It’s bizarre to think about, but the Mac ecosystem has influenced a lot about the way we use computers, in part because of all these software tools that can be used to this day on a G4 Mac Mini. Me Photoshopping screenshots of some of the apps I used on this thing. ‎Read reviews, compare customer ratings, see screenshots, and learn more about PPC Sync. Download PPC Sync for macOS 10.11 or later and enjoy it on your Mac. The PPCAppStore is a software distribution platform, for PowerPC macs, compatible with MacOS 10.4 Tiger, MacOS 10.5 Leopard and MacOS 10.6 SnowLeopard OS. It allows users to download essential applications to keep their PowerPC macs alive.

1. And NeoOffice isn’t the fastest app, but it sure as hell beats Word in price, Mac-friendly design, and stability. Apps I Like – Skype – The ubiquitous VoIP app. Hangs a bit on login for me, but it’s got a skinnier interface and better call quality and is more internationally-friendly than Gizmo.
2. Since August 2016, it is now possible to emulate a PPC and boot Mac OS 9.2.2 using QEMU! Quick tip about Basilisk II if you do not have a real old Mac: it even reads high density Mac floppy disks using a normal PC floppy drive! I salvaged many old files using it while 5 different Windows apps.

There is a simple solution to the mentioned SS video problem:
- startup with extension off;
- after OS9 has finished starting up, select your preferred video resolution using the Monitor control panel;
- reboot.
From now on, SS will boot the emulated Mac without video problems.

Thanks. Also, the new binary of SheepSaver (version 2.3-0.20060514.1) works 'out of the box'.

I am just curious how fast this emulation is on dual core Intel Macs--- I imagine it could be wicked fast, running old PPC apps faster than G4s ever did. Yes? No? Maybe?

No, unfortunately. Unlike the transition from 68k to PowerPC, the new architecture is not Wicked Fast™. Most of the performance increases seen in the new machines have little to do with the main processor, but rather with the FSB, DDR2 RAM, PCI Express, SATA, &c.
Perhaps when Conroe, Morem, &c. come out the difference will be more significant.
JP
---
Pell

Is there a way to use 9.2.2 with Sheepsaver? That's the only install disc I have (that came with my PowerMac).

Sorry for the busted links to ROM-grabber and TomeView. Here are a couple that work:
http://homepage3.nifty.com/toshi3/data/Rom-grabber.sit
http://virtual.haru.gs/tomeview.hqx

I'm curious what essential Classic apps folks are still running.

Essential apps:
Oxford English Dictionary (set up to run from a CD image instead of the original CD)
Lexis-Nexis (much faster than the web interface)
WordPerfect (sometimes)
And most important and productivity-ruining of all -
The old AfterDark Stained Glass module, using the MacDim AD launcher (see my hint about this somewhere else on the site).
It's the last one that I'm really going to miss on an Intel Mac...

Lots of custom software is needed to configure or operate older hardware. The devices may still be in use but the control computer has failed. In my case, I don't want to carry around an old laptop to occasionally configure an older device.
Does anyone know if a classic app running in these emulators can use a USB-serial adaptor?
Thanks

Lots of old Ambrosia software games!
Maelstrom, Escape Velocity, Mars Rising, Apeiron
I can't cope with all this Doom stuff!

Indeed. I'm still occasionally playing Fool's Errand and the original Myst. Except for that, I can't remember the last time I used Classic to actually accomplish anything.

Yeah, games are about all I ever run in Classic, too!

I still run Civilization 2 (sue me, that's the version I like!), and I just get a hankerin' to run Future Cop sometimes, which was a kick-butt game that never got the marketing it deserved. It even came out for the Mac before the PC (in 1998!).

Neither of these games, AFAIK, will ever be updated to OS X. As long as I can play these games, I will, 'cause they're great games, so why all the hate about those of us who still keep a copy of Classic around?

