Want to use ClarisCAD, iMac G4 (OS6) has died

You could of course just get another antique Mac, but if you have something newer, you can try SheepShaver:

https://sheepshaver.cebix.net/

That allows at least some Classic Mac apps to run under relatively recent versions of macOS. You can find current builds and information here:

https://www.emaculation.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=7360&sid=c02c938916301e3470d3e887468e00fb

Whether it will run ClarisCAD I don't know. Might I ask why you still want to run ClarisCAD rather than any of the much newer and properly supported CAD systems?

Regards.

I understand you want to use (continue to use?) ClarisCad. Wow! Okay. 🙂

Bad news first: There is no good way to continue to run ClarisCAD on Mac.

You iMac G4 was a model year 2002-2003 and the latest version macOS it could run was 10.5.8 Leopard.

ClarisCAD ran only on Classic Mac OS.

The last Mac OS to support Classic mode was 10.4 Tiger.

I'm inclined to believe the best way would be to obtain another iMac of like vintage and reinstall the software you need. Will require installation disks for OS X, Classic OS and the application. Difficult at best? If you have those for your current installation that'll be the only good news here.

I'm aware there are emulators - Parallels, VMWare for example - that can be used on more modern hardware, but someone with knowledge of running Tiger and/or Classic OS in emulation will have to speak to that.

I'd suggest finding a way to access your old CCAD files with a more modern drafting program, running on newer hardware. I know Claris software was popular in the day. A quick search on the webz, though, suggest that even thirteen years ago, importing CCAD was difficult. That file format hasn't aged well, I suspect. If this is successful there will be a learning curve on multiple levels.

Old, but worth a read: http://cad-3d.blogspot.com/2013/03/digital-archeology-recovering-old.html

The good news: 🦗🦗

Wikipedia – Claris CAD

Released in 1989 for Macs running System Software 6 or later. It looks as though Apple (or Claris) discontinued it before the first PowerPC-based Macs came out, and as though PowerPC-based Macs ran it using 68K emulation.

Allan Jones wrote:

I'm pretty sure it had OS6

The first iMac G4 shipped with macOS 9 and macOS 10.0.4. Mac OS 10.6 cannot run on a G4, so I don't think you had that version.

The reference to "OS6" may be to System Software 6 – the version of classic Mac OS that Claris CAD required. The iMac G4 could not have run System Software 6 – though it might have been able to run applications which required System Software 6 under 68K emulation using Mac OS 9.* or the Classic environment.

The earliest version of Mac OS that ran on PowerPC-based Macs seems to have been System Software 7.5.

When Apple introduced the PowerMac 7100/66 in March 1994, it came with classic Mac OS 7.1.2 but could run up to 9.1. The 7100/80 model required 7.5 through 9.1.

The bad news about painting oneself into a corner with archaic software and hardware is that the current versions of GraphicConverter 12, CadIntosh 8, or LibreOffice v24.8.2 cannot import the old Claris Cad files.

Was this running on Classic MacOs or OSX?

Search eBay for a machine that can run it.

I'm pretty sure it had OS6

The first iMac G4 shipped with macOS 9 and macOS 10.0.4. Mac OS 10.6 cannot run on a G4, so I don't think you had that version.