Mac users with older hardware

[micmac]

Hi

I post this in case someone is not aware of it.

Run newer Apple systems on older hardware

About
https://dortania.github.io/OpenCore-Legacy-Patcher/

Download
https://github.com/dortania/OpenCore-Le ... /tag/1.0.0

Detailed instructions
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eGR2qGw9lG8


I run 4 Macs 8-10 years old perfectly (Monterey)

Mic

[richmond62]

I don't know why you need anything special as I run Monterey on an iMac from 2015.

[OpenXTalkPaul]

Hi

I post this in case someone is not aware of it.

Run newer Apple systems on older hardware

About
https://dortania.github.io/OpenCore-Legacy-Patcher/

Download
https://github.com/dortania/OpenCore-Le ... /tag/1.0.0

Detailed instructions
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eGR2qGw9lG8


I run 4 Macs 8-10 years old perfectly (Monterey)

Mic

OpenCore (sans 'legacy patcher') is also a great boot loader for non-Apple Hardware

Is it funny or sad that the Hackintosh scene has done way more to preserve the usefulness of old Apple hardware than Apple has?

[OpenXTalkPaul]

I don't know why you need anything special as I run Monterey on an iMac from 2015.

You wouldn't IF you wanted to stop at Monterey, however OpenCore Patcher allows you install v14 Sonoma on some 83 Mac models, some dating back to 2009, that are no longer supported by the latest macOS. Mostly for most complete functionality possible, your x86-64 computer needs a Metal 2 compatible video card and an CPU that supports SSE4.2+ instructions (although even that can be faked via emulation and some AMD Ryzentosh/hackintoshers have done so since 10.13/10.14).

I'm probably going to give it a whirl on my unsupported 2017 iMac. My wife and youngest sons iMacs are officially supported so either way, I'll be testing OXT on Sonoma.

I am aware of the Menu-related crashing that is likely something to do with Apple's complete rewrite of NSMenu.
Thanks for sleuth work in that area Richmond. Since you said that Standalones do work, I can only assume it must be related to the menu mangling the Engine does in IDE menu bar (things like removing the window tabbing menu items that have been MacOS standard since 10.12). When I get Sonoma installed I'll try some tests using Extension Builder FFI to manage the menu bar/menu items directly (9.6.3 already has Mac Status Item Extension, which originated from Trevor Devore, which creates it's own NSmenu as a status menu item)

[OpenXTalkPaul]

Speaking of old hardware, it seems with Sonoma, Apple has finally completely killed off macOS built-in postscript support (probably remnants of NeXT's display postscript), so for one example you can't open EPS with Preview.app now. NSEPSObject (or whatever was called) is stubbed out. This probably means absolutely nothing for OXT since the 'EPS object' while still is included in the Engine, has been non-functional for probably two decades, and I presume only ever worked in MetaCard on 1990s Unix boxes.

Just feels like this puts a headstone on the DTP "Desktop Publishing" revolution that was largely created by the advent of Postscript/Adobe and Macintosh (not to mention xTalk-like AppleScripting with QuarkXPress). I know most print shops these days would prefer NOT to receive postscript files from clients and all workflows are long converted to PDF by now. It just makes me feel old(er).

[tperry2x]

Apple has finally completely killed off macOS built-in postscript support...the 'EPS object' while still is included in the Engine, has been non-functional for probably two decades, and I presume only ever worked in MetaCard on 1990s Unix boxes.
Just feels like this puts a headstone on the DTP "Desktop Publishing" revolution.... It just makes me feel old(er).

I guess EPS (like everything else) has gotten a lot more complex over time.
If you try to open any vector EPS in an old version of Illustrator, you'll see what I mean.

EPS files were actually treated like their own mini-executables in the past. Meaning code could be sneaked into them and upon opening or rendering them in a DTP program, they could be made to pretty much do anything.
This was largely changed in PDF (although still had some remnants of this left over, and wasn't patched out until 2022).
SVG files containing extra instructions are ignored, and I guess the SVG format largely replaces EPS (Inkscape urges you to save in SVG, even though you can save in EPS still).

I guess we could use an EPS to SVG converter to render the EPS as SVG, then import the SVG - the user would not necessarily be aware.

Apple killing support off is a huge issue with me. Planned obsolescence. However, they have been the most ruthless about it.
The changes to MacOS, putting up an 'Application is damaged' error is just one example. No, not damaged - just that it didn't come from Apple's App Store.
(Apple always framed this that downloading from the App Store gave mac users a security advantage). Although true to some extent, it was (and still is) only about one thing: revenue.
To be an Apple Developer, you have to pay yearly for a developer certificate (that's true of everywhere though, although Apple set the tone). Anything that is 'unsigned' is now being heavily frowned upon.

Having to right-click past the ominous-looking-warning and choose 'Open' from a contextual menu is just their way of making developers who don't subscribe to their way of thinking pay through the nose.

Not that publishing things on the Mac App Store is easy:
https://rameerez.com/apple-mac-app-stor ... g-receipt/

Getting a developer certificate is slightly easier, and I guess we will ultimately have to bite the bullet and get one to stop these 'Application is damaged' errors from appearing.

[OpenXTalkPaul]

Well, EPS/PS death stroke was a long time coming. PDF was created as a replacement about 25 or so years ago, so it took awhile.
Yeah, Postscript is (was) an actual scripting/programing language. I remember while reading the Postscript Language Cookbook, I wrote some HyperCard stacks in early-mid 1990s created raw .PS files and then used an XCMD to download them directly to Postscript processor (completely bypassing the Chooser/print driver), good times.

I do recall some espionage types created malware Postscript that could heat up the fuser in a laser printer causing it to eventually burst into flames, so I guess there's the downside to it

macOS apps that 'Damaged' (vs other unsigned warning messages) I thought was more related to technical details, such as App has 32bit code and trying to run it on newer 64bit-only versions of macOS (10.14+), or for another example trying to run PowerPC code on Intel only macOS (10.7+).

But I agree, Apple led the way for gatekeeping starting with actual 'gatekeeper' and iTunes/AppStore. While the others followed, none have milked as much cash from developers the way Apple has. Last I checked Apple Dev Account cost 400% of the cost of a Google PlayStore Dev account. And has it really made anything safer? I don't know, but I do know there was flurry of urgent security patches released recently despite all of that...and anyway security on mobile (and web apps) has largely been achieved on by sandboxing apps, which the OS/environment handles and enforces.
The way I feel about this lately is a lot like fellow print-shop guy Ben Franklin once said: "Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety".

[OpenXTalkPaul]

Not that publishing things on the Mac App Store is easy:
https://rameerez.com/apple-mac-app-stor ... g-receipt/

Wow, rigmarole well documented there. A far cry from the Think Different(ly) Apple back when they were doing the insanely great and not trying to be a shopping mall 'The Gap" store (as Jobs was inspired by) of computing.