SimTower. :-D
JP
---
Pell

quarkxpress 4.0 along with a ton of custom developed software for it. the expense and time to re-develop the code for use with the current version of quark would be out of proportion with the benefit gained. xpress 4.0 runs perfectly for what i use it for.
i'll be following and researching how to run classic apps on the intel chips very closely before i can purchase any for the shop.
---
if it aint broke, break it!

Virtual TimeClock 2.5. I know that there are dozens of Time-recording applications available for OS X, but they all require entry of clients, projects, tasks, or other endless information for which I have no need. Virtual TimeClock does one thing, simply--it works like a regular punchclock, allowing me to clock-in/clock-out for the day and for breaks, and totals my time entries and overtime. There is a Pro version for OS X, but it costs $129--the one I have cost me $29 years ago. Until someone comes up with a replacement, I'll keep using this one.

Oops! That's $195 for Virtual TimeClock Pro.

Those are some interesting replies. I'm just confused how someone can have the money to buy an intel machine, but no money to upgrade software. How about you upgrade that software first?
I do understand about needing old software to control even older hardware. But again, how about some hardware upgrades?
OS 9 has been dead for 4 years, lets all let it go.

It is quite possible for software upgrades to total MORE than the cost of new hardware. Software can be VERY expensive. I got a font editor for less than a hundred bucks 20 years ago. Now it's several hundred, and doesn't even have all the features of the old software. I am planning to use vMac to run FONTastic Plus 2.0.2 and other System 6 software which to this day still have no OS X equivalent. Apple's killing of OS 9 does not magically make new and affordable software appear. Hey, I wish it did.

Over the last 20 years I have written literally hundreds of HyperCard apps that are indispensable to my research. Most of them use specialized externals that will not work with the various HC replacements that have come out since Apple dropped HC. I also need to use a genetic mapping program called ACeDB. There is a OS X version but it would require that I redo much of my data AND modify the HC scripts I use to generate the data file in the first place.

This is probably verboten, but how does one get a copy of 9.0.4? I have a CD of 9.2.2, but tossed any version of 9 before that ('Ha! Won't need THOSE anymore!'). It's frustrating since I have a valid license to use OS 9 (several, actually); I just want to use an older version.

eBay

If you have valid licenses, then LimeWire might be your friend. Be careful not to download anything you don't have a license for! ;-)
JP
---
Pell

Lew, I could afford a new machine every year, the cost is trivial compared to the number of hours invested in writing software. It is a matter of the number of hours invested in writing software. I have spent 20 years programming hypercard stacks for various psychology research projects. The time involved learning new programming languages and compilers then redoing much of this work would take me about 5 - 6 years if I worked on it non stop. I have more important things to do with my time. It is sad, I have gone from teaching in a university department buying about 30 macs a year to surrendering to use microsh**t platform for all but my individual research simply because the lack of backwards compatability and steves hubris in junking hypercard. The Gee wizz look what new macs can do focus has completely stuffed many in education and research. We do not have the time resources to cope with new platforms and are faced with a choice of hours wasted rewriting software or abandoning macs for windows because of the central support that is offered.

That is why those of you in the academic departments should push for Intel mac development because the systems themselves can be put together for around 500$ a piece keyboard, mouse, and monitor plus a p4 with HT, 1gb of DDR ram, 80gb HD, and DVD/RW- at that price that is the best deal there is. I am sorry to say also all of the enthusiasm for this new operating system has made it one of the most well documented ones in my opinion of fixing computers for the last 12 years. Unix outperforms Linux and Windows as a server OS- it always has and the mach kernel is a testament to that. The real problem is the government is forcing the university system to adopt 'active directory' as its networking standard. That alone has forced you into the situation that you are in. If there was some way for you to make agreements with the univeristy to allow you to use offsite computers in your research than the sky would be the limit as you would not be constrained to those requirements (or you can lie and say that you are following them). Who knows...I just think that in the future windows will be something that only children will use.

