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MacOS X requirement updates.
We're looking at re-vamping our MacOS X build toolchain, so it's a little less paleolithic.
This will hopefully mean some optimizations and enhancements for modern Macs, but it also means:
- We'll be dropping PowerPC support (which I announced a long time ago, and we hadn't actually done yet.. I'm sure the One Guy Out There with a G5 will be super bummed).
- We'll probably also drop support for 32bit Intel Macs (circa-2006 Core Solo and Core Duo). Apple themselves orphaned these devices to nothing newer than 10.6, and it'll be problematic for us to update our toolchain and not also drop those.
I'm not sure on this one, but:
- We may also start requiring MacOS X 10.11? That seems like the comfortable point that every 2007-or-later Mac can upgrade to. It's been our experience that Apple isn't very on-the-ball with backwards compatibility, which is why we used such a bizarre and heavily customized toolchain to make things work for everyone. Moving away from that, we may need to do things the "modern Apple way" and just say.. "hey, upgrade to 10.11? It's free anyway?".
Of course, we could end up with a totally different target other than 10.11, like something earlier, but it definitely shouldn't be later than 10.11.
Similarly, past experience has shown Apple to kind of chuck APIs out the window willy-nilly with OS updates, so there may be some dependency ramifications here we haven't foreseen yet.. all of which just means, we might totally end up on some weird OS target because working around Apple's changes would take too much time.
Some of this I've mentioned before, but because the issue just came up again tonight, in the context of some new optimizations.. I figured I should raise it again so people are aware, in case we choose to do this next week or some such.
This will hopefully mean some optimizations and enhancements for modern Macs, but it also means:
- We'll be dropping PowerPC support (which I announced a long time ago, and we hadn't actually done yet.. I'm sure the One Guy Out There with a G5 will be super bummed).
- We'll probably also drop support for 32bit Intel Macs (circa-2006 Core Solo and Core Duo). Apple themselves orphaned these devices to nothing newer than 10.6, and it'll be problematic for us to update our toolchain and not also drop those.
I'm not sure on this one, but:
- We may also start requiring MacOS X 10.11? That seems like the comfortable point that every 2007-or-later Mac can upgrade to. It's been our experience that Apple isn't very on-the-ball with backwards compatibility, which is why we used such a bizarre and heavily customized toolchain to make things work for everyone. Moving away from that, we may need to do things the "modern Apple way" and just say.. "hey, upgrade to 10.11? It's free anyway?".
Of course, we could end up with a totally different target other than 10.11, like something earlier, but it definitely shouldn't be later than 10.11.
Similarly, past experience has shown Apple to kind of chuck APIs out the window willy-nilly with OS updates, so there may be some dependency ramifications here we haven't foreseen yet.. all of which just means, we might totally end up on some weird OS target because working around Apple's changes would take too much time.
Some of this I've mentioned before, but because the issue just came up again tonight, in the context of some new optimizations.. I figured I should raise it again so people are aware, in case we choose to do this next week or some such.
aww :( i gotta play VO on my G5 for the last time then. Nah not bummed at all, i understand it.
/me dusts off his macbook to see what OS it has, then stuffs it back into his closet, buried until he needs it again.
Time to put all of those PPC Macs out of their misery with a sledgehammer.
lol remember last year when I ran it on my Powermac G3 300mhz for lulz and I killed a guy in Sedina
No worries, go ahead dead platform.
Also 10.11 is acceptable, That's as high as my iMac can go and it'll be 10 next year
No worries, go ahead dead platform.
Also 10.11 is acceptable, That's as high as my iMac can go and it'll be 10 next year
My G5 tower collects dust in the garage, but still has twin joysticks at the ready. I think it still runs on OS 10.4.9. Better try one last hurrah.
Best thing about that machine is it still has a working copy of Peak. I miss Berkeley Integrated Audio Software. :'(
Best thing about that machine is it still has a working copy of Peak. I miss Berkeley Integrated Audio Software. :'(
I have a g5 minimac pc, I used to VO on it but bah. That tech is so darn old.
If you guys need help ditching your G5s, ring up Miley. She knows her sledgehammer moves.
No need for that. Linux runs wonderful on RISC.