(Again, don't jump down my throat if I'm wrong, it's been a while since I owned the spectre) Macs used to use CLV (constant linear velocity) type drives (drive speed changed depending on what track you were reading), whereas everyone else used CAV (Constant angular velocity) (drive speed stayed the same), but that's Jobs for ya, always had to do something different. There's another one called Magic Hat, but the Spectre GCR was infinately cooler because (and please correct me if I am wrong, it's been a LONG TIME) you could just put mac formatted disks in your ST drive with the Spectre, but you could not with the magic hat (you had to convert the mac format to something the st could read).

^ Spectre GCR, Finally a MacIntosh for 'the rest of us', by Kevin Steele, February 1990, Northern Ohio Atari Helpers (N.O.A.H.I had one, it was really cool, hardest part was getting a copy of the mac system roms.

^ SMALL'S SPECTRE GCR: A NEW MAC, By David Plotkin, START VOL.

^ Mac Emulation: SPECTRE GCR, Atari Mega STE, Page Web de Guillaume TELLO.^ Mac and PC On The ST 3 Computers in 1- For Real?, BY DAVID PLOTKIN, START VOL.^ MAGIC SAC PROFESSIONAL, ST's MacEmulator is better than ever, Reviewed by Jim Pierson-Perry, ANTIC VOL.^ Spectre gcr By David Small, Posted Tue AtariAge Forums.Taught Atari ST to be a Macintosh (Spectre GCR). ^ Name David Small, Location Denver, Colorado.David Small Says: OctoHi, I did the Spectre GCR. ^ One Response to “Spectre GCR – I ain’t afraid of no ghost”, 1.Although Spectre GCR runs in 1MB of memory, 2MB or more is recommended. The manual claims the speed to be 20% faster than an actual Mac Plus with a 30% larger screen area and resolution. The Spectre GCR plugs into the cartridge slot and floppy port, and modifies the frequency of the data to/from the single-speed floppy drive of the Atari ST, allowing it to read Macintosh GCR format discs which require a multi-speed floppy drive. The emulator runs best with a high-resolution monochrome monitor, such as Atari's own SM124, but will run on color displays by either displaying a user-selectable half of the Macintosh screen, or missing out alternate lines to fit the lower resolution color display.

This avoids any legal issues of copying Apple's software. The Spectre GCR requires the owner to provide official Apple Macintosh 128K ROMs and Macintosh Operating System 6.0.8 disks. It is Small's third Macintosh emulator for the ST, replacing his previous Magic Sac and Spectre 128.

Designed by David Small and sold through his company Gadgets by Small, it allows the Atari ST to run most Macintosh software. The hardware consists of a cartridge that plugs into the Atari ST's cartridge port and a cable that connects between the cartridge and one of the floppy ports on the ST. The Spectre GCR is a hardware and software package for the Atari ST computers.

Mac atari emulator