software more than 5 years old no longer supported?

[Bubble99]

I have old MacBook that is really old and I fear the move to ARM and Apple their new file system will no longer support intel and the old file system. And well Apple may support intel and the old file system for 5 years there is no way Apple will support intel and the old file system 8 or 10 years out.

That will mean old software will not be supported and old file system will not be supported. And not all software will get the update to ARM.

Well sure big companies like MS office, photoshop and outlook will probably get ARM support but many software will not get ARM support. And there is no way Apple is going to support Intel 8 to 10 years out.

And that will mean old software will not be supported.

Should I be some how converting some of my files like documents, videos , and work to some other file that will may be supported on ARM.

 

[Patcell]

What sort of applications do you use that you would be concerned about losing support for in the transition to ARM?
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To be sure, there will be growing pains in the move to ARM in terms of lost support for legacy x86 applications. I don't think you'll have to worry much about converting files or videos, however. As long as there is any application capable of opening your file type, there will be no loss of data.

 

[TETENAL]

Apple will support HFS+ as a file system for external drives for decades.

 

[Bubble99]

what is going to happen to qicktime?

 

[Patcell]

what is going to happen to qicktime?

QuickTime is built in to macOS. Apple will have that running on A-series Macs out the gate.

 

[TETENAL]

what is going to happen to qicktime?

QuickTime is dead already. It's no longer part of macOS since Catalina.

If you have some movies that are encoded in some older non-standard codec like Sorensen, you need to convert them in Mojave or earlier (QuickTime Player 7 optional download) or convert using third party software.

 

[Bubble99]

QuickTime is built in to macOS. Apple will have that running on A-series Macs out the gate.

Well the problem is quicktime will probably drop support for old format in 5 years from now.

And old computers will not get the latest OS so not the latest QuickTime that support ARM.
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QuickTime is dead already. It's no longer part of macOS since Catalina.

If you have some movies that are encoded in some older non-standard codec like Sorensen, you need to convert them in Mojave or earlier (QuickTime Player 7 optional download) or convert using third party software.

I have number of videos, audio recordings and documents and text files.

 

[peter34]

That's eternal problem, every few years some program stops working on new system. Specially if you use some programs from smaller companies. I also had some designs in program, which did not make transition to Catalina. But in my case it was not essential and I don't expect to use them any time in future.
Same problem have also archives, because if you want keep digital records accessible it takes lot of work, either you need old hardware and take good care of it or you have to convert files into programs which are still available.
If you really need some files you should try to convert them into something which has longer lifetime (pdf, jpg, mp4...). With videos it may not be such a problem, because VLC can play most of formats. If VLC makes it into ARM, you should be covered.
As for filesystems, I think there will still be option to use all of them for foreseeable future. Bigger problems are media, if you can still remember diskettes. They are unusable now, but their filesystem is still in use.

 

[LuisN]

QuickTime is dead already. It's no longer part of macOS since Catalina.

If you have some movies that are encoded in some older non-standard codec like Sorensen, you need to convert them in Mojave or earlier (QuickTime Player 7 optional download) or convert using third party software.

How's that? I made a clean install of Catalina and Quicktime got installed. Or are you talking of QuickTime Pro? It's even there in Big Sur beta:

 

[TETENAL]

How's that? I made a clean install of Catalina and Quicktime got installed. Or are you talking of QuickTime Pro? It's even there in Big Sur beta:

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What you are seeing there is only the 'new' "QuickTime Player". However, "QuickTime Player" is a misnomer for this application. It has never been using QuickTime to play video. It uses an API called CoreVideo instead. For compatibility with older QuickTime Codecs (like Sorensen) it used a workaround where it loaded 32-bit QuickTime in a background process and mapped the video into its window (up to Mojave). QuickTime was never ported to 64 bit. And since Catalina does not contain any 32 bit frameworks any anymore QuickTime is truly dead.

 

[honestone33]

This situation is always a dilemma. What I have found is that in just about all instances, there is a newer, alternative application one can use to accomplish the same thing.

 

[LuisN]

What you are seeing there is only the 'new' "QuickTime Player". However, "QuickTime Player" is a misnomer for this application. It has never been using QuickTime to play video. It uses an API called CoreVideo instead. For compatibility with older QuickTime Codecs (like Sorensen) it used a workaround where it loaded 32-bit QuickTime in a background process and mapped the video into its window (up to Mojave). QuickTime was never ported to 64 bit. And since Catalina does not contain any 32 bit frameworks any anymore QuickTime is truly dead.

Does it still plays videos encoded with Sorensen and older codecs?

 

[winterny]

Can you use Handbrake or ffmpeg to convert those old videos into a newer format?


I'd *highly* suggest you start migrating video in obsolete codecs into H.264.

Not only will you guarantee that they will be playable for longer into the future, but you will also be able to use modern players which will likely have better functionality than old Quicktime.

 

[honestone33]

Can you use Handbrake or ffmpeg to convert those old videos into a newer format?


I'd *highly* suggest you start migrating video in obsolete codecs into H.264.

Not only will you guarantee that they will be playable for longer into the future, but you will also be able to use modern players which will likely have better functionality than old Quicktime.

Excellent suggestion about Handbrake! Forgot about that gem.