A few days ago, users of MacOS High Sierra version 10.13.4 (the current release version as of this writing) have started being met with a message upon running a 32 bit application, explaining that the application “is not optimized for your Mac” and states that the developer should update the application to improve compatibility.
This is the nice, layperson way of the operating system telling users 32 bit application support will end soon, because it is, and this message is the start of it.
MacOS is, of course, a 64 bit operating system at this stage. At least, for the most part. Much like Windows (but to a lesser extent) MacOS still contains systems to support 32bit code, something generally considered normal – Windows, as mentioned before, has this as a feature since backwards comparability (within reason) is a key part of that operating system family (with mixed success rates on that, but that’s another discussion.)
MacOS, however, and the nature of Apple, is about moving forward at whatever cost is necessary. To this end, they are beginning a phase out of 32bit software support on MacOS. They already did this successfully over the past few years with iOS, but of course that’s easier since applications on iOS are all approved applications on the iOS App Store. Apple has control over what you can even try to install on your iOS device, and thus can lock away these incompatible programs.
This took longer than it should have to make. 😐
For MacOS however, this isn’t as easy – you have a right to install whatever you find online on your computer, and to that end if you want to run a 32 bit program, or have a favorite classic bit of software that you want (or need) to use, well, you can install and run that. That is, up until 32bit application support ends.
Sure, software developers just need to change, in some cases, a few traits about their program to make it effectively 64 bit, but others have quite a bit of work on their hands to do this. Moreover, what if it is an older application version, or a bit of software that isn’t worked on at all anymore, and no source code is available? That’s the end of that ride, save for maybe installing virtualization software and running inside your updated MacOS version an older copy of MacOS which retains 32 bit support. This would work, but would be quite a bit to do to run one program. Still, it’s a solution to the problem for those who just need to run something older.
For most, especially the creative types the Macintosh computer line is generally aimed at, this won’t be much of an issue. Industry standard software is of course 64 bit and probably has been for a few years at least, so there’s minimal chance for this to cause an issue in cutting-edge workflows. It’s those of us who love to stick with what works (yet still update our systems) who will run into issues.
I don’t have a Macintosh (amazingly) and certainly if I did it wouldn’t be anything too current, so this doesn’t affect me, but being the kind of guy I am for tech news, I thought this worth chiming in on with some thoughts. That’s what blogging is about, right? Too bad not owning a Mac and being involved means I only can say so much about the subject, but eh…
There is no firm date for the end of 32 bit support, but I imagine later updates to MacOS will become more adamant about warning you of this change, eventually cutting off support hard sometime that is probably sooner than later.
Links down below for more details and the like. Enjoy.