Debunking the Myth of “Mac as a Walled Garden”

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I have heard so many times that the Mac ecosystem is a walled garden. I am here to debunk that myth.

As a long-time Microsoft OS user (DOS to Win10), I was used to the Windows built-in programs: Explorer, IE, Notepad, WordPad, Paint, Outlook Express/Windows Mail, Windows Live Suite, games, Media Player, Messenger, etc.
Then there was a whole world of third-party programs. If you were lucky, those third-party programs installed (and uninstalled) without a hitch. But, more than once, I had problems – conflicts with the Windows OS, conflicts with other programs, conflicts with the hardware. Since the Windows OS was sold to be installed on anything that resembled a computer, the combinations of hardware and software were almost unlimited. It’s a wonder there weren’t more conflicts than actually occurred.

Apple, on the other hand, controlled the hardware on which the Mac OS could be installed. (Yes, I know, there are Hackintoshes, but they are the exception.) In addition, Apple introduced the App Store, a repository of apps that have been vetted to run in the Mac ecosystem (yes, Apple gets a cut of the sale). Macs can be set to only install apps from the App Store. And because of these two restrictions, Macs have been stereotyped as existing in a walled garden.

On the other hand, Macs just work.
It’s not nearly as hard to design software if you are sure what hardware it will run on.

My first Mac was a 13” MacBook Pro in 2011. Most computer manufacturers today are moving toward non-consumer replaceable parts, to the extreme of the Surface Laptop with zero repairability. But in the case of the 2011 MacBook Pro, I had a several choices. I chose a 2.9GHz i7-3520M (4 cores), 4GB RAM, 512GB HDD. For around $30 I immediately upped the RAM to 8GB and have since increased to 16GB. After I had the laptop for a couple of years, I swapped out the mechanical HDD for a 512GB Samsung 840 EVO SSD – BIG difference. For someone who enjoys good hardware, six years later I have no complaints about the laptop’s performance. With Windows computers, I wanted a new one every two-three years. Not so with the Mac.

I can’t get away from Windows. There are things I cannot do with Mac OS. To cope with that, I run Parallels Desktop for Mac with Windows in Virtual Machines. Because at the time I only had 8GB RAM on the above machine, I installed XP, Win7 Pro 32-bit and Win8.1 Pro 32-bit in three virtual machines. Legacy Access database application running on Access 2000 in the XP VM, and the the other two VMs set up to run the scoreboard and scoring for the sport of diving. More on running Windows on Macs later.

Now, the rest of the software. In addition to the Mac built-in programs, much is the same as I would run in Windows. The common every-day programs, not procured through the Apple App Store include: Acronis True Image, InSSider, Firefox, Thunderbird, MS Office for Mac, Libre Office, Kindle app, Calibre Reader, VLC Player, CCleaner, TrendMicro Security, Malwarebytes, FlashPlayer (Oh Heaven forbid), Java (Oh Heaven forbid), Acrobat Reader (Oh Heaven forbid), and more. Many others are available, including Chrome. So applications are not limited to the “walled garden.” I always download from a known trusted source, the same with Windows.

What I enjoy most about my Macs is not having to fight Microsoft. Updates are my choice, to install or not, and when to do so. I have NEVER had a forced update or a BSOD. (Eat your hearts out Windows Users!!!)

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Myst, cesmart4125, Elly, Bill C., AlexEiffel, lizzytish

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It is ironic that there have been times where I, a programmer, couldn’t do something because I didn’t have Mac or Linux.  But there have never been times where I couldn’t do something because I was using a Mac.

Fortran, C++, R, Python, Java, Matlab, HTML, CSS, etc.... coding is fun!
A weatherman that can code

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When my daughter started college several years ago, I bought her a laptop. She begged me to get her a MAC, but I bought her with a Windows computer, for a few reasons:
1. Windows laptop was about half the price as an equally capable MAC.
2. Her school had everything set up for Windows computers; however, although they accommodated MACs, MAC was the exception, not the rule.
3. I couldn’t do much for her in terms of tech support if she had a MAC; on the other hand, I could help her almost in my sleep if she had a Windows computer.
4. I knew of cheap or free name-brand software which was available for Windows, but I didn’t know anything about this for the MAC.

If she was starting school today, I’m not sure which laptop I would buy for her; but I would be more open to a MAC today than I was back then, because of the new approach that Microsoft has decided to take toward their customers.

Group "L" (Linux Mint)
with Windows 8.1 running in a VM

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Elly, AlexEiffel, AlexN

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What I enjoy most about my Macs is not having to fight Microsoft. Updates are my choice, to install or not, and when to do so. I have NEVER had a forced update or a BSOD. (Eat your hearts out Windows Users!!!)

Interesting, that bit about updates.  Having never dealt with them for an Apple product, I had always thought that updates were automatic, with the exception of iOS version upgrade notices.

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It’s a setting under “system preferences” – you can choose auto, security, or choose when.
System Preferences\App Store – at the top – check boxes.
And they respect your choices!!!!!

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lizzytish

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Genuine questions; Do you need to have an account or can you have a local account like Win 8.1?

Do you need to use an account login and/or email to access the App Store? Or to get updates?

Is their manufacturing being moved or staying where it is?

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You can have a local account on the computer. You do not have to be signed in to iCloud to use the Mac.
However, it is a good thing to have an Apple account to register the Mac. It can be the same account you use for iPhone, iPad, etc if you have them – ie, you only need one account.

If you buy things from the App Store, you have to log in to the store to make the purchase. You do not have to stay logged in to the Store. System updates for the Mac don’t require App Store login, but if you have updates for Store bought apps, those require login. In that case, I log in, download the app update, and log out of the Store. There is no login for third party apps, you update them the same as you would on Windows.

I do not use iCloud Drive and store data on Apple servers. However, since I have an iPhone and iPad as well, I use iCloud to sync a few things across my devices (Calenday, contacts, Safari favorites only – not pics, mail, documents, etc). The sync requires login to iCloud (not iCloud Drive) b/c you use their servers to sync. Of the 5GB they give me free, I have 4.99 free doing this. I use Thunderbird for e-mail on the Macs, not the built in mail program. But you can use the built-in mail program and sync the mail if you want. If you do, that requires login for that function b/c you are using their mail servers. So login is basically limited to the functions you choose.

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Myst, Elly, Bill C.

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Thanks!

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I just bought an iMAC. I love this thing so far. No drama, and as PKCano says, it just works. Yeah, I know, it’s only a few days old, but still…

I have questions about antivirus/antimalware software. Do I need it? A lot of Apple folks say there is no need for it, but I have a hard time believing that, although maybe that’s just from a life using Windows.

