a decent supply of Mac compatible games in there. If this is where you get most of your games from, them the official Steam Controller might be the one for you, and it has full, official Mac support.

It's a bit unusual compared to many controllers, thanks in no small part to the touchpad which you find where you might expect one of the analog sticks. The Steam Controller has been designed so you can play keyboard and mouse games comfortably with a controller.

There's a bit of a learning curve, but when you get used to it it's just as easy to use as any other controller. It sells for $50 but Valve is frequently discounting it, so there's always a chance of a bargain if you can wait until the next sale.

We may earn a commission for purchases using our links. Learn more.

(PRODUCT)RED

What If Mac Os Was Used For Gaming Pc

Apple is now redirecting (PRODUCT)RED purchases to COVID‑19 relief fund

What If Mac Os Was Used For Gaming Windows 7

Now through September 30, Apple is redirecting 100% of a portion of (PRODUCT)RED purchases to the Global Fund’s COVID‑19 Response.