Last OS to run iDVD

iDVD does work on Sierra and High Sierra, although quirky, but I have read that others have been unable to install iDVD on Sierra. I installed my iDVD on Mavericks, I think, and it got carried along through successive updates to High Sierra. I have not tried to make the install on High Sierra itself.

Are you attempting to install from an iLife disc? That would be the way to make the attempt. Since iDVD works on Sierra it would seem that it should be able to be installed there. I realize that you have found that it doesn't install, so I'm not at all disputing your findings.

However, iDVD appears to be a dying program that runs worse on each successive update of the operating system. It is a 32 bit program and if Apple moves to 64bit it will be gone unless you can run it on El Capitan or earlier. Therefore you might want to consider moving to another DVD authoring program unless you can get El Capitan or earlier on a boot disc.

I have not used any DVD authoring program other than iDVD. However, here are some that I have seen recommended:

DVD Maker Lite -- DVD Creator

Roxio Toast Titanium

DVD Maker Pro

There are several DVD programs in the app store. Most have free trial availability.

-- Rich

We do this because we believe OS 10.9.5 is the last version to run iMovie HD 06 with no issues

FWIW there is a hacked version of iMovie HD 6 that works fine with all systems tip to High Sierra. All that was done was to change all occurrences of 6.0.4 to 6.5.1 in the Info.plist file inside iMovie application package. It can be downloaded from the lower right hand corner of this webpage: http://www.blip3.com/home.html

I've run iDVD 6.0.4 without issue on Mavericks and earlier. When we got into Sierra and later that's when issues began cropping up.

If not what are the implications of going back to an older OS?

In our video lab our are Macs are frozen to OS 10.9.5. We do this because we believe OS 10.9.5 is the last version to run iMovie HD 06 with no issues. It also runs iDVD perfectly.

Obviously, we would be perfectly happy to use the current Mac operating system, but sadly the best video tools don't run on it anymore. Nothing unusual about this philosophy. In the last years of the space shuttle, NASA was using 25 year old computers.

Clearly, Apple thought optical media was out-ski. But with the advent M-Disc and it's 1000 your lifetime optical media is proving to be the best choice for making backups (or movies) that you need to last longer than 5-10 years.

There are options for editing movies and burning DVDs that run on the latest Mac OS. I have tried most of them.

For editing movies there are some decent choices, but when it comes to authoring a DVD nothing comes remotely close to iDVD. The ease-of-use is incredible, we usually create moving menus for chapter selection. With iDVD you can author a DVD to Hollywood standards. (For making Blu-rays, we use Toast.)

If you would like to see a 64-bit version of iDVD you can make a nicely worded suggestion to Apple.

https://www.apple.com/feedback/macos.html

iDVD runs smoothly on El Capitan and previous operating systems. iDVD also is compatible with Sierra and High Sierra but it has gotten more and more quirky with those operating systems. The themes don't function properly. There are burn issues. Still, you can successfuly burn a DVD with iDVD even on Sierra or High Sierra. I use the Full Frame '05 theme and drag a photo into it to create the display. Then drag in a video for the body of the project. A lower resolution video, 480, tends to have less problems. If there is a burn issue you may need to create a new project and redo. I have a backup older Mac Air, running El Capitan, that I sometimes use with iDVD for project creation and burning. I create the movie on my newer High Sierra MacBook Pro, and transfer the movie to the Mac Air for iDVD.

It is possible to have two operating systems on your Mac. You would need to partition your drive at the outset, before putting any data on it. Another option is to create a boot disk where you have El Capitan, Yosemite, or Mountain Lion on it for iDVD. This is not something I have done. If you are interested in trying it you can educate yourself on the internet. Here's a link that might help get you started:

https://www.macworld.com/article/2367748/os-x/how-to-make-a-bootable-os-x-10-10- yosemite-install-drive.html

-- Rich