Assuming it is needed, anyone have recommendations? Right now I’m leaning toward Sophos. But they have a list of supported browsers on their website and it does not include Opera, which the other user of the computer really likes. I don’t believe I’ve ever heard of such a thing: browsers supported by an antivirus program. I thought an antivirus program was independent of the browser being used.

I’d appreciate any input/suggestions about any/all of this.

Thanks.

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I run TrendMicro (not free) on my Macs. I have a lot of Windows VM, so I use their multi-seat suites that cover both MacOS and Windows. (Yes, you need antivirus on the VMs too) There ate several free antivirus programs as well. Check out AV-TEST and AV-Comparatives for the ratings. I also run Malwarebytes free on the Macs.

BUT – I have NEVER had a problem with malware on the Macs. Can’t say as much for Windows!

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DrBonzo

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Thanks PKCano.

I won’t be running Windows on the Mac. In fact by the time WIN 7 support ends in 2020 I plan to be as far from anything MS as I can be.

I sort of hate to pay for anti virus software since In my opinion MS Security Essentials did a fine job. I’m heading over to the 2 links you gave above to see what they think about Sophos, Avast, AVG, and Avira.

I really am curious, though, have you ever heard of an antivirus program that will only work with certain browsers? I understand that such a program would depend on whether one is running Windows, Linux, iOS Mac OS, etc., but not on the browser. I don’t want to be running an antivirus program thinking its functioning only to find out it’s not working with my browser.

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DrBonzo wrote:

I really am curious, though, have you ever heard of an antivirus program that will only work with certain browsers?

Never heard of this.

There are free versions for Mac of some of the major av products – MacWorld has some info on this. They are one of the best Mac authorities.

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DrBonzo

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It’s more that they have specific extra functionality that only works within specific browsers.

In-browser content filtering, for example.

I actually had a Sophos representative explain this to me once – apparently some countries have “interesting” legislation where the business owning a publicly visible PC screen with offensive pop-up ads showing up on it would be liable, also for not controlling their employees if that happens… well, their product can be set to block those in a supported browser, and at least the business can show they tried if they buy that.

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I also agree with this. Over the years I’ve used Macs, I’ve been able to install pretty much anything I’ve needed, and if I needed Windows for something, I’d use a VM. The majority of the apps I use don’t even come from the Mac App Store (although I could transition some of them to Mac App Store versions, I haven’t yet seen if there’s any real advantage of doing so). I’ve gotten to the point where my Mac can run everything I need, and generally at a lower cost than it would for me to do so on a comparable PC.

Nathan Parker

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That is by and large quite true. The one problem I have found repeatedly with applications for the Mac (at least apps not from the Apple Store) is that, sometimes, they not to run at all with a version of the macOS newer than the one that was around when they were developed.

That is not surprising, I would think, but the faster cadence of upgrades of macOS compared to Windows (before Win 10, that is) can make things confusing for a Windows user. There are even applications still being recommended enthusiastically in specialized Websites that I have downloaded and installed and did not work for that reason. (Easy to tell, because the accompanying instructions tell one to do things no longer possible with the current version of the OS!) I have had this annoying experience several times, already. Fortunately, most of those duds were available free of charge. But some were not; while those applications might be obsolete, my fully current and up to date money was taken gladly off my hands, all the same.

Ex-Windows user (Win. 98, XP, 7); since mid-2017 using also macOS. Presently on Monterey 12.15 & sometimes running also Linux (Mint).

MacBook Pro circa mid-2015, 15" display, with 16GB 1600 GHz DDR3 RAM, 1 TB SSD, a Haswell architecture Intel CPU with 4 Cores and 8 Threads model i7-4870HQ @ 2.50GHz.
Intel Iris Pro GPU with Built-in Bus, VRAM 1.5 GB, Display 2880 x 1800 Retina, 24-Bit color.
macOS Monterey; browsers: Waterfox "Current", Vivaldi and (now and then) Chrome; security apps. Intego AV

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I like mac OS but I hate the modern Apple hardware. Things such as the RAM and storage being soldered to the system board and no ports other than USB-C are a deal-breaker for me. I don’t blame people for trying to run it on non-Apple hardware.

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Nathan Parker wrote:

my Mac can run everything I need, and generally at a lower cost than it would for me to do so on a comparable PC.

That’s interesting, Nathan. To clarify, are you saying you can get apps cheaper for Mac than comparable ones for PC?

Lugh.
~
Alienware Aurora R6; Win10 Home x64 1803; Office 365 x32
i7-7700; GeForce GTX 1060; 16GB DDR4 2400; 1TB SSD, 256GB SSD, 4TB HD

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OscarCP wrote:

repeatedly with applications for the Mac … they not to run at all with a version of the macOS newer than the one that was around when they were developed.

That is not surprising, I would think

Surprising to me. One of the good things about Win10 for me is that it runs a couple of old programs which I couldn’t get going on Win7.

Lugh.
~
Alienware Aurora R6; Win10 Home x64 1803; Office 365 x32
i7-7700; GeForce GTX 1060; 16GB DDR4 2400; 1TB SSD, 256GB SSD, 4TB HD

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The problem with at least some of 3rd party Mac applications no longer working with Mojave is that they were designed to use some OS features no longer accessible, or, at least, not the way they used to be. Probably those features were present in successive versions of OS x/macOS until not too long ago. In any case, the developers seem to have abandoned those apps, or else might still be working on new versions not yet ready to be released. Also Apple now and then restricts what can be done with their own apps. Something like that happened with the ability to download video with sound with a new version of QickTime (or at least I seem to recall that was the issue), when Sierra replaced the previous version of the OS, something that provoked quite a bit of unfavorable comments from disappointed QuickTime users.

So, not exactly a “walled garden”, more like a “not-walled garden with rather careless gardeners and a Boss Gardener that, now and then, likes to take matters in hand without asking first.”

Ex-Windows user (Win. 98, XP, 7); since mid-2017 using also macOS. Presently on Monterey 12.15 & sometimes running also Linux (Mint).

MacBook Pro circa mid-2015, 15" display, with 16GB 1600 GHz DDR3 RAM, 1 TB SSD, a Haswell architecture Intel CPU with 4 Cores and 8 Threads model i7-4870HQ @ 2.50GHz.
Intel Iris Pro GPU with Built-in Bus, VRAM 1.5 GB, Display 2880 x 1800 Retina, 24-Bit color.
macOS Monterey; browsers: Waterfox "Current", Vivaldi and (now and then) Chrome; security apps. Intego AV

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That has always been one of the things Microsoft had in its favor, and it looks like it still is.  They have really good backwards compatibility.  Programs designed for older versions of Windows can, as I am sure everyone here knows, use compatibility settings to make many of them run where they wouldn’t with the native version of Windows unaided, whatever that may be at that point.