I've built a complete SheepShaver install, including _everything_ needed to run, as well as the last version of WordPerfect and several utilities. To download this 243mb image, go to http://groups.yahoo.com/group/wordperfectmac, to the Links section, to the 'SheepShaver and Basilisk' folder, and click 'SheepShaver-WordPerfect Install'. It's about 20 minutes on a fast connection.
Enjoy,
John

John,
your downloadable disk image + installer guide are terrific.
it díd take less than 20 minutes to get a classic environment running on my intel MacBook. Very well done. Thank you.

Thank you.
I have downloaded and installed your wonderful little present.. now...
how do I get it to use classic apps - where do I put them to install them etc... PLEASE help me, I'm almost there.. after months of struggling.
I also get a message that says 'The result of a numeric operation was too large' should I worry about that?
and, thanks again.

John,
your downloadable disk image + installer guide are terrific.
it díd take less than 20 minutes to get a classic environment running on my intel MacBook. Very well done. Thank you.

I can run SimCity 200 & Pinballthrillride again, not to mention the software from the macintosh gardens? Yipee!

I'm going through all this trauma just to be able to run Claris Homepage and a wonderful little game called War of Flowers.

Unfortunately SheepSaver just doesn't work. You can't write to any drive, you can't read any of your drives, you can't read firewire drives. It's just... bad.

Let me just highlight the circular logic every single Sheep Saver instruction page seems more than happy to gloss over:
1) To install OS9 start up your already installed OS9 and extract your ROM.
2) FTW?

Running a PPC campaign is a lot of work, but thankfully there is a whole ton of software to take the strain. With such great choice, however, it can be hard knowing which is the best software to use for your PPC success.

PPC management software can be the difference between a successful and cost effective campaign, or blowing your budget on nothing. And as it’s a full time job managing even a relatively small PPC campaign, these software packages can pay for themselves pretty quickly.

We’ve taken a look at a software to manage your digital marketing recently, so if you’re looking at how to optimise your SEO or social media campaigns, take a look.

In this post, we’ll be looking exclusively at the best software to manage PPC campaigns in 2020. We’re not going to make this an exhaustive list, as there are plenty of those out there. Instead, we’ll focus on which PPC management software packages we think are the best in class.

If you’re looking at the best PPC tools to optimise your paid ad campaigns, you might be wondering how these packages can work for you and what are the main things they cover.

What does PPC management software cover?

You’ll probably already know how much planning and analysis is involved in with PPC campaign management. It might be switching up your bids, adjusting under-performing keywords, fixing your quality score or compiling reports on performance.

The PPC management software options on this list tackle a fairly comprehensive spread of issues that you might run into, with some of them being quite broad in their coverage.

• Optimisation suggestions
• In-depth data insights and analysis
• Quality score tracking
• SEO and SERP rank tracking
• Workflow management
• Competitor analysis
• Click tracking and ad fraud prevention

That’s a lot of stuff to take into consideration for any given PPC campaign. But, you’re reading this so you’re obviously trying to work out which of these challenges can be solved in a cost effective way…

Enough rambling. You’ve come here to find out which is the best PPC management software, so let’s get to it.

The best PPC management software 2020

1. Adzooma

Probably one of the most full featured and useful of the PPC management software packages, Adzooma has become the go to package for marketers, especially those managing campaigns in house for SMEs or startups. But is it really that good? Well, put simply; yeah it is.

Using Adzooma is like having a PPC expert working in your office (although you don’t have to take it on team building weekends and it doesn’t doesn’t need heroic amounts of quality coffee to keep going).

Adzooma uses machine learning to optimise your PPC campaigns and takes the guesswork out of things such as managing your budget, adjusting bidding strategies, keyword opportunities and analysis and insight.

To really list all of the features of Adzooma would take up too much space here, but needless to say, if you’re looking at what can make your PPC optimisation job easier, it’s probably this… What’s more, it works for your PPC campaigns on Google, Facebook and Microsoft Ads.

What we like about Adzooma is that it has a great UI, which is very intuitive and easy to understand. It then makes suggestions which you can action at the press of a button, or, if you prefer to understand what is happening yourself, you can do it manually.

