Rosetta (binary translation software)
PowerPC application (Microsoft Word for Mac 2004) running on OS X for Intel
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| Developer(s) | Apple Inc. |
|---|---|
| Operating system | Mac OS X 10.4.4–10.6.8 (Intel) |
| Type | PowerPC binary translation |
| Website | www |
Rosetta was a dynamic binary translator for Mac OS X that allowed many PowerPC applications to run on certain Intel-based Macintosh computers without modification. Apple released Rosetta in 2006 when it changed the instruction set architecture of the Macintosh platform from the PowerPC to the Intel processor. The name "Rosetta" is a reference to the Rosetta Stone, the discovery that made it possible to comprehend and translate Egyptian hieroglyphs.
Rosetta is based on QuickTransit technology. It has no graphical user interface, which led Apple to describe Rosetta as "the most amazing software you'll never see."
Rosetta was initially included with Mac OS X v10.4.4 "Tiger", the version that was released with the first Intel-based Macintosh models.
Rosetta is not installed by default in Mac OS X v10.6 "Snow Leopard", but can be retained as an option via the installer or Apple Software Update for users who need to run PowerPC applications.
Rosetta is neither included nor supported in Mac OS X v10.7 "Lion" or later. Therefore, with Lion and later releases, the current Macintosh platform does not support PowerPC applications.
Rosetta is part of Mac OS X for Intel operating systems prior to Lion. It translates G3, G4, and AltiVec instructions; however, it does not translate G5 instructions. Therefore, applications that rely on G5-specific instruction sets must be modified by their developers to work on Rosetta-supported Intel-based Macs. According to Apple, applications with heavy user interaction but low computational needs (such as word processors) are well suited to translation via Rosetta, while applications with high computational needs (such as , games, or Adobe Photoshop) are not. Pre-existing PowerPC versions of Apple "Pro" media-production applications (such as Final Cut Pro, Motion, Aperture, and Logic Pro) are not supported by Rosetta and require a "crossgrade" to a universal binary version to work on Rosetta-supported Intel-based Macs.
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