I’m a little surprised by this too regarding the lack of this sort of thing in the Mac world. I would have expected something similar to what Windows has.

Regarding Windows 10 running some older programs that Windows 7 would not (even though 10 is years newer than 7)… well, I’ve said it before, but Windows 10 is actually decent “under the hood,” and that’s just one example.  It’s unfortunate that MS insists on making the higher level stuff in Windows 10 so objectionable, since they’ve got the means to have a really great OS with minimal effort, and they’re choosing not to do it.

I don’t know where people got the idea that the Mac is a walled garden.   I see downloadable Mac programs all over the place, and they’re not merely links to the App Store.  Perhaps they are confusing it with iOS, which most definitely is a walled garden.  Even Android isn’t a full walled garden, in that it is possible to set it to allow “sideloading” apps from anywhere the user wishes.  I don’t know if any device OEMs disable this option, but if they don’t, the Android walled garden has an unlocked gate.

 

Dell XPS 13/9310, i5-1135G7/16GB, KDE Neon
XPG Xenia 15, i7-9750H/16GB & GTX1660ti, KDE Neon
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Ascaris: According to this article (close to half a year old, but still current as far as this conversation is concerned), there is no “backward compatibility” feature in macOS, plus Apple will no longer support running 32-bit applications after Mojave is replaced by the next version, so that will be that once Mojave itself runs out of support, some two and a half years from now:

https://www.macworld.co.uk/feature/mac-software/apps-work-macos-mojave-3678735/

Those applications with developers still working on them might get switched to 64-bit architecture by then, if not sooner. For the others, it’s curtains.

Ex-Windows user (Win. 98, XP, 7); since mid-2017 using also macOS. Presently on Monterey 12.15 & sometimes running also Linux (Mint).

MacBook Pro circa mid-2015, 15" display, with 16GB 1600 GHz DDR3 RAM, 1 TB SSD, a Haswell architecture Intel CPU with 4 Cores and 8 Threads model i7-4870HQ @ 2.50GHz.
Intel Iris Pro GPU with Built-in Bus, VRAM 1.5 GB, Display 2880 x 1800 Retina, 24-Bit color.
macOS Monterey; browsers: Waterfox "Current", Vivaldi and (now and then) Chrome; security apps. Intego AV

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OscarCP wrote:

That is by and large quite true. The one problem I have found repeatedly with applications for the Mac (at least apps not from the Apple Store) is that, sometimes, they not to run at all with a version of the macOS newer than the one that was around when they were developed. That is not surprising, I would think, but the faster cadence of upgrades of macOS compared to Windows (before Win 10, that is) can make things confusing for a Windows user. There are even applications still being recommended enthusiastically in specialized Websites that I have downloaded and installed and did not work for that reason. (Easy to tell, because the accompanying instructions tell one to do things no longer possible with the current version of the OS!) I have had this annoying experience several times, already. Fortunately, most of those duds were available free of charge. But some were not; while those applications might be obsolete, my fully current and up to date money was taken gladly off my hands, all the same.

In general on the Mac, most of my apps generally carry through major macOS upgrades either successfully or with minor compatibility updates, and generally only need a larger update if I need to take advantage of OS-specific features (although I generally stay current on upgrades for the apps I use). Some apps like Parallels and VMWare tend to “break” during each macOS upgrade and require a paid upgrade (which I find annoying, and they might as well offer a subscription model which is what Parallels did). Occasionally an app will hopelessly break when Apple makes major under-the-hood changes to the OS (like the break from 32 Bit which is coming up).

Nathan Parker

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anonymous wrote:

I like mac OS but I hate the modern Apple hardware. Things such as the RAM and storage being soldered to the system board and no ports other than USB-C are a deal-breaker for me. I don’t blame people for trying to run it on non-Apple hardware.

I also don’t like this trend either, but not much I can do to avoid it, and I’m more comfortable with macOS than with Windows. When I had Windows, I had a Surface Book, so I was from a hardware standpoint in a similar boat.

Forgot to mention: The best way to explain macOS upgrades to Windows wonks is they’re identical to iOS upgrades in terms of schedule. You get a major macOS upgrade every year (just like iOS) plus minor updates throughout the year. Even with the annual upgrades, I’ve found it somewhat more easy to stomach over Windows 10 updates. 🙂

Nathan Parker

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When it comes to hardware, and since the topic has been already brought up here, for me what matters is the bottom line: the reliability and durability of that hardware, in whatever form it is put together: screwed in, glued in, soldered in. I have used already several PCs and a few by now truly historical Macs over the years, before I got my present new-ish MacBook Pro Retina with an I7-Quad CPU, a 1 TB SSD and 16 GB of RAM, that originally came with Sierra and now is running Mojave. And of all those Macs and PCs, except for one of those very old Macs, but young at the time, that had a tendency to burn its own motherboard (in the really early days of the Macs IIf and IIx), I have never had a hardware problem with any of them, beyond a few keyboard keys becoming sticky in the real, not tech jargon, sense of the word.  But then, I do not travel around with them, except rarely to bring them with me to do something on location. Be them desktop or laptop, they mostly can be found sitting on a table in my living room. So they do not get dropped and banged around a lot; I’m lucky that way.

Ex-Windows user (Win. 98, XP, 7); since mid-2017 using also macOS. Presently on Monterey 12.15 & sometimes running also Linux (Mint).

MacBook Pro circa mid-2015, 15" display, with 16GB 1600 GHz DDR3 RAM, 1 TB SSD, a Haswell architecture Intel CPU with 4 Cores and 8 Threads model i7-4870HQ @ 2.50GHz.
Intel Iris Pro GPU with Built-in Bus, VRAM 1.5 GB, Display 2880 x 1800 Retina, 24-Bit color.
macOS Monterey; browsers: Waterfox "Current", Vivaldi and (now and then) Chrome; security apps. Intego AV

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Lugh wrote:

Nathan Parker wrote:

my Mac can run everything I need, and generally at a lower cost than it would for me to do so on a comparable PC.

That’s interesting, Nathan. To clarify, are you saying you can get apps cheaper for Mac than comparable ones for PC?

For my own personal use, in some cases (but definitely not all), I can. Here’s a rundown of the major stuff I was using on Windows, and what I replaced it with on a Mac:

I was using Outlook and OneNote (although I believe there is a free version of OneNote) on Windows. On Mac, I now use macOS Calendar, Contacts, Mail, Notes, Reminders. My personal stuff syncs with iCloud, my work and school stuff sync with their Exchange accounts. My school now offers me free access to Office for Mac, so I can actually get it without paying for it, but I still use the built-in stuff mainly.