The whole thing can manage multiple PPC campaigns, and can do in minutes what might normally take you hours. If you’re a smaller PPC agency, in-house marketing manager, or a freelance PPC advisor, we think Adzooma will pay for itself pretty quickly.

Prices: From US$44.50/€49 per month

Free trial available? Yes

2. Google Analytics

Of course Google make one of the best PPC tools for managing your campaigns. After all, the more success you have with your PPC, the more money you’re likely to spend. So what makes Google Analytics such a valuable PPC management software package?

Simply, it offers an incredibly in-depth look at your site visitors and allows you to understand where your traffic is coming from, and behaviours during their visit. View things like bounce rates or the most viewed pages, location of visitors and even things like their demographics/interests.

If you want to understand how your site is performing, what is attracting visitors and what isn’t working, you’ll probably use Analytics.

And if that wasn’t a deal clincher, how about…

Price: Free

Best Ppc Mac Apps For Beginners

3. Optmyzr

To confuse matters here, Optmyzr is a similar package to Adzooma, offering comprehensive management of your PPC campaigns. So, what sets it apart from its competitor?

One answer to that question is, price. With Optmyzr starting at $224 per month, it’s definitely more expensive than Adzooma’s offering. Although it is undoubtedly one of the best PPC tools, it’s not aimed at SME’s in particular, but marketing agencies looking for a solid tool to do handle their PPC management across multiple campaigns.

So what do you get for the extra payout? One of the most useful features is an automated A/B testing feature, which helps you manage a stack of campaigns and extract the best performing. There is also a historical quality score tracker, which is a unique feature that can be very useful.

The platform uses machine learning to optimise it’s recommendations and improve suggestions for your campaigns. There are also regular updates and new features rolled out, plus the all important analysis and insights.

With Optmyzr you can also automate setting up multiple campaigns, doing your keyword research and fix issues with your campaigns with one click. If you’re an enterprise level PPC marketer, you’re probably wondering about getting Optmyzr vs Adzooma.

Is there a straight answer? It might come down to the volume of clients you’re handling, with Optmyzr better suited to larger portfolios, with 25 accounts for starters.

Price: From $249 per month for up to 25 ad accounts

Free trial? Yes – 14 days

4. Report Garden

As any digital marketer worth their salt knows, insight and analysis is one of the most invaluable factors when running a PPC campaign. Report Garden is one of the most fully featured PPC tools, offering plenty of options for different data and displays.

With an easy to use UI, you can create reports for your clients or for your own consumption, with nice visual features such as charts and graphs. It’s also quite simple to set up an ongoing automated report to whomever needs to see it, so that the person paying for that PPC campaign can see at a glance what is going on.

When managing multiple PPC campaigns across multiple platforms, Report Garden can aggregate all of this data into one platform, minimising your chances for headaches.

Get insights from Google Analytics, Facebook Insight, Mailchimp, Taboola, and Twitter or Linkedin Ads (among others) and see how effective your campaigns are at a glance. Report Garden also allows you to display your data as either a presentation (such as PowerPoint), or convert the information to a PDF or other easily shareable files.

If cutting the time it takes to put together a report is something you’d happily pay money for, then Report Garden is definitely going to be one of the best PPC tools for you…

Price: From $250 per month (10 clients, unlimited reports)

Free trial: Yes – 7 days

5. SEM Rush

One of the most fully featured digital marketing software tools, SEM Rush is hard to beat for a lot of research analysis options. When it comes to things like keyword research or content ideas, it’s a solid tool that justifies it’s price tag. But how can it help you with managing your PPC campaigns?

As a competitor research tool, SEM Rush is a very solid option. Analyse your website content, research and find keywords, check on your competitors traffic and understand how to build more traffic (both paid and organic).

As if that isn’t enough, SEM Rush offers a pretty nice PPC Advertising Toolkit, which is quite full featured. Offering pretty in depth market analysis, a funky keyword finding tool and some best in class keyword tracking, you can’t accuse SEM Rush of not providing value for money.

