macOS Catalina - Should You Upgrade?

[Mike Farley]

Apple has just released the latest version of its macOS operating system, called Catalina. The big news is that this is the first update which only supports 64 bit applications. Those using older software might find that it will no longer run. So far as photography goes, that will undoubtedly include legacy editions of Lightroom and Photoshop which were purchased with a perpetual licence. Adobe no longer supports them and there will be no updates. Other applications which will fall foul of the macOS upgrade are the free Google iterations of the Nik collection. The good news is that DxO now owns the applications which means the latest edition of the suite is compatible. The bad news? As you might have guessed, being a commercial enitty DxO has zero interest in maintaining the Google variant. There will be a financial transaction involved.

Software developers have known about Apple's move for over two years and will have had access to candidate versions of Catalina for some months. So anything current from Adobe, a major corporation with multi-billion dollar revenues, will be OK. Right? Er, no. Amazingly, there are some glitches with both Lightroom and Photoshop. Admittedly, those associated with Lightrooms are minor, but the list for Photoshop is a bit longer and more serious. Over time Adobe will resolve the issues but I do wonder how it let the situation arise in the first place. More details are available from PetaPixel, link below.

https://petapixel.com/2019/10/08/dont-u ... lightroom/

The need to upgrade to Catalina is not urgent and I would recommend waiting a few months to let things settle down. Let others find the problems has always been my mantra. For those who keep their applications up to date, when the time is right the decision will be relatively straightforward.

For more information see my previous forum posts:

viewtopic.php?f=2&t=2492&p=11602&hilit=macos#p11602

viewtopic.php?f=2&t=2617&p=12921&hilit=macos#p12921

[Mike Farley]

Apple's Aperture photo editor is one of those much loved applications which will not die. Apple withdrew support five years ago and "replaced" it with Photos, which is vastly inferior. Just about the only good thing to say about it is that it has the singular virtue of being free. No one would ever dream of actually paying for it. Despite Apple's best (or should that be worst?) intentions, die hard enthusiasts have continued to use Aperture. I cannot say that I have encountered that many, but they are most definitely out there. The final nail in Aperture's coffin should have been the Catalina macOS upgrade. Aperture is a 32 bit application and, theoretically at least, should be incompatible. But that is a mere hiccup, a bump in the road so far as Aperture is concerned. Someone has just found a way of making it run under Catalina and the world breathes a collective sigh of relief.

Further details from DPReview: https://www.dpreview.com/news/143985498 ... s-catalina