This is pretty cool.

MS-DOS 2.0 on the Apple IIe (March 2026)

An Apple II enthusiast ported MS-DOS 2.0 to an Apple IIe running an ALF AD8088 Plus 8088 card (a much simpler device than the PC Transporter) designed for CP/M-86.

It boot, supports 80-columns, reads the clock, reads disk data from a shared ProDOS file on the IIe's hard disk.

Stated plans from the author, Seth Kushniryk, include Super Serial and Uthernet II support as well as running CP/M-80 on MS-DOS on ProDOS with a V20 swapped in for the 8088.

https://sethkush.com/post/2026/03/12/ms-dos-2.0-on-the-apple-iie/

#AppleII #vintagecomputing #retrocomputing #retrocomputers #MSDOS #CPM #CPU #operatingsystems #OS #coprocessor #i8088 #AD8088 #maker #hacking #blog #blogpost #nostalgia #vintagetech #technews #tech #Apple2forever #Apple #AppleIIe

About AMX, the undocumented matrix math coprocessor that was discovered (by clever, deep analysis and reverse engineering) inside the Apple M1 SoC and is quietly accessed by programs utilizing Apple's "Accelerate" framework.

Another fascinating detail about Apple's CPU designs and their impressive performance.

https://medium.com/swlh/apples-m1-secret-coprocessor-6599492fc1e1

#Apple #M1 #M2 #AppleSilicon #CPU #Mac #ARM #SoC #coprocessor #tech

Bringing iMessage to the Mac

If you've invested in the Apple ecosystem, the joys of iMessage likely illuminate your life. Your phone and desktop and laptop all sync your messages. But what if your desktop is running Mac OS 9 or System 2? This is where [CamHenlin's] MessagesForMacintosh comes in.

Unfortunately, it does require a more modern Mac to act as an access point into the wider iMessage network. The modern Mac sets up a GraphQL database that can be accessed. Then a serial cable connects your "retro daily driver" to a translation layer that converts the serial commands into GraphQL commands. This could be something simple and network-connected like an ESP32 or a program running on your iMessage Mac. [CamHenlin] has a second Mac mini in his demo, seen above.

[CamHenlin] leverages his library known as CoprocessorJS. It allows older machines to hand off complex workloads to more modern machines, allowing modern machines to act as a coprocessor. Getting a single binary to run across many different versions of Mac OS and System is tricky and there were a few tricks involved. Retro68 is a C++17 compiler that targets PowerPC and 68k architectures. Additionally, Nuklear Quickdraw is used to provide a GUI in a performant manner.

It is always a joy to see older hardware do new tricks, often with the help of a bit of modern hardware. Connecting your Mac to the internet can be as easy as Pi.

#machacks #retrocomputing #softwarehacks #coprocessor #macclassic #macos #macintosh