On Windows I used Adobe Audition. On the Mac I use GarageBand which saves the subscription since it’s included. If I needed a pro app, I could get Logic and pay once and own it (plus I could get a student discount). So far GarageBand has been enough for my work, although coming up I may need Logic. I used Audacity on Windows (which is free), but I needed a little more power without going overboard. GarageBand has been a good balance, plus a one-time purchase for a pro app vs subscription would be great.

On Windows I used Premiere Pro, which at the time was totally overkill for my smaller video projects. On the Mac I have iMovie included, and it’s been enough for my smaller video projects, but I will likely need something with a lot more power coming up. I can purchase Final Cut Pro (plus get the student discount) and also avoid a subscription.

On Windows I used Microsoft Office. While I now have free access to Microsoft Office from my school, when I moved back to a Mac I didn’t, so I’ve been able to adapt well to Keynote, Numbers, and Pages, plus either Mellel or Nisus Writer Pro make good options for solid word processors without the subscription. I’ve found Nisus Writer Pro to be a good “everyday” word processor, and Pages more for page layout stuff (although it’s decent for a regular word processor if I need to sync with an iPad). Mellel is a powerful alternative if I need the iPad sync (although harder to use interface). Numbers and Keynote are generally enough for the spreadsheets and presentations I use. Some people require the power of Excel, but my stuff is simple enough to work well on Numbers.

On Windows I used Adobe Pro for editing PDF’s. On a Mac, I use PDF Expert which is a one-time purchase instead of a subscription. It doesn’t do all Adobe Pro does, but it handles 99% of what I did in Adobe Pro, and the 1% is coming in a free software update. I use macOS Preview for just causally viewing PDF’s, which I’ve always found to be zippier than Adobe Reader.

On Windows I used Lightroom and Photoshop. On the Mac, I use macOS Photos, Pixelmator, and now Pixelmator Pro. Lightroom was nice for storing my photo library, but since I don’t do a ton of editing on my photos, macOS Photos works OK and syncs well with my iPad and iPhone. Some people require the power of Photoshop, and for those who do, you need it. For me, my graphics needs are generally tweaking a graphic someone else makes, so Pixelmator Pro gives me plenty of power for that without the need for another subscription.

On Windows I used Macrium Reflect. On a Mac, I use Time Machine. On Windows, I needed the Workstation edition, so I had the service contract. On a Mac, I can use Time Machine built into the Mac to handle most of my backup needs. I do have an online backup service (which I also had with Windows, although I switched to a more Mac-friendly one), so that’s one subscription I needed to keep, but it’s worth it to have offsite backups of my files.

On a Mac I use Screens Connect for VNC. On Windows, I forgot what I was using, but it was another monthly subscription so I could remote into my PC from my iPad when away.

On a Mac I use Apple Configurator for creating configuration profiles of iOS deployments. On Windows, the only solution I found was Microsoft Intune which would have cost me per month, but I switched back to a Mac before trying it.

One Mac app I never could fully find a Windows replacement for was Automator. I sorely missed that when I was on Windows.

On Windows I used Camtasia for screen recording. On a Mac I use ScreenFlow, although in this case, I also have to buy Camtasia for work purposes, so I’m not saving money on this one. For personal use, I’d likely use ScreenFlow which would cost less than Camtasia, especially for upgrades now that Camtasia is getting into annual upgrades.

I moved most of my data over to iCloud, where I’m still paying per month for the storage plan, but all my data is centralized instead of spread across services.

One app I still pay a subscription to since I don’t know of a solid replacement is QuickBooks. I’ve kept that subscription since when it comes to accounting, I need to ensure my accounting is solid, and I haven’t found a cheaper comparable service that can replace what I do in QuickBooks.

One area I am paying more for on a Mac is my password manager. On Windows I used LastPass Premium. For only passwords, I could use iCloud Keychain for free, but I pay extra for 1Password since it offers more power, and the interface is more polished than iCloud Keychain and LastPass.

On both Windows and Mac, I’ve used and use Nota Bene for academic word processing. Word burned me too much in this area, that I bit the bullet and invested in something that’d work well for me for my academic career.

On both Windows and Mac, I’ve invested in enterprise weather tools (Baron Threat Net, and I get Earth Networks Sferic Maps free at work) since I work for a weather company, and the free stuff when it comes to weather tracking just won’t cut it (this is one of my largest expenses, but I need the same tools that TV stations pay $$$$ for in order to give people accurate weather information).

Two areas on a Mac I’ve splurged on are with Ulysses (and Scrivener) and Transmit. I’m paying for a student subscription to Ulysses, plus I purchased Scrivener, since both integrate well with Ulysses helping me take notes in class on my iPad and have them sync with my Mac, plus Scrivener helps me plan out my larger academic papers. On Windows, I used free FTP clients, but I invested in Transmit for Mac since I wanted something rock-solid.

Nathan Parker

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Myst, Lugh

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Fantastic reply Nathan, much appreciated.

Mac software is clearly in a much better place than it used to be. I’m taking note of your post to refer existing & potential Mac users to 🙂

Lugh.
~
Alienware Aurora R6; Win10 Home x64 1803; Office 365 x32
i7-7700; GeForce GTX 1060; 16GB DDR4 2400; 1TB SSD, 256GB SSD, 4TB HD

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Sounds good. If you have any additional info on Mac software, I’m happy to assist. It is true that Mac software is in a far better place than in the past, both in terms of quantity of apps and better feature parity with Windows.

Nathan Parker

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Nathan Parker: ” On a Mac I use ScreenFlow ”

I would like to know about something for capturing the screen with motion and sound, but the problem I have had with some Mac applications I have tried is that, probably because of the high pixel density of the Retina screen, the resulting video files are immense. Is there an alternative to, e.g. QuickTime, and preferably with all necessary features for that in one single application, that allows me to reduce the resolution, and resulting file size. Because, for me, a moderate reduction hardly affects the subjective image quality (or, alternatively, I am not really fussy about it). And it has to work with Mojave. Thanks.

Ex-Windows user (Win. 98, XP, 7); since mid-2017 using also macOS. Presently on Monterey 12.15 & sometimes running also Linux (Mint).

MacBook Pro circa mid-2015, 15" display, with 16GB 1600 GHz DDR3 RAM, 1 TB SSD, a Haswell architecture Intel CPU with 4 Cores and 8 Threads model i7-4870HQ @ 2.50GHz.
Intel Iris Pro GPU with Built-in Bus, VRAM 1.5 GB, Display 2880 x 1800 Retina, 24-Bit color.
macOS Monterey; browsers: Waterfox "Current", Vivaldi and (now and then) Chrome; security apps. Intego AV

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I need to run more tests with ScreenFlow on my iMac Pro (I’ve been having to use Camtasia more often than ScreenFlow at the moment due to needing to share the project files with Windows users).

