New macOS on old hardware isn’t quite as bad you maybe think, even if it’s not as good as in the Windows/Linux/BSD worlds. The current 10.15 Catalina runs on Macs as old as 2012, which is 8 year old hardware now. The hardware is perfectly viable to run for longer than 8 years, but I don’t really have a problem with Apple only supporting 8 year old hardware with a new macOS releases.
I also don’t have a problem with software developers that don’t support arbitrarily old OS releases, but not even supporting a 3 year old 10.13 is weak. These are pretty minor updates from the user’s perspective, more window dressing than anything.
Sure, we can run 10.14 (2 years old) on 8 year old hardware, but if you don’t have that hardware then now is not a good time to buy a new Mac given their transition to ARM and uncertainty over the consequences. I bought a Mac Pro back in 2005 (I think it was), just before Apple announced their move to Intel, and I certainly didn’t end up getting 8 years of life out of that. I’m not going to buy a new Mac now after that experience; definitely not an Intel Mac.
The direction Apple has gone with their hardware since I bought my last Mac is also a problem, with non-replaceable RAM and/or storage in all but the most expensive models (USD 5K and up). Not even being able to replace a faulty SSD is just too much for me, so there’s literally no new Mac hardware I’m willing to buy right now.
So, yes, PL only supporting a 2-year old macOS release surely makes DxO’s life a little easier in terms of testing (although I have my doubts about how extensive that testing is given the number of quirks I’ve run into), but they risk losing Mac users to software that isn’t as restrictive, which even includes C1 (surprisingly).
Then again, no macOS users at all would ease the support burden for DxO even more.
Edit: Power Mac it was called back in 2005, not Mac Pro.
well, if it is that simple to run a virtual machine running one OS on top of another OS maybe you could tell me just how one does that … i would be fascinated to see if this is really a serious option for me … btw just to let you know i often work on images larger than 5 Gb (tho i have to reduce them in sizr in order to actually save the work within PS, which has a limit of 2-4Gb depending on its mood) … in the 3 decades of using Macs i have not seen a virtual machine running for pro jobs, but i am hoping you will correct that situation
I used to write software for Windows, using Windows XP in a Parallels VM under macOS.
Once the Windows VM corrupted and it only took me half an hour to reinstate it from a backup. Of course, in the meantime, I had a perfectly working macOS machine to work on.
For anyone interested: The easiest way is to use VMWare Fusion Player, which is free for non-commercial use. Parallels Desktop used to be free (if Windows was not required) but is now a subscription. VirtualBox doesn’t support MacOS clients out of the box.
Drag and drop the MacOS installer onto the VMWare Fusion Player window
configure settings (RAM, CPU, graphics)
enjoy the MacOS installation in a VM window
Of course many things will be not as good as on native hardware, especially graphics performance. And you need RAM for both machines at the same time.
@aaaashy, since you know already that your requirements are too much for virtualisation then skip this step and save yourself one hour. Instead, install the old MacOS version on a second volume on your machine and use dual boot. This is not as convenient but will allow you to use both software on the same machine, just not at the same time… But I’m sure you knew that.
Well, I have repartitioned my iMac and have Windows10 running on it and have been living in the “dark side” for a few weeks now myself. And Windows PL4, among other cross platform apps, have their own set of issues so just switching an OS really improve anything, it just switches were the issues are.
well Calle, that was not a very nice reply, i do not know if you are this rude to everyone on this Forum, but i sincerely hope that you are not
moving on …
i did not start out by asking about virtual machines, nor about running a number of OSes, i started this thread by complaining that i was being locked out of an app i had deceided to support, in its early days of development, in order to offer alternatives to the ever mercenary Adobe, and was therefore very disappointed to find that it only supported the 2 latest OSes, thus cutting off a percentage of its followers/users … and there have been many replies that have been supportive, and otherwise
all i was saying was that i have never met any professional photographer, or graphic artist/art director, that had used multiple OSes, or virtual settings, for their work machine … but then my sources are limited, you obviously do know others using this set up
i will have to try and source a spare computer to try this out, for this is no time to threaten my sole work machine with a system that might be unsuitable for it, and for me, and to discover this after i have tried setting it up
i appreciate your help and will have a look at the Apple support page …
Sorry, didn’t mean to be rude, just sarcastic. I’m a pro (but not a pro designer) and use virtualisation all day long.
But really, for graphics software there is no good MacOS virtualisation option. PL4 runs good in VMware Fusion Player, export times (not deep prime) not too bad, … BUT no image preview possible, most likely because of the very limited graphics capabilities of VMWare.
And now I will join this discussion running in circles and ask: Why, as a Pro, is it not possible to update CS6? No answer needed.
the answer to the question of WHY DON’T I UPDATE CS6? is multilayered:-
1/ i am now in my late 60’s, having been an analogue photographer for 2/3 of my career, and spending the last 30 years getting up to speed with the digital replacement (spending far too much time getting to grips with computer hardware, the Mac system’s faults and limitations, and a certain backwards prowess with post-production and retouching using Photoshop, to the detriment of my REAL photographic work), and i can see the time when i am not earning anymore, and hearing that CC Ps requires permanent payment to allow access to MY own work, i find totally unacceptable!
2/ the fact that the former CFO of Adobe became the CEO and then started introducing the idea of eternal renting of software, rather than allowing us to buy it and use it for as long as we wanted, was totally WRONG on all sorts of levels … this is where the system plays its customers for fools, and hopes they agree to the initially small financial payments, only for them to be slowly increased until (like Adobe’s original opposition, Quark) they can charge whatever they like because there are no alternatives, and their customers (“users” is the term software companies chose to use, just like the drug industry, there seems to be a reason for that) now cannot leave because the alternatives are too poor … so the need for new alternatives is the only way to control/slow Adobe from overcharging
3/ the early promise of computers is that they would enhance our lives … well, that has not really worked out as hoped, has it? expect even worse things to be thought up by the “disrupters” (young cock-a-hoop wild-children who come up with new ways to extract as much as they can financially, on the back of a disrupter idea, and make things even worse avoiding paying their taxes) … and with that in mind i want to stand up against the move to permanent payment, because that seems to also allow the software companies from being that bothered to enhance their applications as much as they might have done were they dependent on selling their latest version
i have just sat down and responded to your email and so my answer might appear to be nothing more than a rant, but it is what i have thought for years, and watching things evolve in the computer world, onky goes to show that software companies can become the “robber barons” of their, and our, age … if we do not control them … somehow
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m-photo
( Marc (macOS Sonoma on MBP16" Intel))
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Hopefully never again. Actually, never again. Really. I will not.
Even with all the “small” problems it’s way ahead with the technology, just have a look with the brand new Apple Silicon M1 processor and this is just the beginning.
High Sierra here and not going up to the next one, so no PL4 for me as high sierra is not supported. I’ll stick to my current workflow until a new computer is needed.
