From PowerPc to Intel Mac apps

[Pilgrim1099]

Hello,

I own a PowerMac 1gz/1gb RAM mirror-drive now running on OS X 10.4.11 and got this machine in 2002-2003. I've been waiting for years to upgrade to a new Mac and now all of the products are running on Intel chips.

My question is can I move my current PowerPC apps and install them on a new Intel Mac? For instance, I have Photoshop CS1 for OS X. Should I have any trouble running it on an Intel OS X? I don't want to end up re-purchasing my applications all over again just to make it compatible with the new machines. If it's OS X, then I should'nt have any problems.

As a graphic designer/artist, I'm considering the 'ultimate' mac mini because of the accessible price and the RAM can be jacked up to 4 GB and the NVIDIA card seems good enough to deal with my vector and bit-map projects, page layout, animation (not 3-D), and other applications like Corel Painter.

I think the iMac is'nt needed until I can move on to another 'desktop beast' from the Mac Mini when Apple gets their ***** together by next year or two.

 

[ADent]

Most PPC apps work fine on intel.

There is NO classic, so those are dead.

Looks CS1 will run and install fine (CS2 has installation problem though).

 

[Pilgrim1099]

Most PPC apps work fine on intel.

There is NO classic, so those are dead.

Looks CS1 will run and install fine (CS2 has installation problem though).

Excellent!

 

[penguy]

Hello,


My question is can I move my current PowerPC apps and install them on a new Intel Mac? For instance, I have Photoshop CS1 for OS X. Should I have any trouble running it on an Intel OS X? I don't want to end up re-purchasing my applications all over again just to make it compatible with the new machines. If it's OS X, then I should'nt have any problems.

Not to hijack the thread, but I used migration assistant (FW target drive) to move documents, music, photos and apps to my new Mini yesterday. For those apps which may have intel versions, should I delete those apps and re-install? For example, I purchased Photoshop Elements 6 for the mac and installed it on my mini last year...that has now been moved to the new mini. Should I delete and re-install from the original disks?

thanks

 

[r.j.s]

Not to hijack the thread, but I used migration assistant (FW target drive) to move documents, music, photos and apps to my new Mini yesterday. For those apps which may have intel versions, should I delete those apps and re-install? For example, I purchased Photoshop Elements 6 for the mac and installed it on my mini last year...that has now been moved to the new mini. Should I delete and re-install from the original disks?

thanks

Do a Get Info on the apps you are worried about, if it says PowerPC - reinstall. If it says Universal, you're fine.

 

[PrinceOfEgypt]

Not to hijack the thread, but I used migration assistant (FW target drive) to move documents, music, photos and apps to my new Mini yesterday. For those apps which may have intel versions, should I delete those apps and re-install? For example, I purchased Photoshop Elements 6 for the mac and installed it on my mini last year...that has now been moved to the new mini. Should I delete and re-install from the original disks?

thanks

if the app is "universal" then the same file will run, it contains both intel and PPC versions. if the app is PPC only, it will run in rosetta. re-installing from the original disk will not accomplish anything, you'll have to check if they've updated to universal binaries.

 

[penguy]

if the app is "universal" then the same file will run, it contains both intel and PPC versions. if the app is PPC only, it will run in rosetta. re-installing from the original disk will not accomplish anything, you'll have to check if they've updated to universal binaries.

Thanks,

I thought the term universal really meant that they had two versions and the installer would choose based on your processor. That simplifies it.

 

[PrinceOfEgypt]

Thanks,

I thought the term universal really meant that they had two versions and the installer would choose based on your processor. That simplifies it.

no, universal means that the same .app file (ex Mail.app, etc) contains both the intel and ppc versions.

 

[Pilgrim1099]

no, universal means that the same .app file (ex Mail.app, etc) contains both the intel and ppc versions.

Enlightening. Now I know

 

[ADent]

You can run Activity Monitor and see which type of code each process is.

Fire up your apps and look in the list to see apps are PPC and which are intel.