Will updating to Monterey break external Bootcamp?

[Kryten]

If the external Bootcamp was created using Big Sur and I update to Monterey, will that break Bootcamp because of the Windows Support setup?

 

[chscag]

If the external Bootcamp was created using Big Sur and I update to Monterey, will that break Bootcamp because of the Windows Support setup?

Have no idea if that will happen. But good advice as always: Be sure you have a valid backup that you can invoke before installing Monterey. Monterey is still in early beta so perhaps more will be known as the beta proceeds.

 

[Slydude]

Running Windows from an external drive can be twitchy even without bringing Bootcamp into the equation. Follow Charlie's advice and make sure you have a valid backup in place just in case.

An early public beta of Monterey has dropped today. I'll be downloading it as soon as I complete a backup. That might be a good test assuming that you have a spare drive around to install Monterey onto.

 

[Kryten]

Yes indeed Gents, thank you. I have no intention of installing Monty until it's well approved. I was just trying to be ahead of the curve so to speak. But so far external BC on Win10 is performing pretty well. Thnk you for your responses.

 

[Slydude]

I'm installing the Monterey beta as we speak. I'm afraid I wouldn't be much help testing Bootcamp, though. I haven't been able to get a successful install of Bootcamp for some time.

 

[Kryten]

I'm installing the Monterey beta as we speak. I'm afraid I wouldn't be much help testing Bootcamp, though. I haven't been able to get a successful install of Bootcamp for some time.

Sorry to hear that. If it's on your internal drive, that shouldn't be too difficult, but on an external takes a bit more effort. There are some very good tutorials on YT.

 

[chscag]

Enjoy using Boot Camp while you can. I suspect that Monterey will be the last version of macOS that will support it.

Apple has already announced that certain options in Monterey will only be available for M1 machines.

 

[Slydude]

Sorry to hear that. If it's on your internal drive, that shouldn't be too difficult, but on an external takes a bit more effort. There are some very good tutorials on YT.

The first time I tried it things worked well. At some point, things stopped working for me. I've made a few unsuccessful attempts to reinstall it on my internal drive but none have worked. Not that big of an issue for me. I don't need Windows often and can run it in a VM when needed.

 

[Kryten]

To be honest, I've never been one to lust after the next OS. If the present one is working well, that's good enough for me. If my old MacPro 5.1 was working more reliably I would have stayed with that. It was doing some strange things, hence the new iMac for me and Big Sur. Since switching from El Capitan to Big Sur which for me was pretty seamless, I don't even know what new features it's got, I'm sorry to say.

 

[Slydude]

Perhaps these pages will get you up to speed :

macOS Sequoia

macOS Sequoia brings effortless window tiling, web browsing with fewer distractions, new iPhone Mirroring, and support for Apple Intelligence.

www.apple.com

macOS Monterey introduces powerful features to get more done

Apple introduces macOS Monterey, with new ways to connect with friends and family, Shortcuts and tools to get work done, and Continuity features.

www.apple.com

 

[Kryten]

Thanks for that Sly. One thing I hate about later OS's is the HUGE font list that is a nightmare for designers like me when choosing fonts in Adobe apps. You have to trawl though a long list of fonts to find the ones you want. And it seems that Apple won't let you get rid of most of them. And why so many foreign fonts clogging up the menus? It makes selecting fonts a right pain in the a**. I don't need Japanese, Chinese and Indian fonts and never will.

 

[Slydude]

I'll admit font management is a bit out of my wheelhouse but maybe this will help http://lpx.extensis.com/rs/568-RAI-...nt-management-mac-best-practices-guide-EN.pdf I think the ideas in this document can be completed using the font software in macOS without third-party spftware.

 

[Kryten]

Thank you. Yes I have been using Extensis Suitcase for years until recently. In the font menu Indesign for example there is a font Noto and it has around 65+ styles, all appearing in the font menu and as far as I can see you can't get rid of them. See here how annoying it can be - NOTO font family is driving me INSANE! - Apple Community

 

[Slydude]

Wow. I can see why that would be frustrating. My font menu is a mess because I'm a digital packrat, but at least I don't have that issue.

Maybe I'll use the document I linked to as an excuse to clean things up a bit.

 

[Kryten]

Indeed, and to make matters worse, they are not always in alphabetical order, just split into what Apple considers to be groups. I mean who in the western world uses lots of Arabic fonts? Oh wait a minute....

But in the earlier days of System 7, 8 and 9, you could strip out most fonts except Times, Helvetica, Courier, Geneva and a couple of others, then just add the ones you wanted for the project you were working on controlled by a font manager such as Suitcase or similar. Dead easy and way more efficient. But now we have moved on from Mb's of memory to Gb's I think some lazy, convenient programming has proliferated.

 

[Slydude]

To satisfy my own curiousity, does the FontBook application included with macOS do anything like that?

 

[Kryten]

Well, whilst doing research recently about font control I came across a few posts and a few were saying it's the first thing they delete from their Mac. So yes, it turns fonts On and Off but doesn't auto activate when files are opened up and I don't think you can organise them into sets, i.e. customer sets.
After nearly 25 years of using Extensis Suitcase, I've switched to Fontbase, much, much cheaper and does the same job. Of course now, Adobe has effectively screwed the approach to software where you used to be able to Buy and update when you can afford to. Now the price for the app is the same but you pay it every year. So thanks Adobe for that.

 

[Slydude]

Yes. It does not surprise me that they have chosen a subscription model. I think that's probably true with most of their software now. As someone who is primarily a home user/hobbyist, I can't often justify a subscription-based model for most software.

 

[chscag]

Of course now, Adobe has effectively screwed the approach to software where you used to be able to Buy and update when you can afford to. Now the price for the app is the same but you pay it every year. So thanks Adobe for that.

Many Adobe users have become disenchanted with the new subscription model and instead have switched to using "Affinity" software instead.

Check it out here:

Creative Software For Professionals | We Are Affinity

Subscription-free photo editing, page layout, graphic design and illustration apps for professionals. Try for free or buy for one low payment.

affinity.serif.com

 

[Kryten]

Yes, thanks Charlie. I actually have purchased all three Affinity apps some years ago but have still subscribed to Adobe (for now). It's an age thing I suppose but I just didn't want to have to re train my brain to learn three new packages. I know Adobe apps pretty well, so it's laziness on my part but I can't remember things like I used to.
I did experiment by saving an Indesign file with around 24 pages with a lot of images in it as an IDML file and opening it in Affinity Publisher. Most of the brochure was intact but there were issues of movement of images and font alignment. The integrity problem means lots of things have to be checked before print and I just felt at this stage of Publisher it's not quite there yet. But it is WAY cheaper outright.

Nearly forgot, thank you for your suggestion.