BasiliskII
BasiliskII is an open source Macintosh emulator for running classic 68k Mac OS software on a modern Mac.
What is BasiliskII?
BasiliskII is a classic Mac emulator that lets users run 68k Macintosh software and older Mac OS environments on a modern Mac. It is commonly used by retro computing enthusiasts, preservation projects, and users who need access to older Macintosh applications, games, or workflows. On macOS, BasiliskII can emulate supported classic Macintosh hardware, use disk images, and exchange files with the host system through shared-folder style access. It supports features such as color video, sound, virtual storage, CD-ROM access, networking support, and input devices needed for many legacy Mac tasks. BasiliskII is open source, and Mac users often pair it with setup tools and documentation from the classic Mac emulation community. It is best suited to users who already have the required classic Mac system software and ROM resources needed for legal setup.
Key features
- Run classic 68k Macintosh software on a modern Mac
- Boot supported classic Mac OS environments from disk images
- Share files between macOS and the emulated Mac environment
- Use virtual hard disks, floppy images, and CD-ROM media
- Enable sound, color graphics, and basic networking for legacy apps
- Support keyboards and mouse input for older Macintosh software
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Safety overview
Status: Mostly safe
BasiliskII is legitimate emulator software, but it works with old system images, ROM files, disk images, and shared folders that can expose the files you choose to mount inside the emulator. That access is normal for emulation, and the main practical risk is opening untrusted legacy software or using unknown disk images. Keep your shared folders limited to what you actually need, and use software sources you trust when importing old Mac files or images.
Recommendation: Keep BasiliskII if you use classic Mac software, retro games, or preservation workflows on your Mac. If you no longer need Macintosh emulation, you can remove it without affecting macOS, though any emulator setups, disk images, and related configuration files you created for it may no longer be convenient to use.
Common paths
/Applications/BasiliskII.app
Preference paths
~/Library/Preferences/com.emaculation.basiliskii.plist
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