The Future of the Classic Environment

The future for Mac OS 9 and the Classic environment looks pretty bleak. Apple stopped supporting Mac OS 9 in 2003 and stopped shipping Macs that could boot into Mac OS 9 in addition to Mac OS X shortly thereafter. In 2004, Apple stopped shipping Macs with the Classic environment preinstalled. Most major software developers discontinued Mac OS 9compatible versions of their products by 2004. The two big names in the design world, Adobe and Quark, have not developed Mac OS 9compatible products for some time now. The bottom line is that Mac OS 9 is dead.

That said, there are still designers and print companies that rely on Mac OS 9 today. In some cases, it's because of specialized hardware, such as high-end scanners and RIPs. Other times it's because of highly customized and automated workflows. If you are in this situation, check with your product developers and find out what their long-term support plans for Mac OS X are. As your legacy equipment wears out, there probably won't be any easy or inexpensive way to support or repair it.

If, on the other hand, you have not upgraded to Mac OS X because you don't see the value or just haven't gotten around to it, get around to it. Your competition has probably already migrated to Mac OS X, and they are working faster and more efficiently. Sure, there are costs involved with upgrading hardware and software, but think of it as an investment in your company's future.

Intel Chips and Rosetta

Much as it transitioned to IBM's PowerPC processor from the Motorola 68040 processor, Apple is transitioning again. Apple is now shipping Macs that use processors developed by Intel instead of IBM and Freescale's PowerPC-based G4 and G5 chips. They plan on completing the transition by the end of 2006. No, this is not the beginning of Microsoft Windows running your Mac. Instead, it's a transition to new processors that ultimately will give you better, faster, and more powerful Macs that still run Mac OS X.

RosettaApple's PowerPC emulator

When Apple introduced Mac OS X, it also introduced us to the Classic environment. Since Mac OS 9 applications could not run in Mac OS X, the Classic environment gave us a tool to more easily transition from our Mac OS 9native applications to newer Mac OS X versions without having to upgrade everything at once. Intel-based Macs won't be able to run the current versions of Mac OS Xnative applications, so Apple is giving us a tool to ease the transition once again. This one is called Rosetta.

Rosetta allows the current crop of Mac OS X applications written for the G4 and G5 processors to run on the new Intel-based processors. The upside is that you won't have to upgrade all of your applications at the same time when you buy a Mac with an Intel processor. The downside is that the Classic environment won't work. If you rely on Mac OS 9 applications in your workflow, it's time to evaluate why and consider finding ways to transition to Mac OS Xnative applications.

In some cases, it won't make sense to migrate fully to Mac OS X. For example, let's say you use the Chinese version of QuarkXPress 4 for one specific client project once or twice a year. It's going to cost you more to upgrade to the Mac OS Xnative version than the Mac it's going to run on, so sticking with the Classic environment for this one project makes sense. Wait until Apple is at the end of the PowerPC-to-Intel transition, which should be at the end of 2006, and buy a high-end G5 Mac. You'll still be able to run the Classic environment for years to come, and your G5 will have the horsepower to run the other applications you need, too.

Intel-compatible applications

Although Rosetta is a godsend in that it saves you from having to run out and drop serious loads of cash on new applications, it does have some drawbacks. You may see a performance hit until your favorite applications are updated as Universal Binaries (Figure 7.17), but at least they will work. Unfortunately, Rosetta does not run PowerPC-based Mac OS X applications as fast as a G5 Mac does. Applications like Photoshop CS and CS2 rely on the G4's and G5's built-in mathematic accelerator, or AltiVec, for enough of their rendering functions that you will see a noticeable performance hit.

Figure 7.17. Apple's new Universal Binary logo makes it easy to identify applications that have been updated to run natively on PowerPC- and Intel-based Macs. It is prominently displayed on product packaging and Web sites.

Some applications rely so heavily on the PowerPC hardware that they won't work at all in Rosetta. Ironically, Apple's own applications are among those that didn't run on Intel-based Macs when they first shipped. Pro-level applications like Final Cut Pro 5, Motion 2, Soundtrack Pro, DVD Studio Pro 4, and Logic Pro 7 all needed updates before they would run on the new Macs.

Graphic designers have come up against a similar problem: Upgrade to a new Intel-based Mac before Adobe and Quark release Universal Binary versions of their applications and risk compatibility and performance problems, or wait and use a PowerPC-based Mac that may not be as fast as they need anymore.

Universal Binary: Applications for PowerPC and Intel-Based Macs

Since G4 and G5 processors are so radically different from the Intel Core Duo processor that's available in the iMac, MacBook Pro, and other pro-level Macs, the applications they use can't run on Intel-based Macs without an emulatorin this case, Rosetta. Apple is making it as easy as possible for developers to support both hardware platforms, and developed a new way to compile the code our applications use: Universal Binary. Applications that are compiled as Universal Binaries can run on a PowerPC-based Mac, such as the Power Mac G5 and PowerBook G4, and on an Intel-based Mac without requiring any special emulators.

Universal Binary applications give you the best of both worlds: They run on whichever Mac hardware platform is available to you without any performance loss. Intel-based Mac users get the best part of this deal: They can run Universal Binary applications far faster than their G4 and G5 counterparts.

Adobe follows a pretty strict development cycle, and it announced that it would not be updating any of the CS2 applications with Universal Binary support. Instead it plans to release Universal Binary versions of its applications as a part of the CS3 suite. Until then, Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, and GoLive users may have to put up with minor performance hits, plug-in incompatibilities, and other little surprises. Adobe's product refresh plan runs on an 18-to-24-month cycle. That puts the CS3 upgrade some time between October 2006 and April 2007.

QuarkXPress 6.5 will not get a Universal Binary update, either. Instead, QuarkXPress 7 will. Quark released a Universal Binary beta of QuarkXPress 7 in January 2006, and had plans to ship the final version before the end of the year.

Macromedia product users need to look to Adobe for Universal Binary versions of Dreamweaver, Flash, and the rest of the company's product line. Adobe purchased Macromedia in December 2005. Freehand users beware: It has been conspicuously missing from all of Adobe's upgrade and Universal Binary road-map statements.

Planning your next Mac purchase

So, now what? Buy a new Intel-based Mac, or wait? If you use a G3 or slower G4 Mac, an Intel-based Mac will likely give you a much-needed speed boost, even with applications that run in Rosetta. Buying an Intel-based Mac makes sense for you. If you are using a top-of-the-line G4 or G5 Mac, however, you may not see any speed improvement in applications running in Rosetta. If you can, hold off on that new Mac purchase until all of the applications you rely on are available as Universal Binaries.