In general, however, I’ve noticed that ScreenFlow offers higher quality files over Camtasia, but file sizes are generally larger. You may be able to use Custom Export to reduce the file sizes, although it’s been a while since I’ve exported something out of ScreenFlow (see: http://telestreamblog.telestream.net/2018/01/screenflow-export/).

Camtasia still offers high quality files, but I’ve noticed the file sizes are generally much smaller than ScreenFlow. On a high-res Windows PC, I recorded an hour+ worth of video that resulted in about 200MB when uploaded to Vimeo. On my retina iMac Pro, even my retina videos are generally at not too bad file sizes (here’s file sharing on Camtasia: https://www.techsmith.com/tutorial-camtasia-produce-share.html).

Snagit (the static screen capture utility) also offers the ability to downsample retina video files automatically when recording them (although you don’t get all the editing features of Camtasia, but it is a great static screen capture utility as well). See: https://support.techsmith.com/hc/en-us/articles/360007607512-Snagit-Preferences

For the bottom line, I’d say if quality matters but you’re fine with larger files, get ScreenFlow. If file size matters (you want smaller file sizes) and you want full-fledged editing, get Camtasia. If file size matters and you don’t care about too much video editing, plus you’d also like static captures, Snagit should do it.

I may post another post on here one day about screen capturing and screencasting and give a rundown of all the tools I’ve used plus a review on video sharing services.

Nathan Parker

1 user thanked author for this post.

OscarCP

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Thanks! I just bought “Snagit”, the price was OK for me. Tomorrow I’ll take it for a test drive. It is, supposedly, “for Macs and Windows PCs”, and the purchase entitles one to install it in up to two machines, so I also bought the DVD, to see if I can install it on both my machines.

Ex-Windows user (Win. 98, XP, 7); since mid-2017 using also macOS. Presently on Monterey 12.15 & sometimes running also Linux (Mint).

MacBook Pro circa mid-2015, 15" display, with 16GB 1600 GHz DDR3 RAM, 1 TB SSD, a Haswell architecture Intel CPU with 4 Cores and 8 Threads model i7-4870HQ @ 2.50GHz.
Intel Iris Pro GPU with Built-in Bus, VRAM 1.5 GB, Display 2880 x 1800 Retina, 24-Bit color.
macOS Monterey; browsers: Waterfox "Current", Vivaldi and (now and then) Chrome; security apps. Intego AV

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Sounds good. Snagit is pretty solid, and I use it every day for my static screen captures. They also have a free trial for those who want to try before they buy, plus education discounts.

It does work on both Mac and PC’s, and you can use the license on two machines at the same time (you can log out of one to move the license to another machine if you need it physically installed on more than two and just log out and re-activate). Their support is pretty good too. I’ve been a pleased Techsmith customer for years.

Nathan Parker

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I just tried out Snagit on the MacBook Pro with the Retina screen. It worked. However a 2-minute screen recording, while I was playing a rather low-resolution video with sound, produced an mp4 file of 150 MB. At this rate, one hour of video would have a file of 4.5 GB. After looking around for information at the Snagit Web site, I have not found mention of any feature in Snagit to reduce the resolution and so get smaller files. Any suggestions?

Ex-Windows user (Win. 98, XP, 7); since mid-2017 using also macOS. Presently on Monterey 12.15 & sometimes running also Linux (Mint).

MacBook Pro circa mid-2015, 15" display, with 16GB 1600 GHz DDR3 RAM, 1 TB SSD, a Haswell architecture Intel CPU with 4 Cores and 8 Threads model i7-4870HQ @ 2.50GHz.
Intel Iris Pro GPU with Built-in Bus, VRAM 1.5 GB, Display 2880 x 1800 Retina, 24-Bit color.
macOS Monterey; browsers: Waterfox "Current", Vivaldi and (now and then) Chrome; security apps. Intego AV

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I used the application for Macs “handbrake” and reduced the size of the 150 MB mp4 created in my first attempt (see previous post here) to 15 MB, or 10th of the original, and it still looked OK.

However, when I attempted to record another video, I had to try several times before Snagit agreed to do the job, and moments after I started recording, the bar at the bottom of the screen with all the Snagit control buttons disappeared, never to be seen again, no matter what I did. Finally, I stopped the recording from the menu bar. Looking around I found the new mp4 file, with 3 minutes of captured video — out of the 20 minutes that should had been recorded —  the file I had created in my last semi-successsful attempt,  and it was quite large, as expected. But handbrake decided that this mp4 was not up to its own high standards, and refused to do anything with it, let alone convert it to a lower resolution. A rather disappointing result altogether, and one well in line with my previous experiences with other applications for recording video on the Mac… Oddly enough, finding a totally working application, simple to use, all in one (i.e. no need for another app, like handbrake, to reduce the file size) for the Windows 7 PC, last year, was so very simple.

Well, I do appreciate your desire to help.

Ex-Windows user (Win. 98, XP, 7); since mid-2017 using also macOS. Presently on Monterey 12.15 & sometimes running also Linux (Mint).

MacBook Pro circa mid-2015, 15" display, with 16GB 1600 GHz DDR3 RAM, 1 TB SSD, a Haswell architecture Intel CPU with 4 Cores and 8 Threads model i7-4870HQ @ 2.50GHz.
Intel Iris Pro GPU with Built-in Bus, VRAM 1.5 GB, Display 2880 x 1800 Retina, 24-Bit color.
macOS Monterey; browsers: Waterfox "Current", Vivaldi and (now and then) Chrome; security apps. Intego AV

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I’m heading into a class, so sending off a brief message, then I can post more this evening.

I thought under Preferences>Advanced>Scale Down Retina Images When Sharing would do the trick, but come to think of it, it may not for video files (just static captures).

If that doesn’t do the trick (and you have no use for Snagit as a static screen capture utility), give Techsmith Sales a call at Toll Free: +1 (800) 517-3001 and see if they’ll give you a refund on Snagit since you just ordered it (I think they do have a return policy), and ask them for a free trial of Camtasia instead.

Camtasia definitely produces small video files, even of retina displays. On a high-res Windows PC, I recorded over an hour of video at about 200MB when I exported to MP4, and my retina screencasts on my Mac, while shorter in duration, have been pretty optimized as well.

Camtasia also offers the ability to shoot, edit, and publish, all in one app, but I’d recommend taking the trial first since it does cost a bit more than Snagit.

Keep me posted. Signing off now to step into a class. Will add more later.

Nathan Parker

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I’ll give them a call. Thanks.

Ex-Windows user (Win. 98, XP, 7); since mid-2017 using also macOS. Presently on Monterey 12.15 & sometimes running also Linux (Mint).

