gno2

Q: Has anyone considered letting Aperture live forever on a VM?

I've often thought about this.  We use Virtual Machines's at work all the time.  For example we have 1990's CNC equipment that needs Windows95.  We are running state of the art PC's with modern operating systems but run the CNC using Win95 in a VM.  And my desktop at work is an iMac but I run Windows7 in a VM (because our ERP system is Windows based) and it works flawlessly.

 

Fusion's VM is advertised to be able to run a Mac OS - although I've never tried.  When Aperture becomes incompatible with latest operating system, you could theoretically still run it using a VM.  Aperture would be an icon in the dock and should look and behave as normal. 

 

For those who love aperture I wondered if anyone has considered or tried this?

MacBook Pro with Retina display, OS X El Capitan (10.11.1)

Posted on Feb 5, 2016 2:14 PM

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Q: Has anyone considered letting Aperture live forever on a VM?

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  • by Király,Helpful

    Király Király Feb 6, 2016 5:47 AM in response to gno2
    Level 6 (9,807 points)
    Feb 6, 2016 5:47 AM in response to gno2

    You'd have to be running Snow Leopard (10.6.x) in a virtual machine and run Aperture on that. Starting with 10.7, OS X can only be run in a virtual machine on a Mac that is running the same OS X version as the host (i.e. 10.8 vm on a 10.8 host only, 10.11 vm on a 10.11 host only, etc.) So that doesn't help people who want to run older OS versions in virtual machines unless they want to go all the way back to Snow Leopard.

     

    You can get Snow Leopard Server from Apple for about $20. It's the only Snow Leopard version that the virtual machine companies support, and Aperture runs just fine on it.

  • by gno2,

    gno2 gno2 Feb 6, 2016 6:15 AM in response to Király
    Level 1 (24 points)
    Feb 6, 2016 6:15 AM in response to Király

    Kirally - Thanks for the input.  Yes it seems Apple's license allows Snow Leopard to be virtualized, and you say Aperture will run.  That's great! 

  • by léonie,

    léonie léonie Feb 7, 2016 6:18 AM in response to gno2
    Level 10 (105,523 points)
    iLife
    Feb 7, 2016 6:18 AM in response to gno2

    The last version of Aperture running on Snow Leopard is Aperture 3.2.4.

    If you no longer have this version installed, install the boxed version of Aperture sold on DVD, then update to 3.2.4 using the updates page:   Aperture 3.2.4

     

    There is one big problem with this early version of Aperture 3.  It is still using the old Google Maps, and Aperture may crash, if you open  an image in the Info panel, the will try to access Googles Maps servers.

    The newer versions of Aperture 3 are using apple's maps servers and do not have that problem. But you would need to be able to run Mavericks and Aperture 3.5.1 or Aperture 3.6 on Yosemite or Mavericks.

     

    I will keep a bootable clone of the El Capitan System I am running now with Aperture 3.6.  I have been running aperture 3.4.5 from a second partition with Mountain Lion, and that worked very well.

     

    To fix Aperture's problem with Google maps in earlier Aperture versions see this User Tip: Patching Aperture 3.4.5 to make Places work again

  • by gno2,

    gno2 gno2 Feb 8, 2016 4:02 AM in response to léonie
    Level 1 (24 points)
    Feb 8, 2016 4:02 AM in response to léonie

    Thanks for the info Leonie.  Unfortunately I don't have the DVD - we just bought it on-line from the App Store - at the time of Mavericks.  However, I pressed the download button on the link you provided, and it let me download 3.2.4.  I don't know if it will let me install it.  One thing I'm wondering is if the library itself is backward compatible to an earlier Aperture version?

     

    The google map thing may make this solution a no-go. 

  • by léonie,Helpful

    léonie léonie Feb 8, 2016 4:18 AM in response to gno2
    Level 10 (105,523 points)
    iLife
    Feb 8, 2016 4:18 AM in response to gno2

    However, I pressed the download button on the link you provided, and it is letting me download 3.2.4.


    That is an update link.  You need to have an early version of Aperture 3 installed, to be able to run the updater.  Do you still have a old backup of your Mac? Perhaps an old bootable clone?

    One thing I'm wondering is if the library itself is backward compatible to an earlier Aperture version?

    No, it is not.  Aperture will only open libraries of the same versionor older versions.

  • by gno2,

    gno2 gno2 Feb 8, 2016 4:19 AM in response to léonie
    Level 1 (24 points)
    Feb 8, 2016 4:19 AM in response to léonie

    Unfortunately I don't have an old backup.  I religiously use Time Machine, but the oldest backup is only a couple months old.  I had to start over with Time Machine when I added a 4TB raid drive.

     

    I guess this is simply not a solution for me.  I have to go back to the notion that Aperture is not forever.  I will continue to use it's great organizational tools and it's sheer speed, to organize our family library of photos.  Then I will move to Apple Photos or Lightroom ( or a combination of the two ).

