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I have suddenly come into a dire need to run PowerPC apps.

My understand is that Lion will never support 32-but PPC code. It seems like the only solution, therefore, is to install Snow Leopard.

My MacBook Pro was the last to come bundled with the Snow Leopard DVDs. Is it possible to use those to install it on a new partition? And if so, can I use Boot Camp?

I know that Boot Camp supports Windows, and I have Windows 7 installed. But I don't know if it supports Snow Leopard. Also, it would be great to know if my Snow Leopard license covers this kind of usage.

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  • Doesn't the Windows 7 on your macbook already support PowerPC?
    – user43011
    Commented Feb 16, 2013 at 3:51
  • Install on an external drive just as you would any other.
    – Thorbjørn Ravn Andersen
    Commented Apr 23, 2018 at 11:33

1 Answer 1

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Is this on your MacBook Pro? If so, the disks should work both legally and pragmatically. You wouldn't need to use bootcamp though, since bootcamp is designed just for Windows. Nevertheless, it's pretty easy. Here are the basic steps I would follow:

  1. Insert your install DVD. Shutdown your computer.
  2. Start your computer pressing the C key to boot from the DVD.
  3. Once in the installation assistant, go to Disk Utility under Utilities > Disk Utility.
  4. Select your disk. Select the Partition tab and click on the "+" to add a new one. Call it whatever you please, add at least 10GB of disk space (enough to install Snow Leopard), and make sure it's in Mac OS Extended (Journaled).
  5. Apply the settings. Go through the installer like you normally would, though when it asks you where to install it, tell it you want the Snow Leopard to be on your new partition.

This should let you boot on Snow Leopard by pressing the opt/alt key, just like when you boot Windows.

Hope it helps! Any other thing you need fear not comment.

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  • This seems like good advice, thanks! Yes it's on my MBP, forgot to mention. One question: let's assume I then want to DELETE the Snow Leopard partition. I can't just do it from the Disk Utility in Lion can I? It will still have an entry in the boot manager
    – Redandwhite
    Commented Sep 8, 2011 at 22:28
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    I don't know an exact answer to this new question, though I would like to point out OSX's doesn't use normal BIOS to boot the system, but rather an EFI, removing the need of a boot loader. On windows, for example, you have boot.ini, which is a file managed by the OS (Windows) that is used to boot. So you turn on your computer, the file is read, and vuala.
    – kevin9794
    Commented Sep 9, 2011 at 1:02
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    On mac there isn't such thing: the EFI is a firmware, like a standalone "application", OS independent, that "looks" for things to boot. I'm guessing if you reformat the partition it would would be enough, though if you really want a better answer perhaps opening another question would be your best option, in the hopes someone more specialized on that matter can answer more clearly. Hope it helps though!
    – kevin9794
    Commented Sep 9, 2011 at 1:02
  • So EFI "looks" for bootable partitions... interesting. I only ask because back when I had a Dell, deleting a bootable partition wasn't enough. Grub, under Linux, is far better, but prone to corruption. Once or twice I've had to reinstall the Windows boot manager and therefore lost Grub. Thanks for the info!
    – Redandwhite
    Commented Sep 9, 2011 at 15:34
  • No problem. :) please don't forget to mark the answer as correct :D
    – kevin9794
    Commented Sep 9, 2011 at 21:33

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