OS X Lion and Rosetta

Can new iMac with Lion run old software, and if so..how?

No, Rosetta does not work with Lion. OS X Lion is Intel only through and through.

Par-tis-shun-ing

I figured as much....here's the issue... currently using 10.4.11 in a pre-press environment. the software required to go CTP is only supported within the 10.4.11 range.. would it be possible to partition say a new iMac with Lion and load 10.4.11 or something compatible and boot off that... disregarding Lion all together?? for me its that or search for a couple of old G5's as the current ones are about to ;P

iVooDoo said:

I.. would it be possible to partition say a new iMac with Lion and load 10.4.11 or something compatible and boot off that... disregarding Lion all together?? for me its that or search for a couple of old G5's as the current ones are about to ;P

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Nope. The issue is hardware compatibility.

The hardware in the new iMac's is not compatible with the older PPC applications...and it's been this way for a good number of years. "Rosetta" was a way around this hardware incompatibility with the initial generations of Macintosh computers with Intel cpu's (starting around 2006).

Folks using older PPC applications (starting in 2006) were supposed to eventually "migrate" to newer versions of the software they use...which would be Mac "Intel" compatible. Since this started in 2006...I think expecting Apple to continue supporting PPC applications (via Rosetta) into 2011 (and now almost 2012) is asking a lot.

It's time to purchase new versions of what I'm guessing are Adobe programs (CS5)...or continue running the old versions of "Photoshop, Illustrator, etc. on older Mac hardware. Of course the older hardware & the older OS versions do have limitations in a 2011 environment.

HTH,

- Nick

p.s. You can still run "Rosetta" using OS 10.6 on older Intel Mac's (so your only option is not necessarily a G5 based Mac. But the newest Mac models REQUIRE OS 10.7 Lion...so you cannot "downgrade" the newest Mac's to 10.6 Snow Leopard in order to run Rosetta.

More info on Rosetta:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rosetta_(software)

Even if you got a hold of an Intel version of Tiger, I doubt that it would install on a new iMac. That's not something I would experiment with.

i knew "keeping it old skool" was the way to go....

iVooDoo said:

i knew "keeping it old skool" was the way to go....

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Hey...you can keep running older versions of software on older Macintosh models for almost forever (as long as the computer keeps running). The problem is...as newer OS versions get released...and the whole computer industry as a whole moves forward...you will eventually lose compatibility in various ways.

For example when running an older & older OS version:

- newer versions of all sorts of software will no longer run on old OS versions.
- with Mac's in particular...newer software versions REQUIRE a Mac with an Intel cpu
- newer printers, scanners will no longer work with older versions of the OS (such as OS 10.4)
- iPad's, newer iPhones, newer iPods will not work with older OS's
- even newer versions of internet browsers will no longer support older OS versions.

OS 10.4.0 was originally released April, 2005 (6.5 years ago)...and the last update for 10.4 (10.4.11) was released November, 2007...so the final version of "Tiger" is now officially 4 years old this month!

- Nick

p.s. The best combination to have is...a newer Mac for running newer "stuff"...and an older Mac for running the older "stuff".

Sweet.. So any ideas where eye can get a good deal on 2 superfast mac's that will run 10.4.11...??

You're just not getting it are you?

chas_m said:

You're just not getting it are you?

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I think that we are in agreement!

- Nick

iVooDoo said:

Sweet.. So any ideas where eye can get a good deal on 2 superfast mac's that will run 10.4.11...??

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Have you heard of e-Bay???

- Nick

iVooDoo said:

Sweet.. So any ideas where eye can get a good deal on 2 superfast mac's that will run 10.4.11...??

Click to expand...

The money spent there would be a waste compared to updated software in the newer,faster and fully supported machine.