PowerPC applications are no longer supported!!!

http://forums.macrumors.com/showpost.php?p=17285039&postcount=564

The need to upgrade here is not the issue. This is a fundamental issue that affects many thousands of users and much software. Accordingly an appropriate warning should've been made by Apple before purchase. The same arrogance applies to their abandoning document 'versions' (why I purchased the upgrade in the first place) and Front Row. In their obsession to ensure their OS matches all media they are increasingly moving towards the Microsoft model. Without ease-of-use and the 'wow' factor Apple's brand will become diluted and, consequently, less attractive.

elf4321 wrote:

Accordingly an appropriate warning should've been made by Apple before purchase.

They did, 7 years ago when PowerPC Macs went out of production .

elf4321 wrote:

an appropriate warning should've been made by Apple before purchase.

It's a shame you didn't sign up here several years ago when this "issue" was thoroughly discussed. Still amazaed that anyone would just be finding out.

Pre-Lion 2011 it was in all the Mac related news sites, forums, etc.

Apple even allows running Snow Leopard under (Mountain Lion, but not sure about under Lion) so you CAN use Rosetta.

To me, Rosetta was almost a mini-VM of its own, 2GB of shared memory for PowerPC code emulation and imperfect.

But every Mac Pro can still run Snow Leopard and dual booting is easy. Not everyone wants or needs Lion or ML or Mavericks.

So there are workarounds.

I was amazed and shocked when I heard how many service bureaus run OS 9 because their workflow, scripts, printers worked fine and didn't need OS X (which really wasn't ready for many anyway and RAID performance seemed crippled 'cause it was slower than OS 9, both of which pale in comparison now to talk of 500-900-1200MB/sec for today's storage on SSDs).

Tip: never install a new OS without having a backup copy of your working system; better yet , do a clean install on a new or different hard drive device. Especially as a way to break with past older code, drivers, apps and tasks that can affect adversely when installing and running Lion and above.

Get out your SL DVD and install it on a disk drive if you don't have a working copy. It is still supported, gets security updates. Use ML if you must use some new feature (too bad can't run ML in a VM under SL I guess).

I'm afraid I have only just upgraded the OS and come across this message. As I have only had iMac's I am not sure of the relevance of the PowerPC issue in any event. My point really is that given the amount of unsolicited emails I get from Apple every week (with which I am content) some key issues such as 'this software won't work now' or 'we changed this' might be beneficial to customers. No such message was received regarding Front Row or the abandonment of document version control (both originally selling points and neither anything to do with third party software) . However, they are unlikely to listen to cutomers direct and eventually the market will decide! An unfortunate retrospective policy. Many Thanks.

Your statements are spot on!

Many computer users just are not interesting in keeping up with the literature; they just want to use their computer.

I drive a car and never read a car magazine or go to car websites (well, not until I just leased a Chevy Volt, but that's another story!)

The miracle of Rosetta was that is operated so transparently, that many users had no idea what it was or that they were using it, until they upgraded past Tiger, Leopard and Snow Leopard.

It is not their fault, they found themselves unprepared for the inability to use software that they had comfortably used for many years...

-- from:

Mac OS X versions (builds) for computers

For example the Mac Pro 2010 CAN run 10.6.4 or later BUT--

--- the last "Full Retail" 10.6 DVD contains 10.6.3, which will not boot. You need a different Mac of just the right age to Install on, [starting from a Full Retail DVD, not a DVD from a different model] update to 10.6.8, then swap the drive over.

The assertion has been made that the 2012 model (which runs 5,1 firmware) is indistinguishable from the 2010 model (which runs 5,1 firmware) as far as Hardware and therefore as far as what Mac OS X it can run. EveryMac.com agrees that this model will run 10.6.4.

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So is there any other options I have to be able to use Microsoft Word,Powepoint,excel etc.? I need this for school and now I cant use anything!!!!!

RhondaRoo89 wrote:

So is there any other options I have to be able to use Microsoft Word,Powepoint,excel etc.? I need this for school and now I cant use anything!!!!!

Certainly. Buy a more recent version. Microsoft Office 2011 works fine on Yosemite. Even Office 2008 works OK.

As it happens, Microsoft is currently offering test copies of Office 2016 for free. They only work for a limited time, fresh downloads are only available until Microsoft starts selling Office 2016, and they may have bugs, but they are usable right now.

Grant Bennet-Alder wrote:

-- from:

Mac OS X versions (builds) for computers

For example the Mac Pro 2010 CAN run 10.6.4 or later BUT--

--- the last "Full Retail" 10.6 DVD contains 10.6.3, which will not boot. You need a different Mac of just the right age to Install on, [starting from a Full Retail DVD, not a DVD from a different model] update to 10.6.8, then swap the drive over.

The assertion has been made that the 2012 model (which runs 5,1 firmware) is indistinguishable from the 2010 model (which runs 5,1 firmware) as far as Hardware and therefore as far as what Mac OS X it can run. EveryMac.com agrees that this model will run 10.6.4.

One minor quibble with the above: although the 2012 and 2010 Mac Pros are both identified as 5,1, the 2010 model will boot from a retail Snow Leopard DVD and the 2012 model will not. Even the 10.6.0 DVD works, amazingly. I suspect that the 2010 Mac Pro may be unique in this respect.

I bought a 2010 refurb Mac Pro in early 2012 because I wanted to be able to run Snow Leopard. Unfortunately, mine came with Lion installed. I was told by a very knowledgeable guy in Apple support that the 10.6 retail DVD would work. I tried it, and the 10.6.0 DVD booted the Mac Pro and installed Snow Leopard without issue. The 10.6.3 disc works also.

You can also run Snow Leopard on a 2012 Mac Pro, but you have to install the OS on a system that lets you use the Snow Leopard installer, then update before moving it into the 2012 model.

There was a recent thread on this subject at Macintouch.