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Upgrading to Mac OS X: A Guide For the Mac Faithful
Devil's Advocate: Why Should I Stick With OS 9?
No guide to such a monumental task would be complete without a few
cautionary notes. For a geek like me, the switch takes very little thought
or effort, because everything I want to do is easier and better in Mac OS X.
But for folks in the creative industries, there are some very important
things to consider. People with large-scale business investments in creative
technology might be wise to wait. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, some fear and
procrastination is justified.
Why "Creative Pros" May Think Twice:
- It's still pretty dang new. I mean, it's been official for over
a year, but there are a few oddities and rough edges. But doesn't Mac OS 9 have
oddities and rough edges? In actuality, the transition period means that all supported
major applications are in their very first revision cycle on the platform:
Photoshop, Illustrator, Microsoft Office, Macromedia stuff, Final Cut Pro,
and many more apps are "native" to Mac OS X, but they are young.
I have to admit I really like Office X.
Also, if you remember the heydays
of shareware and downloading fun little programs late at night -- shareware is back
with a vengeance in OS X, mostly because it's so easy and fun for geeks like
me to write software on Mac OS X. There are so many treats. Check out
the Omni Group software as a business-oriented
example. Watson by Dan Wood
has been my personal favorite.
- Still more major applications have to be run in the "Classic" environment.
It works pretty well, but it does feel a little odd because the title bars
and menus will look like OS 9 while you use a Classic program, and switch back to
Aqua when you switch to an OS X program or the Finder. Programs in this group
include Quark, ACT!, and many of the small utilities in the creative pro's
toolbox. Most of these programs will be upgraded.
- Unfortunately, many tools are in limbo. Those in the music industry know that
ProTools is staying on Mac OS 9 for a long time to come. Many other high-end,
specialized industry tools are also coded very close to the platform and will
be hard to port over to OS X. Unfortunately at this time, it looks like many
of your favorite Photoshop filters and other such delights will stay in
this category for a while. Fiery printers and other printers installed under
Adobe PS also appear to be unavailable (if you know of a workaround, please
email me!).
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