Question regarding Leopard compatibility

alucard · Mar 1, 2007

With Vista having a lot of compaibility issues with programs i was wondering if Leopard will also have issues with software that i have installed on my iMac?

For example, when Leopard comes out and i install it fresh on my system will i be able to use my apps that I am currently using? Sorry if this is a simple question but I've never upgraded a Mac to a different OS version before. I am eagerly awaiting Leopard but i have several apps that i love and would like to keep.

RiDE · Mar 1, 2007

Leopard will be "Backward Compatible" so you'll be fine... if it's running on 10.4.8, you'll be good on 10.5.

There may be a few quirks here and there but nothing that a quick update or two won't handle.

mac57 · Mar 1, 2007

The truth is we won't know until Leopard does come out. Apple has a reasonably good history in this area, as upgrades to Mac OS X have come out, but the proof of the pudding is in the eating. We will need to wait I'm afraid.

RiDE · Mar 1, 2007

True... I should have put the "IMO" disclaimer in my post.

mathogre · Mar 1, 2007

Let me add to that you might not want to go for bleeding edge. Sure it's cool to have a newly released OS on its first day, but you'll have more luck if you wait just a bit. I'm expecting to go to Leopard and iLife '07 pretty quickly. To me that means I'll upgrade about a month after they've been released.

(Yeah right. I know me. I could find myself at the Apple store on the day Leopard is released. Calm and rational doesn't always hold for me. ^_^)

alucard · Mar 1, 2007

Thank you both for your input. I have been very happy with my iMac since purchasing it last year and have not gone through an upgrade yet. With so many of our software vendors telling us not to upgrade to Vista because of compatibility issues i was wondering how easy or hard it was to upgrade a Mac. Thanks again

alucard · Mar 1, 2007

mathogre said:
Let me add to that you might not want to go for bleeding edge. Sure it's cool to have a newly released OS on its first day, but you'll have more luck if you wait just a bit. I'm expecting to go to Leopard and iLife '07 pretty quickly. To me that means I'll upgrade about a month after they've been released.

(Yeah right. I know me. I could find myself at the Apple store on the day Leopard is released. Calm and rational doesn't always hold for me. ^_^)

I am thinking of getting a Mac Pro since i have been doing a lot of iMovie and iDVD stuff and i was going to hold off on getting one until Leopard came out. That way i can get them both at the same time.

cwa107 · Mar 1, 2007

alucard said:
Thank you both for your input. I have been very happy with my iMac since purchasing it last year and have not gone through an upgrade yet. With so many of our software vendors telling us not to upgrade to Vista because of compatibility issues i was wondering how easy or hard it was to upgrade a Mac. Thanks again

Vista is a very different beast when compared to Windows XP. Updates to OS X are mostly evolutionary, rather than revolutionary, so backward compatibility should theoretically be much better.

Since the dawn of time, Windows has always made the user an "administrator", that is, the user was basically god when it came to all aspects of the machine. Programs run by the user and actions taken were basically given full reign of the system. By contrast, OS X has always taken the UNIX-like approach, by prompting the user for a password before they get into something that could potentially break the OS.

Of course, this came back to bite Microsoft because spyware, viruses and assorted other nasties took full advantage of this lax approach to security. So, Microsoft started limiting user abilities with Vista. The problem is, so many different Windows applications rely on this unrestricted access that they now refuse to run properly or at all.

That's not the only problem with application compatibility in Vista. Microsoft did away with what they called the "GDI", which is basically the API that provides GUI capabilities to programs and the operating system. This was necessary to build the pretty Aero user-interface, but it also broke a lot of older software.

Vista is a real mess, not only for the user community that was expecting backward-compatibility, but also for the developers and Microsoft itself. It will be a very long time before most of the industry standardizes on Vista, IMO.

fzanetti · Mar 1, 2007

cwa107 said:
Vista is a very different beast when compared to Windows XP. Updates to OS X are mostly evolutionary, rather than revolutionary, so backward compatibility should theoretically be much better.

Since the dawn of time, Windows has always made the user an "administrator", that is, the user was basically god when it came to all aspects of the machine. Programs run by the user and actions taken were basically given full reign of the system. By contrast, OS X has always taken the UNIX-like approach, by prompting the user for a password before they get into something that could potentially break the OS.

Of course, this came back to bite Microsoft because spyware, viruses and assorted other nasties took full advantage of this lax approach to security. So, Microsoft started limiting user abilities with Vista. The problem is, so many different Windows applications rely on this unrestricted access that they now refuse to run properly or at all.

That's not the only problem with application compatibility in Vista. Microsoft did away with what they called the "GDI", which is basically the API that provides GUI capabilities to programs and the operating system. This was necessary to build the pretty Aero user-interface, but it also broke a lot of older software.

Vista is a real mess, not only for the user community that was expecting backward-compatibility, but also for the developers and Microsoft itself. It will be a very long time before most of the industry standardizes on Vista, IMO.

Very well said man!!!

mac57 · Mar 1, 2007

I would concur with mathogre... well his intent anyway. He says even *he* may not follow his intent, and I completely understand. The allure of that shiny new OS may be too much to withstand!! :dive:

That having been said, it would be extremely wise to wait a few months after Leopard comes out before taking the plunge. Let other folks deal with and work out the inevitable teething problems! Thats what I plan to do...

...like mathogre however, I may have trouble following the plan too!

Alexis · Mar 2, 2007

Vista and Leopard have little in common. The former hassles you whenever you want to do anything and requires a lot of rewritten Vista drivers for lots of peripherals.

Leopard will work perfectly with 99% of your Tiger software.

ToddG · Mar 2, 2007

mathogre said:
(Yeah right. I know me. I could find myself at the Apple store on the day Leopard is released.

I'll bring the popcorn.