One of the coolest visual mods available today for the SE and SE/30 has to be the custom transparent cases created by https://maceffects.com. In this post, I’ll walk you through the process of swapping out the stock case for one of these beauties.
Continue readingTag Archives: classic macs
Playing Movies on a Black & White compact Mac!

It’s not every day that new software comes out for antique computers – but a few days ago, the insanely cool “MacFilm” was released! With it, you can play full-screen movies on your black and white compact Mac. It seems to run well on the SE/30 and can even run respectably on a 68000-based Mac SE, Classic, or Plus!
You can download it, complete with instructions from the link below:
What’s new is old again. (Sonumi for Classic Macs)
Have you heard the tale of Sosumi? Long story short, when Apple began to produce computers that could play audio, the Beatles’ record label “Apple Records” threatened legal actions against Apple Computer. Apple (Computer) won on the premise that they don’t sell music and wouldn’t be competing with them (well, at least not then). As a gag, they boasted their sound capabilities with a sound effect called “Sosumi”. Get it? “So-Sue-Me”!
Well, Sosumi has been around for a long time, since System 7 in fact. It even survived the transition to Mac OS X and has been included in the OS up until last month when macOS Big Sur got released. One of the many changes that Big Sur introduced was remixed alert sound effects, including a remixed version of “Sosumi”, called “Sonumi” (So NEW me!)
I thought it might be fun to convert the new sound effect “Sonumi” down to a System 7 sound file and make it my alert sound effect on my classic Macs. It oddly doesn’t sound out of place, but sort of plays with your head a little in a fun sort of way. In any case, if you’d like a copy – I’ve included a link below. Hopefully Apple doesn’t have a problem with that. (Oh well, Sosumi!)
Download Sonumi for System 7/8/9
How to use this:
- Download the above file, and transfer to your classic Mac
- Use either StuffIt Expander or BinHex to extract
- Take the sound file and drop it into your system suitcase within your System Folder
- Open Control Panels and find the Sound control panel – you should now be able to choose Sonumi!
Enjoy!
Web Browsing with Legacy Proxy
Earlier this year I posted an article about browsing the modern web with classic Macs using Web Rendering Proxy (WRP) – and this is a great way to see modern web pages in your classic browser. It works by transferring an image of the page down as an image map… but wouldn’t it be cool to just browse natively with a classic browser on your vintage Mac? The short answer is… you can… sort of. Read on.
Continue readingPlaying MP3s on 68k Macintosh
If you’re looking for a fun (and modern) use for your classic Mac – there’s one option you might not have considered: playing MP3s. Up until last year I didn’t even think this was possible without at least a PowerPC system – but most 040-based Macs and some 030s can actually play MP3 files quite well!

Classic Mac Y2K20 bug
Back in the day, Mac users generally shrugged off the dreaded “Y2K” problem. Macs since the beginning could store dates in 4 digits and work with dates well after 2000. However, back then we knew there was a time in the distant future where we would start running into date-related problems… unfortunately that time is now. Classic Macs may have trouble setting dates 2020 and beyond, but the good news is there’s a solution – at least for now. Continue reading
Which classic system software is right for me?
The answer to most technology questions is “it depends” – and this is certainly true for selecting an OS for a classic Mac. Each option comes with pros and cons.
Meet Classicbot
If you’re a fan of classic Macs, check out Classicbot! This cute little guy was created by playsometoys, a Hong-Kong based startup.
They also make an iBot, a classic black Classicbot, and a plushie version along with various other retro goodies.
Take a look here: https://classicbot.com/
Top 10 essential applications for 68k Macs
If you’re just getting started with a classic Mac, or are a long time fan – there are some pieces of software that are downright essential to have on hand. The best part is, most of these are freely available online and take up very little space on older hard drives. Continue reading
About the 68k blog
Hello!
Welcome to my new blog! I haven’t bogged in years, as I am constantly thinking there’s plenty of noise already out there on the internet. And why would the world need one more blog?
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