MacBook Pro circa mid-2015, 15" display, with 16GB 1600 GHz DDR3 RAM, 1 TB SSD, a Haswell architecture Intel CPU with 4 Cores and 8 Threads model i7-4870HQ @ 2.50GHz.
Intel Iris Pro GPU with Built-in Bus, VRAM 1.5 GB, Display 2880 x 1800 Retina, 24-Bit color.
macOS Monterey; browsers: Waterfox "Current", Vivaldi and (now and then) Chrome; security apps. Intego AV

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Sounds good. I’m out of my class now, so keep me posted on how it goes. Camtasia should do what you need and a whole lot more, although I’d take the trial before spending the upfront cost for it to ensure it does what you need.

Nathan Parker

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I called Techsmith Sales and got them to agree to refunding me for Snagit. Also downloaded and run Camtasia (free demo). As far as I have been able to test it, seems to do the kind of work I need. I’ll keep on trying it to see what more I can do with it (e.g. making shorter clips off a longer recording, or using some of the other edit options), but at least got: (a) a recording with decent sound, that I tested by capturing, as it played on the screen, the video of a violin concert I have; (2) an mp4 file at reduced resolution created using one and the same application that made the recording and that, after reducing its resolution, still looked good enough. Unfortunately, the price is the same for buying the license for one, two, three, or four installs, at a cool $249.00, plus tax, where applicable.

Along the long and winding way to getting there, I discovered that Mojave now has it’s own built-in screen capture feature, both static and dynamic. One presses Shift+Command+5 to open it. It does not reduce the resolution, so one needs an application like Handbrake to do that once the mp4 file has been created with this Mojave feature. And, unfortunately, it looks like the only way for capturing sound is through the built-in microphone — so any noises near the Mac get picked up, plus the sound recorded in this way is monoaural and generally lousy. In this respect, this Mojave thing has the same problem as QuickTime. Also, while using Handbrake to reduce the size of the file (from 21 GB, for 50 minutes of video, to 700 MB), it really gave my poor Mac a workout, with the fan running noisily and more than loud enough for me to hear it, for the first time ever since I got it, one and a half years ago. So it looks like, if one needs some quality in the created mp4 file, the best thing to do might be to forget about these two Apple “solutions” and get some better 3rd party capture software.

But maybe someone at Woody’s, with enough free time and spirit of adventure, would be interested in finding more about this sound problem with the new Mojave feature, in case there is something not obvious, to me at least, that can be done about it. Because if it could, and leaving the size of the output mp4 aside, it would be a pretty handy thing to have, if one is running Mojave and needs to use some quick and easy means to do screen captures, dynamic ones in particular. And, especially, one that is for free.

Ex-Windows user (Win. 98, XP, 7); since mid-2017 using also macOS. Presently on Monterey 12.15 & sometimes running also Linux (Mint).

MacBook Pro circa mid-2015, 15" display, with 16GB 1600 GHz DDR3 RAM, 1 TB SSD, a Haswell architecture Intel CPU with 4 Cores and 8 Threads model i7-4870HQ @ 2.50GHz.
Intel Iris Pro GPU with Built-in Bus, VRAM 1.5 GB, Display 2880 x 1800 Retina, 24-Bit color.
macOS Monterey; browsers: Waterfox "Current", Vivaldi and (now and then) Chrome; security apps. Intego AV

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Good to know on the Snagit refund. Glad the Camtasia trial has been working well for you. Are you involved in education? If so, you can get a discount. Otherwise, indeed the price is steep.

I’ll probably writeup a post on here about Mac screencasting this weekend with a rundown of all I’ve tested for screen recording. In the meantime, here’s some additional insights for you.

QuickTime Player does offer built-in screen recording, plus Command+Shift+5 does tie into QuickTime Player on Mojave for screen recording. However, it is true that it doesn’t reduce file sizes, so you’re going to get some large files out of it and need Handbrake or another tool to optimize them.

In QuickTime, when I go to create a new screen recording, I’m getting a drop-down menu next to the record button asking for what microphone input I want to use. I don’t have my USB headset plugged in at the moment, so I haven’t been able to test it. I can try it later this week and see if it appears as an option.

Does your Mac have a T2 chip inside of it, or is it an older Mac? There have been audio issues with Macs with T2 chips (I posted another thread with a link about it). I haven’t heard about audio issues with Mojave itself, but I can look into it.

Nathan Parker

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QuickTime: I tried selecting the audio to come from Soundflower 2 Channel (stereo), that is the app I normally use for sound, following your suggestion. But it did not do any good: no sound was recorded. At the same time, QuickTime was quite remarkably inconsistent and practically unmanageable: sometimes after I started recording, the black button to stop recording would appear on the menu bar, sometimes not, and I had to quit QT and, sometimes, it would ask me if I wanted to save the recording, but not as “what” (mp4), and would save it as “mov”. At other times, it did not ask me what I wanted to do about the output file, if any, and the recording was nowhere to be found. So I don’t think I’ll be recommending QT any time soon to my friends for capturing video with sound, or at all. I’d rather keep my friends and pass on QT.

My machine, as I mentioned earlier, is a MacBook Pro ca. late 2015 (the model before the latest one), fully loaded, running Mojave. I do not know what chipset is there, other than the CPU, that is an I-7 Quad, 2.5 MHz. The HD is an SSD.

Ex-Windows user (Win. 98, XP, 7); since mid-2017 using also macOS. Presently on Monterey 12.15 & sometimes running also Linux (Mint).

MacBook Pro circa mid-2015, 15" display, with 16GB 1600 GHz DDR3 RAM, 1 TB SSD, a Haswell architecture Intel CPU with 4 Cores and 8 Threads model i7-4870HQ @ 2.50GHz.
Intel Iris Pro GPU with Built-in Bus, VRAM 1.5 GB, Display 2880 x 1800 Retina, 24-Bit color.
macOS Monterey; browsers: Waterfox "Current", Vivaldi and (now and then) Chrome; security apps. Intego AV

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It sounds like there are some major bugs with QuickTime under Mojave. Here’s the link where you can submit a bug report to Apple if you want to let them know what’s going on with QuickTime (I use Apple’s Feedback often to submit feedback or any bug reports I find to Apple): https://www.apple.com/feedback/quicktime.html.

Your Mac doesn’t have a T2 chip (those came in 2017 onward), so yours isn’t affected by the T2 audio issue. It seems to be more general bugs with QuickTime on Mojave that Apple needs to seriously address.

Camtasia will likely do what you want (if you want to take a trial of ScreenFlow as well for the fun of it, you can, it’s at telestream.net, but you’ll definitely find the file sizes to be larger than Camtasia). Overall Camtasia works well. I’m having a slight issue where occasionally I’ll get a beachball freeze if I drag too many videos to the timeline in a short amount of time, but Techsmith is addressing that in an update.

