Apple IIe Emulation Suggestions

[Ben Parnin]

Hello SPN community,  

We have some software in one of our collections that was configured for an Apple IIe computer. Does anyone have any recommendations, resources, or experiences for Apple IIe emulation they would be willing to share? 

 

Thanks,

Ben Parnin 

Archivist for Digital Preservation | Purdue University

[Ethan Gates]

Hi Ben,

I don't have much direct experience to compare them, but I try to keep track of actively-developed or supported options here (along with many other resources that may be of use). You can probably narrow down your options based on:

1. what host system(s) you need to run on (AppleWin is popular for Windows, and its fork LinApple likewise on Linux; Virtual II is Mac-only and also requires licensing beyond an evaluation version; MicroM8 is the most broadly cross-platform but also a little finicky to set up on Mac or Linux and it has some truly unique GUI/interface design, I love it but YMMV)

2. how much it matters to specifically emulate a IIe versus a later, compatible model like the IIGS; AFAIK the GS was supposed to be fully backwards-compatible with II/II+/IIe software but did have a very different interface (out of the IIGS options, I recall quite liking GSPlus' user-friendliness but I see it hasn't had a release since 2019 so may be tipping into unsupported territory)

Would be interested to hear back on your experiences or thoughts from what you end up trying!

Best,

Ethan

[Tyler Thorsted]

Hi Ben,

My experience is more on the Macintosh side of Apple, but I follow much of the Apple II community as well which is very active. Using an Applesauce is highly recommended for Apple II and Macintosh disks. They have a great support community and list a few emulators which are compatible with their WOZ format.

https://applesaucefdc.com/woz/

Tyler Thorsted

Brigham Young University

[Eric Kaltman]

Hi,

Just jumping in to support Ethan's big list! Also, AppleWin appears to be the most current of the dedicated emulators. Internet Archive uses MAME's "apple2ee" core to run Apple II images. The MAME Apple II driver support page was last updated in October 2025, so it might also be a good place to start with that system. 

Best,

Eric

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Eric