Scratch 2
Scratch 2 is the free, visual programming environment developed by the MIT Media Lab for teaching coding concepts to children and beginners. It uses a block-based drag-and-drop interface where users snap together coloured blocks representing functions, loops, conditionals and variables to create animated stories, games and interactive projects. Scratch 2 runs in the browser and also ships as a standalone desktop editor for offline work. It is one of the most widely used introductory programming tools in schools worldwide, with millions of projects shared on the Scratch community website.
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1 suggestionScratch 2 is an older version that MIT discontinued years ago in favour of Scratch 3, which runs natively in modern web browsers and does not depend on Intel-specific architecture. If you or someone in your household is still using the Scratch 2 desktop editor, the MIT Media Lab has not updated it since around 2018 and there is no native Apple Silicon build. The desktop editor will stop launching entirely when Apple removes Rosetta 2 in macOS 28 (September 2028). The good news is that Scratch 3, the active successor, is free and platform-independent — it runs in any modern web browser (Safari, Chrome, Firefox) on any Mac, including M-series Macs, without needing any desktop download at all. Simply visit scratch.mit.edu in your browser to start creating projects. All Scratch 2 projects can be imported into Scratch 3, so your existing work is not lost. If offline editing is essential, MIT also distributes a Scratch Link tool for connecting physical hardware to the browser version, but for most users the web-based Scratch 3 covers everything the old desktop editor did.
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