HyperZebra

It is an environment for running and editing HyperCard stacks. You can display their cards and pictures and edit their contents and scripts.

You can make picture books, quizzes, and simple games. There is no feature for turning a stack into a standalone application or exporting it to the web.

You can import HyperCard-format stacks, display their cards and pictures, and edit them. HyperTalk and external commands are supported, but compatibility is not complete and depends on the features a stack uses.

HyperZebra adds color painting, editable shapes, gradients, and SVG import. It also includes panels for grouping elements, table and outline fields for displaying data, JSON, and regular expressions.

HyperZebra saves a stack as a single .hzb file that opens with a double-click and can be copied or sent like any other document. .hzb folders made by earlier versions still open. You can also export in HyperCard format, but HyperZebra-specific features such as its color features do not carry over. Keep both the original stack and the working .hzb file.

Classic Mac files may contain a resource fork that holds pictures, sounds, and other information separately from the regular data. Preserve it when moving files. Without it, a file may fail to open or some of its contents may be missing.

HyperZebra is a Java application for macOS, Windows, and Linux. Application packages that include a Java runtime do not require a separate Java installation.

HyperZebra itself is free to use and is released under the MIT License. Stacks and classic Mac applications have their own terms of use and distribution.

It runs supported applications made for classic Mac OS on a present-day computer. HyperZebra provides the Mac services these applications use, including windows, menus, drawing, sound, and file operations, on the host operating system.

Classic Mac OS itself is not running. To accommodate software that checks the OS version, HyperZebra reports “9.2.2,” the final version of Mac OS 9, when applications ask. This is a compatibility response; it does not mean that Mac OS 9.2.2 has been booted.

The compatibility layer targets 68K and PowerPC applications made for Mac OS 9 and earlier versions of Mac OS. Actual compatibility depends on the application version and the features it uses.

Applications that require Mac OS X do not run. Many system extensions also cannot run because of how they interact with the system.

HyperZebra emulates 68K and PowerPC CPU instructions and handles the Mac Toolbox and system-library calls made by applications. The compatibility environment combines CPU emulation with implementations of the Mac services applications need.

No. HyperZebra provides the Mac services needed to run applications without booting a complete classic Mac OS installation. Some applications may still require additional extensions or libraries.

Open its file from the launcher or drag and drop it onto the launcher. You can reopen applications from the history and register them in the dock.

Compatibility varies with the application, its version, and the features used. Applications that require unsupported system services or direct hardware access may have problems starting, displaying content, or responding to input. Even when an application starts, features such as editing and saving need to be checked individually.

Text and pictures can be exchanged through the host OS clipboard. Supported text and image files can also be converted, with settings for saving UTF-8 text and PNG images. Application-specific document formats depend on the application.

Some classic Mac files require a resource fork containing program code, pictures, or other data. Preserve it when copying files, including when moving them to Windows or Linux. HyperZebra supports MacBinary and resource information stored in ._filename sidecar files.

You can open supported disk images, including Disk Copy formats and HFS, HFS Plus, and MFS volumes. Applications can access their contents as read-only disks. Extract the contents to a folder if you need to modify them.

Some supported extensions and control panels can be used. HyperZebra has a virtual “System Folder” for extensions and preference files. Whether a particular component works depends on the system services it requires.

Yes. Place supported classic Mac font suitcases in the “Fonts” folder inside the virtual “System Folder.” Bitmap fonts and TrueType fonts contained in suitcases are supported. Preserve the resource forks when copying old fonts.

Use Application Settings to adjust screen size, color depth, zoom, and execution speed. Settings are saved per application, so games and productivity applications can use different configurations. Restart an application after changing settings that take effect at launch.

HyperZebra includes compatibility implementations of QuickDraw 3D, RAVE, and OpenGL 1.2.1 for classic Mac 3D games that use them. Rendering is performed in software inside HyperZebra. Compatibility and speed depend on the game’s features and the performance of the host computer.

You can change the appearance of windows, scrollbars, and buttons with Kaleidoscope.

I started from the HyperCard clone I had been developing around 2012 and asked AI to continue its development. AI has carried out 100% of that subsequent development.

I started with GPT-5.6 Sol, then mainly used Opus5 and Opus5.5. I used the ChatGPT Plus and Claude Max5 plans.

I kept asking AI to implement features as I thought of them. For larger features, I mainly broke the work into pieces the AI could implement and had it work through them in order. To improve compatibility, I also had AI run a large number of HyperCard stacks and classic Mac applications.