I know, I’ve got an insanely old Mac. However, two years ago I added lots of RAM and a SSD Drive and I was up and running again. For the time being I have no intention to spend thousands on a new machine although I can’t update to Sierra.
Now I read that future versions of Dorico only run on Sierra. I bought Dorico on day 1, I bought the update, although I never used it because of Dorico’s lack of a good-functioning equivalent of Sib’s system-selection. I bought it to support it, hoping that features I needed would be implemented in Dorico 3 or 4. Perhaps they are, but not compatible with my machine.
I don’t blame anyone. Software and hardware change fast. But no, I don’t like this news.
10 years is a good lifespan for any computer. The Mac secondhand market is very buoyant, and you can pick up well-looked-after Macs at good value prices. All my Mac laptop purchases have been from eBay (2009 MacBook; 2012 13" MBP; 2014 15" rMBP), as I couldn’t afford the brand-new prices. All have served me well – I’ve even sold them on to other people, giving me a bit more on my budget.
I’d recommend something c. 2014 to 2016. (Except for the 2014 MacMini, which is terrible: the 4-core 2012 is much better and still very capable, though there will probably be a cut-off for that in c. 3 years.)
New laptops have just been announced, which usually means there’s a “domino” effect of people selling their current machines. The same will happen when the MacPro is announced.
Technology is a merry-go-round: Hardware comes and goes; the OS to support the hardware is just as temporary: the apps which run on the OS need constant maintenance. Only data, hopefully, is eternal.
Apple’s business model turns both the hardware and software merry-go-rounds a lot faster than Microsoft’s.
For a many years Microsoft didn’t even HAVE a hardware merry-go-round to turn, except for a few peripherals - which might explain the longevity and backwards compatibility strategy of their software.
Backwards compatibility – running older software on newer OSes – is one thing, but future compatibility – running newer software on older OSes – is another, and cannot be expected forever. For instance, MS Office 2019 won’t run on a Windows 8 system.
Windows has maintained backwards compatibility well, though it might be argued at a cost to its own development. However, I’m sure there are computers that can’t run Windows 10, and therefore can’t use Office 2019.
In any event, changing your platform is rarely the easiest solution to any technology problem.
case in point… I’m well served by a Win 8.1 Pro laptop, but when I recently turned 100% freelance I had to buy a private license of Indesign. I was somewhat surprised when it would only install an older version on this laptop, but happily install the latest version on my Win 7 studio machine…
I’m also not particularly happy since I’m still running El Capitan (10.11.6) and already had trouble back in the days where I had to install a long outdated version of the Java Runtime Environment to run Finale 2014. If I’m updating now I’ll probably lose a couple of programs that aren’t maintained anymore but still very useful in my workflow.
There are most certainly alternatives to anything (which is why we’re here in the first place, right?) but switching means also switching habits and workflows – and sometimes renouncing beloved or required functionality. And it isn’t always as easy as switching to Dorico (disregarding the learning curve). One example for me is Billings (time tracking and invoicing program) which was switched to a SaaS model similar to Adobe and I’m not willing to pay monthly fees to use (or not use) a program without ever owning it. And switching to alternatives would mean, for instance, that I have to do a lot of work to adapt my invoice templates etc. (let alone porting over clients). Likewise, I have a lot of Finale files that are waiting to be ported to Dorico, and upgrading the OS would mean that I can’t run Finale anymore without installing that old Java Runtime Environment again, and I really don’t want to clutter my system with outdated auxiliary software.
Ah well, I know, eventually I will have to go with time and upgrade but these dependencies suck big time.
You could always run ‘legacy’ software in a Virtual Machine, running a contemporary OS. I have Mountain Lion running in Parallels (though they’re moving towards subscriptions themselves).
I know it’s a bummer (fwiw, I just lost my whole adobe suite the last time I updated. I had the 2k complete suite of CS5 products that no longer operate on my Macs so I feel your pain very intimately) but in all honesty, I do not think they are doing their user base “wrong” by only supporting to Sierra. Sierra itself is already 3 years old. If your hardware cannot even upgrade to a 3yo operating system then it must indeed be quite a bit older. Such is the world of computers I’m afraid. As it is, my iMac is already 6ish years old and that alone is making me nervous. Supporting 3 years of legacy OSes is still amply generous I think. (Again, the struggle is real, I know the pain.). If they waited for the new OS in July-September and then said they would only support that, then we could have a different discussion.
Most of the regulars should know this already, but it must be reminded that this is most likely due to the underlying development framework, not a decision of the team (though if it was, there would be no fault with it).
I understand the OP’s pain: I hunted my current MBP on three different retail stores until I found one still running the OS I knew was stable for my workflow. And I had to upgrade OS to Sierra because of Dorico in the middle of a somewhat sensitive period. That plunge came out ok.
