I am totally dismayed with GOG.com

Why there is NO mac version for the X-wing and TIE-fighter?

Lucasarts DID released X-wing and Tie-fighter version for mac in the 1990s.

Boohoo, get a good computer! ;)

give over
be glad the games are released at all

Wouldn't those versions be PowerPC ones, thus unable to run on current machines?
As for GOG's versions, it includes both the Dos and Windows ones, and the Dos versions should be playable through Boxer. No idea if the Windows versions can be played through WINE or not though.

I'm guessing Mac OS is not backwards compatible that far back? Yes/No ?

Mac back then is a totally different machine than current Macs. A few years back Apple decided to switch from PowerPC (AFAIR) to x86, which deems all previous software incompatible.

Windows sticks to x86 architecture, hence it is easier to run older Wind software on Windows (or Mac via wine) than old Mac soft on Mac.

Mac OS isn't backwards compatible. Just dual-boot. TIE-Fighter is worth it, dude.

If I get virtual PC application to run my Mac desktop imac, would that allow me to play x-wing and tie-fighter and other PC gog games on my mac??

I'm bogged down with loads of virual PC applications for my mac PLUS I am told that I have to purchased WINDOWS application to get my virtual PC application to run in my mac.

I do not know which is the best Virtual PC application for playing GOG PC games

Just get a Wineskin prepared for the games after you've installed on a VM. You can also just use Boxer for the Collector's CD-ROM versions, since most players want iMUSE.

I doubt those 90's Mac versions would run on modern Mac's.

As many have already pointed out (and as someone who owned both of the original Mac versions of X-Wing and TiE Fighter), the original Mac versions of X-Wing and TiE Fighter were for System 7.x-Mac OS 8/9. And for PPC Macs no less. The only way you'd get those to run is by actually having an old PPC Mac that supported System 7.5.x or OS 8, and had an ADB Joystick.

The Windows (1998) version of XW and TF reportedly don't work very well under WINE 1.5.x, but they may work under newer versions. But as I've just seen with TiE Fighter, they do give you the original DOS version, and there's no reason why it shouldn't work under Boxer (or your Mac DOSBox environment of choice). I'm in the process of creating a Wineskin wrapper to get at the DOS install files now, actually.

So in short, take a deep breath, and relax (and ignore the trolls). TiE Fighter and X-Wing should work just fine on your Mac if you use the DOS versions.

Edit: As expected, the DOS version works without issue in Boxer. It's like Christmas 1994, all over again.

Edit 2: I'm guessing that the reason why the 1994 DOS versions of XW and TF don't have Mac versions is due to licensing issues with Lucasfilm/Disney (e.g. the contract only covers official Windows releases). Again, there's no reason why you couldn't just play this in DOSBox (either on OS X or on Linux).

Seriously, I can't believe the idiots that are down-repping this guy.

The 90's versions were compatible with Mac System 7. So, you have to have one of the Classic OSes (7, 8, maybe 9), then you have to run it in an emulator, which is unreliable, plus there are other files you need to hunt down to make everything work at least semi-properly. I'm by no means an expert, but I have the old Mac versions of these games and had looked into how to get them to run and eventually gave up. They might run on one of the OSes that still support Classic (10.4 or lower), but unsure on that.

The point is, in order for GOG to offer the Mac versions, they'd have to actually work, which is a long shot and then there are the licensing issues with Apple in order to be allowed to emulate. No surprise that the Mac versions aren't here.

The Macs of today have nothing in common with the Macs from the 90s. The operating system OS X is a completely different operating system than Mac OS (It's actually the successor to the NeXTStep operating system). In addition even the hardware is entirely different.

It's like trying to get a DOS game to work on a modern PC, if not even less compatible. The only way to play classic Mac OS software on today's hardware would be through emulation. And at that point you might as well just run the DOS version in (or [url=http://boxerapp.com]Boxer) or run the Windows version in (or [url=http://wineskin.urgesoftware.com/tiki-index.php]Wineskin).

they wouldnt
unless he has snow leopard which uses rosetta and even then its doubtfull
classi cmac os is a different beast from os x

You can get the os directly form the apple servers, the problem is that you need the old firmware files to use emulators like Basilisk 2 or Sheepshaver. And the firmware files (roms) are not allowed to share, to be on the legal site you need your own old mac to extract them.

The only solution here is what has GOG done already before - use wine and the windows version.