Want to leave the internet behind for a simpler time, one where computer frogs crossed rivers instead of spewing hate speech? The Macintosh Software Library from the Internet Archive lets you run old-school Macintosh games and applications in your browser, so stop hurling insults on Twitter and start throwing rocks in Dark Castle.
The Macintosh Software Library provides more than 40 glorious programs from the 1980s and '90s, from Microsoft Multiplan to Frogger. But while most folks will relish running vintage games on their laptop, the library serves another purpose: preserving the feel of early technology for generations that never experienced it the first time around. "Software is culturally valuable," says archivist Jason Scott. "It's important to be able to access it, as you could with a book or a movie."
Scott also oversaw the creation of the Internet Archive's libraries of gaming consoles in 2013 and arcade videogames in 2014. This time around, he worked with volunteers to build the in-browser emulator and searched software enthusiast forums for canonical programs. The collection he amassed allows anyone to type documents in MacWrite, draw in MacPaint, or play games like Space Invaders and Wizard's Fire. For hardcore nerds, Scott included two operating systems with hard drives of 20-30 programs each, so you can set an alarm or use a computer calculator like it's 1988 (System 6.0.8) or 1991 (System 7.0.1).
The Macintosh Software Library launched April 1 with 44 items, but Scott plans to expand it with user suggestions. Everyone who came of age using a Mac considers a program or three absolutely essential, so it remains to be seen what makes the cut. Scott, for example, feels overwhelming nostalgia when he hears the foreboding organ music and thunder of Dark Castle. "As soon as I showed it to people who had studied the Macintosh, they said, 'Where's Airborne!? Where's Lemmings?'" Scott says, referring to two titles already in his software stack. "Now that we've introduced it, people are asking, 'Where's Deja Vu?'"
Scott hopes the project helps a new generation experience the early days of the home computing revolution. "Seeing a picture of the desktop of an old Macintosh is one thing," he says. "It's a whole other experience to be stuck with a mouse, clicking around." Such nostalgia conveniently overlooks the frustration of holding the mouse for drop-down menus, working with a select-all function, the square clock icon (which you now know as a spinning beach ball), and other quirks of the old tech.
Still, Castle Dark, people! You'll feel like a kid in a candy store—or at least a teenager in a ComputerLand.
