The only way to run Apple II software on a Macintosh is to use an emulator or hardware add-on (like the LC IIe card). To my knowledge, there never was a IIgs emulator for 68k Macs. Even if there was, it would never be able to handle copy protected software (which the schools used plenty of). The LC IIe card did allow you to run copy protected software, but it did not run Apple IIgs software.

Click to expand...

Apple created a PPC IIgs emulator called GUS, but it is unclear whether this was an official project or work done in free time. I doubt whether any 68K Mac has the power to emulate a IIgs in a meaningful way, and the limited sound capability in hardware would have made things even more difficult. However, I can't see why copy protected software would have been a problem. The 1.44MB SuperDrive emulated an 800KB drive very well, and the differences between a IIgs 800KB drive (M0131) and a IIe 800KB Unidisk are much greater than an M0131 and anything in a Mac.

Overall, I agree with II2II. When looking at the cost of computers, many people shortsightedly ignore the cost of updating software and retraining people. These costs are significant in education, so the longevity of the II family is unsurprising.