The Virtual OS Museum lets you run Mac OS, A/UX, NeXTSTEP, more

Key Points:

• The Virtual OS Museum, created by developer Andrew Warkentin, offers over 1,700 pre-installed operating systems and standalone applications spanning more than 250 platforms and roughly 600 distinct OSes from 1948 to today.
• The project is available in two versions: a full 121GB offline download with everything pre-installed, and a lighter 14GB version that downloads virtual machine images on first use, both supporting automatic and manual updates.
• The collection includes a wide range of systems, from early mainframes like Manchester Baby and EDSAC, through minicomputers, Unix variants, home computers, personal computer OSes, mobile and embedded systems, to obscure research OSes.
• While some emulated systems may not run perfectly and the host VM is currently limited to x86 platforms (affecting performance on ARM-based devices like Apple silicon Macs), the project is a valuable resource for exploring computing history.
• The Virtual OS Museum provides detailed instructions and resources for macOS, Windows, and Linux users on its website, making it accessible for enthusiasts and researchers interested in vintage and obscure operating systems.