I don’t really have in mind to update the operating system “only” to run Dorico 5. The collateral damage is too great, as I would have to buy certain programmes again whose (expensive) 64-bit version offers me no advantages.
I’m afraid that Qt - the UI toolkit that Dorico uses - no longer supports macOS 10.14.
Thanks for the quick answer. Can you tell me what Qt - UI Toolkit means, whether this is decisive for the “normal” use of the programme?
Dorico is completely reliant on Qt. It’s used for its entire user interface. You can’t use Dorico without Qt. Dorico 5 will not run on macOS 10.14, I’m afraid, and there’s no way to coax it to do so.
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As a macOS app developer, we want to persuade app users to upgrade to as latest OS versions as possible. Developer toolchains provided by Apple are extremely hostile towards earlier versions of macOS. Sometimes, even if things look right in Xcode when you compile for older macOS, it actually malfunctions in certain rare cases when running on the target macOS. Both interface builder and SwiftUI are typical examples of such. Also, Swift async is only available since macOS 10.15 Catalina since it is implemented in kernel level inside the macOS. So does Swift concurrency since macOS 12 Monterey (except that concurrency support is providable as an additional library for macOS 10.15 and 11).
I really suggest an update towards at least macOS 12, considering the massive innovative changes among the system APIs inside macOS. These changes are benefitial for developers, helping them make their work easier to develop better softwares for their users / customers. However, they only make pains since Apple seldom downport their new APIs backwards to older releases.
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Now I can fully imagine how a big shitload it will be to backport the latest Qt towards earlier macOS releases. It worths nothing.
(This reply is a sequel towards my first reply in this thread.)
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Thanks Richard, Daniel and Shiki for trying to get me to upgrade the operating system. It would cost me about €1,500 to follow Apple’s dictates. So I will stay away from the Steinberg customer list for the time being. Too bad.
You don’t really have to buy the latest model of the year.
What’s your current model? Do you have minimum personal requirements of the hard disk size and the running memory size? Do you prefer mac mini or a laptop or an iMac?
Maybe you can cost much cheaper.
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I think Stentor was talking about software that he would need to reinvest to.
I myself am in a similar situation.
My expensive document scanner (which works wonderfully) will have to be replaced, a unique scan tool will be obsolete, so will be another software I use on a daily base. These are the only reasons I am still on macOS 10.14…
Luckily Dorico 5 has not changed anything dramatically in the engraving area compared to version 4, so I will get some extra time to wait… and decide…
Have you tried VueScan?
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Thanks Ben, I just checked and, yes this seems to work: Fujitsu ScanSnap S1500M Scanner Driver & Software | VueScan Scanner Software
I knew VueScan from decades ago and had even used it then. I’ll give it a go 
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My current model is iMac 2017/16 GB/500 GB/27-inch. The problem is a Software (RagTime DTP) a 32-Bit Version. The Update to 64 Bit-Version 7 costs € 1’228.-! I have a huge amount of documents in this format since I’m using this software for decade(s). The costs of a new computer are still not included.
Even if no dramatic changes were made in the engraving area, I would have been very interested in the scrub option of Dorico 5.
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Does anyone have experience with running “Parallels”?
This would be a possibility to run programmes that require OS 13 and 32-bit programme versions on the same computer with two operating systems.
macOS generally have degraded overall-desktop responsiveness in VMs.
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Never heard of that, in all my DTP years! Gosh, that is expensive. It makes Adobe look cheap! Is it worth the money? The update is ‘only’ €780, though.
From the look of it, their latest version is only just updated from ancient Mac code.
It might be worth starting new projects in something else. Imagine if your computer gets a hardware fault. What would you do then? You’re currently relying on an OS that is no longer supported, to run an old version of app.
InDesign has an export/interchange format (a bit like MusicXML), which other apps support. Some other apps also open its files. Affinity Publisher is a very good and cheap DTP package. It will also open PDFs as if they were documents.
Apple started moving towards 64-bit code in 2009, and they have been encouraging developers to develop in 64-bit ever since. They started hinting at the demise of 32-bit to devs by at least 2012, and provided warnings to users in High Sierra that 32-bit apps would be discontinued.
I used to run El Capitan in a Parallels VM, so that I could use Adobe Creative Suite 6. It worked well enough, but I now use Affinity suite and other apps instead, which are a lot better.
TBH, Ragtime looks like a simple all-in-one Office app, like ClarisWorks, rather than a €1000-value DTP app. I’d recommend upgrading your Mac to Ventura and starting new products in Apple’s Pages, Numbers and KeyNote; then create a VM with Parallels or VMware, and running Ragtime in it to access your legacy products. Make sure you’ve got final PDFs of everything.
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Thank you Ben and Shiki for your time! I think I will follow Ben’s tip and put OS 13 on the machine and need Parallels for an operating system with 32-bit applications. Another question: is the Time Machine backup enough or is a backup of another kind advisable to load a new OS?
By default, upgrading to the new OS leaves all your files and settings in place – it just updates the OS.
Of course, you always need to have a backup; but you don’t need to use it in the upgrade process, unless something goes wrong…!
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I am running macOS 10.14.6 under Parallels to support older software I need to support for my customers. It works fine, but I would not want to use it for my primary work.
One major caveat is that you must be using an Intel based Mac. It will not run on an M1 or M2 Mac because full Intel emulation is not done by Parallels. Likewise, only the ARM versions of Windows and most Windows applications can run on those Macs.
I had purchased a Mac Studio, and only then discovered this restriction. I had to return it and buy a used 2019 Mac Pro.
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Thanks a lot Ben and EWTHeckman. I have a “iMac 5K 2017”, so I am on the INTEL-side. I intend to set it up the same as advised. Thank you for all this help(s)!