  • by léonie,Solvedanswer

    léonie léonie Feb 8, 2016 4:32 AM in response to gno2
    Level 10 (105,523 points)
    iLife
    Feb 8, 2016 4:32 AM in response to gno2

    Or cone your mac to an external drive (I keep bootable clones as my second backup in addition to Time Machine) and start the mac from that drive to work with Aperture, if you ever upgrade to a system version that will render it incompatible.

    The advantage would be that you would not need to downgrade your Aperture library. 

    I used to keep a Mountain Lion clone in a second partition to be able to run Aperture 3.4.5, the last version that still had the better maps with terrain data.

     

    I understand why you would want a virtual machine.  It is so much more convenient than a dual boot system, but the advantage of a dual boot system would be, that the performance would be faster,

  • by gno2,

    gno2 gno2 Feb 8, 2016 5:14 AM in response to léonie
    Level 1 (24 points)
    Feb 8, 2016 5:14 AM in response to léonie

    I like your idea of cloning to an external drive.  That makes a lot of sense and probably the only way for me to keep Aperture alive into the future. 

  • by Keith Barkley,

    Keith Barkley Keith Barkley Feb 8, 2016 7:44 AM in response to léonie
    Level 5 (6,382 points)
    Feb 8, 2016 7:44 AM in response to léonie

    One problem with this is that if you get a new machine it might not be able to boot the older operating system.

     

    But assuming VMware keeps updating for each new OS your virtual machine can live forever.

  • by léonie,

    léonie léonie Feb 8, 2016 7:54 AM in response to Keith Barkley
    Level 10 (105,523 points)
    iLife
    Feb 8, 2016 7:54 AM in response to Keith Barkley

    One problem with this is that if you get a new machine it might not be able to boot the older operating system.

     

    But assuming VMware keeps updating for each new OS your virtual machine can live forever.

    When I get a new machine, I keep the old one to run the old system, if it is still working.  But you are right, Keith, - new hardware is equally dangerous for compatibility as new system versions.  Even a firmware update could be risky.

    Bu the virtual machine would require Snow and an early Aperture 3 version, and the boxed versions of Aperture at eBay or Amazon are still expensive. I don't know any free save download site.

  • by gno2,

    gno2 gno2 Feb 8, 2016 10:51 AM in response to léonie
    Level 1 (24 points)
    Feb 8, 2016 10:51 AM in response to léonie

    I do see some old Aperture 3 boxed versions on Amazon - those would still work under Snow Leopard - correct?  The only problem that you mentioned is that it may crash if going out to the old google map servers.  I wonder if you can turn off that mapping feature?

  • by léonie,

    léonie léonie Feb 8, 2016 11:25 AM in response to gno2
    Level 10 (105,523 points)
    iLife
    Feb 8, 2016 11:25 AM in response to gno2

    I do see some old Aperture 3 boxed versions on Amazon - those would still work under Snow Leopard - correct?

    This boxed versions will probably install Aperture 3.1 or earlier.  You can update them using the Aperture 3.2.4 updater you found on the support page, and then will have the best stable version for SnowLeopard.

     

    The only problem that you mentioned is that it may crash if going out to the old google map servers.  I wonder if you can turn off that mapping feature?

    Yes, first try to launch Aperture while being offline. Then disable the Places in the Aperture > Preferences > Advanced. Set "Lookup Places" to "Never".

    If that should not suffice, you can remove the two HTML files from the Aperture application bundle, that are trying to contact Google. Then the java scripts will not launch, that are keeping crashing.

    See this User Tip:    Patching Aperture 3.4.5 to make Places work again

  • by gno2,

    gno2 gno2 Feb 9, 2016 3:38 AM in response to léonie
    Level 1 (24 points)
    Feb 9, 2016 3:38 AM in response to léonie

    Leone - I'm not sure about the Aperture 3 boxed sets on Amazon - Aperture 3 MB957Z/A - I don't know if this is an upgrade only and that you have to already have Aperture 2 to install it?  If that's the case they also carry Aperture 2.1.1 for $15.  Thanks for any insight you can provide. 

     

    Even if I never create a VM for Aperture, I think of this as Insurance for the future.  Maybe I move on to Apple Photos and am happy.  Or maybe in 2 years I kick myself because the old versions are not available anymore.  It might be nice to have a VM set up as an archive.

  • by léonie,

    léonie léonie Feb 9, 2016 3:57 AM in response to gno2
    Level 10 (105,523 points)
    iLife
    Feb 9, 2016 3:57 AM in response to gno2

    I looked, and as far as I can tell, the version you found is a full installer, not an upgrade.

    The upgrade versions are having the word "Upgrade" in the name.

    Screen Shot 2016-02-09 at 12.54.05GMT.png

     

    But it is still very expensive for software you already own.

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