New iMac Backwards Compatible?

Hi,
I'm thinking of upgrading my creaking old Mac Mini (2 Ghz Intel Core 2 Duo, OS X 10.4.11) to one of the new iMacs.

I've invested a fair bit of pocket money into various bits of software over the years, so I'd be frustrated if I wasn't able to use them on my new machine.

Will most pieces of software be okay running on a much newer machine? Specifically, I'm interested in the Adobe Creative Suite 3 (Design Standard) and FormZ Renderzone Plus 6.6.2 amongst others.

Any thoughts appreciated.

Thanks,

Derek

It's probably not the machine hardware that will determine whether your older software will run, rather it's the version of OS X. The latest iMacs (Late 2013) ship with Mountain Lion 10.8.4 or 10.8.5. Newer ones will likely ship with Mavericks.

Keep in mind that any software you have that uses PPC code will not run in Lion, Mountain Lion, or Mavericks. Snow Leopard is the last version of OS X that has the Rosetta emulator built in to run PPC software. Best advice is to do your homework before upgrading.

Thanks. Where would I find out about the PPC code? Is it a case of contacting each software producer?

That's what I would do, contact the developers. I had a CD of games that I bought which on the cover said was coded universal. I tried to install it in Lion and it failed because the installer had PPC code. It was only $25 that I was out but it still made me angry because it was not clearly marked.

When OS X Lion came out, a lot of people wanted to check compatibilty of with existing apps with it and thus this site came around. It has been updated to include support of Mountain Lion and Mavericks as well.

So take your list of apps and search through that database and see what you find..

I can assure you that CS 3 does in fact run on Mavericks, I still use CS3 Photoshop and InDesign (though I really should upgrade these to CS6 or CC while I still can!).

I'd encourage you to re-think this strategy of yours, however. While I am *not* a fan of the model Adobe has moved to of late, I have to admit that the current offer of Photoshop CC plus Lightroom plus other goodies for $10/month is a very fair offer. It would take six years or more to BUY Photoshop at its pre-CC cost at that rate, and that rate wouldn't include upgrades as this does. $20/month (the normal price) was a bit rich IMO, but $10 a month (if they hold to that price for a full year or more) is IMO entirely fair. It's mostly a case of me not liking the entire "rental" concept that is my biggest stumbling block, but as Apple could have told them -- you price it fairly and you not only get people on board, but you get them to stop pirating the thing so much.

(this is why I've never upgraded from CS3 -- I paid for it, but I never had the money handy when the upgrade offers came around and refused to steal it, plus I have a number of plug-ins that are compatible with it).

I am likely to jump to CC before this current offer ends, using the money I save in the short-term to upgrade my plug-ins too. When the price goes back to normal I have the freedom of walking away from CC if I decide I need to -- Pixelmator handles a good deal of my day-to-day use, and there are programs like Snapseed and the standalone Perfect Photo Suite etc that handle the rest, so I'm set for alternatives if CC doesn't work out for me in the long run.