Nathan Parker

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Nathan Parker: Thank you for taking the time to answer my questions on applications for dynamic screen capture on the Mac (for static capture, the Mac equivalent of Windows “print screen” is Shift+Command+3, and works every time.).

After looking into the various applications for doing that, first under Sierra and now under Mojave, I have come to the following conclusions:

(1) Camtasia and ScreenFlow are likely to work for me, but they are too expensive to justify buying them for the sort of use I am likely to give them, while (2) the low-price and free capture applications for the Mac that I have been trying now, and the same ones and others I have tried in the past, including Mojave’s new one and QuickTime (that works OK for anything other than screen capture), seem to be real time wasters, their features working now but not next time, or severely limited in their capabilities, or remarkably buggy and, or awkward to use, when not already obsolete after some upgrade of the OS. Shame that, really, but that’s how it looks. I had thought that Macs, being often recommended for graphics and artistic work, including some aspects of movie-making, would be also quite good for something as common as making dynamic screen captures. But, apparently, I was wrong about that.

Ex-Windows user (Win. 98, XP, 7); since mid-2017 using also macOS. Presently on Monterey 12.15 & sometimes running also Linux (Mint).

MacBook Pro circa mid-2015, 15" display, with 16GB 1600 GHz DDR3 RAM, 1 TB SSD, a Haswell architecture Intel CPU with 4 Cores and 8 Threads model i7-4870HQ @ 2.50GHz.
Intel Iris Pro GPU with Built-in Bus, VRAM 1.5 GB, Display 2880 x 1800 Retina, 24-Bit color.
macOS Monterey; browsers: Waterfox "Current", Vivaldi and (now and then) Chrome; security apps. Intego AV

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Glad to assist anytime. I will post a more detailed post this weekend on Mac screencasting running down every tool I’ve used over the years, the strengths/weaknesses of each, and evaluating places to share screencasts and places to find media for screencasts.

For static captures, that keystroke does indeed work, and it’s gotten better in Mojave. I’ll discuss it more this weekend of the enhancements in Mojave. I still use Snagit for static captures over the built-in tools since I need more power than even what Mojave offers built-in, but overall static captures are easy to do and pretty functional in Mojave for many users.

It is true that Camtasia and ScreenFlow are the best in what they do, but at a cost. I’ve done screencasting for years, and early on in my screencasting I didn’t want to shell out the $$$ for Camtasia and ScreenFlow (plus knowing I’d likely have to purchase all future upgrades if I needed to share projects with work places), but I’ve gotten to the point where screencasting has become a central role in my job plus my future career path, so the tools have been an investment that have paid off. For others, it’s hard to justify these steep up-front costs for casual use.

However, with the issues you’re seeing on QuickTime, screencasting tools that are free or low cost are going to be troublesome enough not to be worth their time. One tool I used in the past which was pretty good and not too expensive was Snapz Pro X, which was similar to what QuickTime offers now, but it hasn’t been updated for a while and I heard broke in High Sierra. Plus it was built in the way before Retina age, so it likely never handled Retina correctly. I tried another cheapy program once called MacCapture which was a waste of money. I never could get it to do anything I needed.

Macs are good for movie making, and even screencasting, but it still boils down to investing in solid software to do it. ScreenFlow is one of the best screencasting apps I’ve used (being Mac only), but it comes at a cost. Pro movie editing is also great on a Mac, but it still requires an investment in Final Cut Pro. That’s not to say the Mac doesn’t have some great built-in apps. As I’ve shown above, there are some great built-in apps I use that have saved me money and subscriptions. For video editing and screencasting, the Mac is great at it, provided you have the right apps, and unfortunately, the built-in stuff in this area is lacking.

Nathan Parker

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Thanks again, Nathan Parker, and now looking forward to your posting on screencasting.

One thing that I can make some frequent use of, is software for creating and editing brief animated gifs with a Mac, to show how something works, and small enough they can be inserted in presentations without ending with PowerPoint files that are too inconveniently large.

Ex-Windows user (Win. 98, XP, 7); since mid-2017 using also macOS. Presently on Monterey 12.15 & sometimes running also Linux (Mint).

MacBook Pro circa mid-2015, 15" display, with 16GB 1600 GHz DDR3 RAM, 1 TB SSD, a Haswell architecture Intel CPU with 4 Cores and 8 Threads model i7-4870HQ @ 2.50GHz.
Intel Iris Pro GPU with Built-in Bus, VRAM 1.5 GB, Display 2880 x 1800 Retina, 24-Bit color.
macOS Monterey; browsers: Waterfox "Current", Vivaldi and (now and then) Chrome; security apps. Intego AV

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Sounds good. Snagit (the app you were trying out) does this, but at times I’ve found the GIF’s to be a little blurry (I may have started too big and scaled down too small though).

Nathan Parker

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Nathan Parker:

I have a MacBook Pro ca. late 2015 running Mojave, as have already mentioned, and would like to know if there is a good application, in your experience, that can be used to adjust the audio frequency response of the built-in speakers, which, otherwise, I find surprisingly good for their size. The way sound in these laptops comes out of the box, in “preferences/audio/speakers” there is only control of the stereo and the volume, so I’ve looked around and the idea seems to be that  installing something extra is needed for adjusting bass and treble. Thanks.

Ex-Windows user (Win. 98, XP, 7); since mid-2017 using also macOS. Presently on Monterey 12.15 & sometimes running also Linux (Mint).

MacBook Pro circa mid-2015, 15" display, with 16GB 1600 GHz DDR3 RAM, 1 TB SSD, a Haswell architecture Intel CPU with 4 Cores and 8 Threads model i7-4870HQ @ 2.50GHz.
Intel Iris Pro GPU with Built-in Bus, VRAM 1.5 GB, Display 2880 x 1800 Retina, 24-Bit color.
macOS Monterey; browsers: Waterfox "Current", Vivaldi and (now and then) Chrome; security apps. Intego AV

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Good question. I haven’t personally used any apps that can do this. I am showing your question to a Mac reviews website (MacSources) that I read often to see if they have an answer for that. MacSources is a great reviews site for Mac users, and I always find objective reviews of Mac apps and accessories to make my Mac experience better.

Nathan Parker

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MacSources told me to check out these two apps:

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/boom2-volume-boost-equalizer/id948176063?mt=12

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/boom3d-volume-booster-and-eq/id1233048948?mt=12

Not free but not too expensive, and Apple does have a way to refund your money if they don’t work for you (I can post the instructions for App Store refunds if you need them).

