Need to buy software for your new Mac

If you have one of the old but still excellent Nikon Coolscan like the 5000 ED you cannot run the original scanner software build for PowerPC G3 or G4 on your new Intel Mac. One solution is to buy up-to-date software like

• VueScan for about $80
• Silverfish AI Studio for about EUR 450

But there is a simple way to make the Windows-Version of the Nikon scanner run on your new Mac: Use a windows virtual machine and up-to-date drivers for the scanner.

or installing a virtual machine on your Mac

This is what I did:

1. Install a virtual machine that supports USB2.0 running Windows. I used VirtualBox 5.1.14 and Windows 10:
   1. Install VirtualBox:
      1. VirtualBox platform packages for OS X host
      2. VirtualBox Oracle VM VirtualBox Extension Pack
   2. Get and install a Windows 7, 8, 10 license, CD or Image in the Virtual Box
2. Configure a folder on your MacOS for usage in the virtual box for windows. Here you will later store your scanned images. I run MacOS 10.11.6 (15G1217) on a MacMini with 1 TB SSD and 4 TB HDD.   [I will add some screenshots later.]
3. Configure the Device and USB 2.0 connection of your Nikon scanner for exclusiveusage in Virtual Box. [I will add some screenshots later.]
4. Install the Windows version of VueScan (Demo is enough) on your virtual Windows. This will install the most current driver for the Nikon scanner. Test with VueScan if your scanner is available and do a test scan. I used VueScan 9.5.70.
5. Install the Windows version of original Nikon Scan software on your virtual Windows. I used Nikon Scan 4.0.3.

and getting great usability

as the virtual box behaves like a screen you can switch between Windows and MacOS very naturally. The Nikon Scan software runs just fine: quick and now problems with clock-rate or driver settings.