In fact, working for a digital marketing agency, or a large company, you’ll easily get your money’s worth with SEM Rush. SME’s might not see the value in it as a PPC tool, particularly in the early days, but make no mistake that this is a mighty piece of kit for all manner of online research and optimisation.

Price: From $99.95 per month, for one user and up to 500 keywords to track

Free trial: Yes, 7 days

6. iSpionage

While we’re on the subject of competitor research tools, let’s take a look at iSpionage, which fits more specifically under the PPC management software heading. This is a more focused tool than SEM Rush, built specifically for competitor research and with some very useful features to help maximise your PPC campaign results.

If you’ve been wondering how your competitors can do that, iSpionage might have the answers. For example, it can identify the keywords used by your competitors, their monthly budget and even get an insight into how they manage their PPC campaigns.

You’ll also be able to access competitor keywords, and sort them by most effective or profitable. And with iSpionage’s unique AIE metric (Ad Effectiveness Index), you can even work out which keywords you should be targeting yourself…

If that’s not enough, you’ll also be able to check a list of your competitors SEO search terms, get updates if your competitors change their strategy and analyse landing pages and funnel journeys.

Price: From $59 per month

Free trial? You can sign up for a free account, with 10 free reports per day and 3 free alerts

7. Leadpages

There are a lot of options when it comes to landing page building software, but we think Leadpages just about shades the competition. And when it comes to building an effective PPC campaign, a good landing page is one of the most critical points.

So, why Leadpages? There are just a few little extras that make it slightly more worth the money. And as you’ve seen, almost all of these PPC management software packages cost a few pennies per month, so getting value for money is a deal breaker.

Like all the landing page builders, you can drag and drop and easily design your perfect landing page. Add CTA buttons, customise the colours and easily customise images and videos.

Leadpages goes one up over Unbounce with the extra templates available, offering 160 templates to Unbounce’s 125. Yes, not all of these are usuable (on both platforms) with some requiring an extra spend to access.

Best Ppc Advertising

Beyond landing pages, you can also create pop-ups and opt-in forms, and easily create A/B test versions of your landing pages. This last feature is an extra on Unbounce, so this could be your sweet deal maker.

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Price: $25 per month for one site and free hosting.

Free trial? 14 days

8. ClickCease

Running a PPC campaign is hard enough, without having to worry about whether or not your audience is actually a mafia run botnet or a competitor who is trying to manipulate your ad spend. But when you consider that around 25% of internet traffic is fraudulent, from bots to click farms, it is indeed something you need to worry about.

Yes, you read that right. Up to 25% of your PPC ad spend is being spent on non-genuine internet traffic.

Click fraud prevention software such as ClickCease is designed to ensure you don’t miss out on your intended audience. By proactively preventing fraudulent clicks, using click fraud prevention software means there is little or no disruption to your PPC ad campaign, and no need to chase up Google for your invalid click refund.

As far as PPC management software goes, using click fraud prevention is becoming more important, with the amount of fraudulent traffic growing annually.

Using machine learning and a whole stack of algorithms, ClickCease detects suspicious IP addresses, VPNs, geo-locations and bot behaviour. We also collect data on keywords, campaigns and locations that are subject to fraudulent behaviour.

In 2020, if you’re running a PPC campaign, you shouldn’t be without click fraud prevention software too…

Price: $15 for up to 1000 clicks on 1 domain

Free trial? Yes, up to 14 days

Best PPC tools for the job?

This is literally the tip of the iceberg when it comes to PPC tools, and you’ll find endless lists of the best PPC management software (with new additions every month!). Of course, it depends on your requirements, but we think that each of these are a worthy addition to your PPC tool kit.

Choosing your PPC tools will depend mostly on the size of the job in hand and the budget you’re dealing with. As an agency or large business handling thousands of dollars a month in ad spend, almost all of the above will be essential purchases.

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Those managing SMEs and startups may be wondering where their money is best spent for the best tools for the job. We’d highly recommend Adzooma and Leadpages if nothing else when getting started. But we think SEM Rush is great, and of course our own service, ClickCease; both of these are tools that become more important as your business grows.