Nathan Parker

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OscarCP

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Nathan Parker, I just bought Boom 2 (Boom 3D had comments at least one year old, so they were pre-Mojave). First, I went to the Apple Store, as this is the only well-known place selling Boom 2, and the Bank that issues the credit card I was using did not like something and declined to pay. Then I had a conversation with the bank’s card people and got things straightened out. Went back to the Apple Store, succeed at buying Boom 2 and, lo and behold, when I tried to launch the app, the icon of which is sitting in the Finder’s “Applications” folder, as expected, I clicked on it and nothing, absolutely nothing happened. Several trials, several nothings.

Well, it turned out that having installed Boom 2, that was not enough, and I had to install another thing to get the controls and have Boom 2 actually working. I did that, and what followed was a process of trial and error. At first I could not even select “Classical”, as it was stuck in “Acoustic”. Then, I could not see how to get to the equalizer. The manual, that I also downloaded, did not say anything about that. In the end, I found that clicking on the three little blue dots at the bottom of the vertical slider that opens when you click once on the tiny Boom 2 icon on the top bar of the screen (where the icons of things like the clock, WiFi, Time Machine, etc. are lined up), actually opens the equalizer. With that and the Manual, I was finally all set. Or so it seems. The Manual was surprisingly unhelpful to get that far, I must say. Now we’ll see.

But, now and in the end, I finally have an Equalizer that I can use to customize the way the sound comes out of the speakers and also from my headphones. And it was what I wanted, after all. Although less of an adventure on the way would have been good too. Boring has its charms.

Ex-Windows user (Win. 98, XP, 7); since mid-2017 using also macOS. Presently on Monterey 12.15 & sometimes running also Linux (Mint).

MacBook Pro circa mid-2015, 15" display, with 16GB 1600 GHz DDR3 RAM, 1 TB SSD, a Haswell architecture Intel CPU with 4 Cores and 8 Threads model i7-4870HQ @ 2.50GHz.
Intel Iris Pro GPU with Built-in Bus, VRAM 1.5 GB, Display 2880 x 1800 Retina, 24-Bit color.
macOS Monterey; browsers: Waterfox "Current", Vivaldi and (now and then) Chrome; security apps. Intego AV

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Thanks for the updates. If for some reason you have issues with Boom 2 and need to refund it, here are the instructions:

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204084

Although being on a Mac, you probably need to use the reportaproblem.apple.com link:

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204088#unexpected

I did that recently for an app I downloaded that didn’t work, and Apple refunded me the purchase price the same day the charge posted to my card.

1 user thanked author for this post.

OscarCP

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Thanks! I hope I don’t have to return this one. So far it is behaving. It is a bit mysterious what “ambient”, “fidelity” and “spatial” really do, although the sound is different with each.

Now, by slightly customizing the “Classic” frequency response with the Equalizer, I have turned down just enough the highest frequencies that the sound of the violins coming out of the speakers, in some recordings, is no longer so grating, but just a tad mellower and more enjoyable. That was my intention for getting something like “Boom 2” in the first place. My teeth are so grateful.

What happened to your nice avatar and your golden cockade?

Ex-Windows user (Win. 98, XP, 7); since mid-2017 using also macOS. Presently on Monterey 12.15 & sometimes running also Linux (Mint).

MacBook Pro circa mid-2015, 15" display, with 16GB 1600 GHz DDR3 RAM, 1 TB SSD, a Haswell architecture Intel CPU with 4 Cores and 8 Threads model i7-4870HQ @ 2.50GHz.
Intel Iris Pro GPU with Built-in Bus, VRAM 1.5 GB, Display 2880 x 1800 Retina, 24-Bit color.
macOS Monterey; browsers: Waterfox "Current", Vivaldi and (now and then) Chrome; security apps. Intego AV

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OscarCP wrote:

Thanks! I hope I don’t have to return this one. So far it is behaving. It is a bit mysterious what “ambient”, “fidelity” and “spatial” really do, although the sound is different with each. Now, by slightly customizing the “Classic” frequency response with the Equalizer, I have turned down just enough the highest frequencies that the sound of the violins coming out of the speakers, in some recordings, is no longer so grating, but just a tad mellower and more enjoyable. That was my intention for getting something like “Boom 2” in the first place. My teeth are so grateful. What happened to your nice avatar and your golden cockade?

I accidentally replied to your post earlier today not realizing I was signed out of my AskWoody account, so it posted as Anonymous instead of myself. The admins swapped out the name and put my name on it so it still shows as a post from me, but it didn’t get associated with my account.

It was an ID10T error on my part posting before scrolling up the page to see if I was still logged in. 🙂

Nathan Parker

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OscarCP wrote:

Ascaris: According to this article (close to half a year old, but still current as far as this conversation is concerned), there is no “backward compatibility” feature in macOS, plus Apple will no longer support running 32-bit applications after Mojave is replaced by the next version, so that will be that once Mojave itself runs out of support, some two and a half years from now: https://www.macworld.co.uk/feature/mac-software/apps-work-macos-mojave-3678735/ Those applications with developers still working on them might get switched to 64-bit architecture by then, if not sooner. For the others, it’s curtains.

Background:  Apple II+, then PC, got MCSE in 1996 before it became worthless, then ACMT in 2014, certified through fall 2017 Apple products…  Now back in the deep end of M$ support.

Ok.  “Curtains” IF you insist on installing the current OS.  Which you don’t have to do.

I have a 2009 MacBook (white polycarbonate “jelly bean” c2d) that’s running 10.11.  Current Firefox, Chrome, and I use Carbon Copy Cloner with Tuxera NTFS to do data recovery off failing Windows hard drives.  Sophos antivirus.

Primary laptop is a 17″ MBP with qc i7 and 16gb of RAM.  Running 10.12 and all the same tools as the 10.11 MacBook.  I plan to upgrade to 10.13 in the next month or two.

I use Linux Mint on a bootable dvd every now and then.

I honestly can’t understand how M$ can keep putting out junk.

Hey look! Another Feature Update!

You mean I shouldn't click Check for Updates?

Where is the Any key?

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Mojave is pretty solid so far, so users with any legacy 32 Bit apps can continue to remain on Mojave until either the apps are updated to 64 Bit, or 64 Bit replacements are found for those apps.

Overall, 99% of my apps are already 64 Bit, and some 32 Bit apps just went 64 Bit. There’s a couple of apps (primarily WINE-based Windows ports to Mac) that are still 32 Bit, but those will be 64 Bit by the time macOS 10.15 ships. Not anymore of a headache that making sure apps are updated for the next major release of macOS. Since I’m on an iMac Pro, I want all my apps to b3 64 Bit. I want them to enjoy the breathing room of all my RAM.

Nathan Parker

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