Ive read through the threads I could see and am wondering if you folks see any risk now (Jan 2020) to update my dev machine to Catalina? Id rather not but I need to. So its either buy another mac mini or update my machine…
appreciate any thoughts or comments. Running 10.14.6, xojo 20191.1 and Win 10, building successfully but need to support Cat
kr,
-sean
My main dev machine will stay on High Sierra as long as possible. But I have another computer for Crapolina testing. You can try to do Crapolina in a VM.
I created a Parallels VM with Mojave to run old 32-bit apps (not mine eg old GarageBand) and moved to Catalina. I have had no issues with Xojo or other office apps. When I find a 32-bit app I need, I either find a 64-bit alternative or run it in Parallels.
I have my Catalina stuff (and other macOS releases) on an external drive so I can startup the Mac on Catalina when I have to work / test projects on it.
I have my mac test machine with both Mojave and Catalina and can just boot with what I want, so I can test both.
I’ve been using Catalina since day 1. Xojo, Xcode, VMWare Fusion and a mountain of other dev stuff. Note that I always run a squeaky clean Mac.
I neither love nor hate Catalina. I don’t refer to it by a stupid name nor do I blame it for every bug or problem in the world. I just get on with my work. shrug
Thanks everyone! All good!
I am in two minds about it.
Several customers of mine reported problems exporting images, to which I couldn’t reproduce on a test machine. Baffled me for a long time, finally after accidentally leaving the machine running for two weeks, the problem started to occur. Restart the machine and it goes away, only to come back over time. I replaced an entire section of code using alternative API and (touch wood) it seems to be fixed for the moment.
Another problem I found that required actual usage of said operating systems was using Apple’s atomic saving functions, it’s not documented anywhere that on recent releases it leaves behind a empty folder, after a couple of weeks of usage, it’d created the maximum number of folders (in the hidden location) and thus, stopped working, preventing my application from being able to save!. Sure enough a restart fixes this (as the OS then flushes all these empty folders), once I realized, my application cleans up after the OS.
A third problem that I only understood when using a recent OS release was a change to the Automatic termination behavior. Instead of waiting for memory pressure to get high and terminating my app (as it supports resume and is marked as can be terminated). The OS would terminate it, the moment the user switched to another application. I only realized this when I found a bunch of apps I use start behaving like this. Have now disabled this feature for my apps.
People complaining that my app was making low resolution versions of their photos. Nope, t’was a change in Apple’s Photos to only use low resolution images via Drag & Drop.
So there, as much as it pains me to say it, I would actually recommend using the latest OS version. As a bonus you’ll get to experience things like how a user is now meant to customize Notification preferences for your application (hint: it’s not in the app).
I run Catalina on a 2011 Macbook using the “popular” technique to allow it to be installed on older machines.
Upgraded to 8gb ram and SSD. It runs faster than my regular iMac with High Sierra and no problems with Xojo.
I have been running Catalina since the first beta. The 2017 MacBook Pro I’m typing this on has had every beta on since the first one and is currently on Beta 19D49f and is running just fine.
People complain about it but I’ve found it the best release of OSX yet. I appreciate people have 32bit apps but I’ve found replacements for all of mine that I used.
I run Windows 10 under VMWare and it runs like a dream on here too.
Rod, the only 32 bit app I truly regret losing is Civilization III, I am toying with the idea of buying an old mac just to use for that.
Off topic: I’ve an old Windows 95 VM that I keep around just for Civ II, in the extremely rare occasion I get time to play. My suggestion would be to get Civ 3 for Windows from gog.com and install it on a Windows VM on your Mac. By the way, I hated Civ 4 and 5 but I think I’m nearly enjoying Civ 6.
I am now on my second external hard drive and its sloooooooooooooooow! 1st one was a cheapo from amazon and didnt have usbc. Now I have a brand new 2T LaCie from the apple store this am (another horror story) and its several seconds for a click. Its been verifying xojo for 10 minutes, wont run xcode. Just torture…I wonder does it get better or is this life on an external? @Javier, what kind of drive are you using? Its sems I now have 2x2T rectangular frisbees. The worst part is Im scared to upgrade my laptop.