What OS for professional use on Catalina

[VideoWizard]

I currently use an old Mac Pro 2009. As a full time video freelancer using FCPX. It still works but has been acting buggy lately and since I can't upgrade past Yosemite I have to use a old version FCPX which won't allow me use any current plugin effects.

With all that said it would be nice to upgrade to a modern iMac or iMac Pro. What has held me back is a new Mac would come with the latest OS Catalina which I've heard has two major issues:
1. 32 apps don't run
2. Adobe software has serious compatibility issues. I've tried to research what is the current state of this issue but find it difficult to determine if it has been resolved.

It will be painful to spend all that money on the new hardware, then have to buy all new software, and be forced to sign up $600/yr adobe subscription. If adobe software doesn't run properly I can't justify... In addition to all that I will lose my ability to author DVDs using DVD Studio Pro...

I'm curious if there are any video/media professionals here and what are you recommend doing? When buying a new mac can you specify that you don't want Catalina and get Mojave instead or has everything with Catalina been resolved. I just read so much negative things about it being buggy of software companies not interested in revising their code to be truly 64bit compatible with Catalina.

 

[Juicy Box]

since I can't upgrade past Yosemite

Why not?

 

[BrianBaughn]

Check out dosdude1's website. Upgrading to an "unsupported" version of macOS is what many have done, successfully, to solve that issue.

 

[Juicy Box]

I have a 2006 Mac Pro 1,1 which Lion was the last official supported OS, but the HW is more than capable of running hire OS versions. It is currently running El Capitan 10.11, and runs greats.

 

[HDFan]

I just read so much negative things about it being buggy of software companies not interested in revising their code to be truly 64bit compatible with Catalina.

The conversion to 64 bit started before Catalina. Although some older software is not being updated and therefore is obsolete, most software is being updated. The major change with Catalina is that you can't run this older software. Just as with hardware, software ages. Eventually some will become unusable, unstable, or unsafe.

As for Adobe, I'm not current on the current status, but they will eventually fix problems as Apple is a major market for them.

As for Catalina issues, for some it works great. Others have problems. I haven't upgraded from Mohave, but I will have to go to Big Sur in 2021 (see below).

When buying a new mac can you specify that you don't want Catalina and get Mojave instead

No. As above you can go to an unsupported configuration, but that has some risks. Another possibility is to purchase refurbished or used equipment that shipped pre-Catalina. I see that there are a lot of iMac Pros on the Apple refurbished side:

Refurbished Mac - iMac Pro

Save up to 15% on refurbished Mac notebooks and computers. Every refurbished Mac is tested and certified by Apple and includes a one-year warranty. Free delivery and returns.

www.apple.com

If you have security concerns, Mohave will soon be a 2 year old OS. Support is expected to end in 2021, at which point there will be no new security updates.

macOS 10.13 High Sierra - End of Life - SCS Computing Facilities - Carnegie Mellon University

eol, mac, macos, high sierra, 10.13, end, of, life, support, scs, scscf, apple, high, sierra,

computing.cs.cmu.edu

 

[Juicy Box]

If you have security concerns, Mohave will soon be a 2 year old OS. Support is expected to end in 2021, at which point there will be no new security updates.

Is security is an issue, just use Firefox. It will continue to get security updates for a couple years on High Sierra and Mojave.

 

[Juicy Box]

I have a 2006 Mac Pro 1,1 which Lion was the last official supported OS, but the HW is more than capable of running hire OS versions. It is currently running El Capitan 10.11, and runs greats.

I started thinking about it, I think the latest OS officially supported on the 2009 Mac Pro is at least El Capitan.

I have a Mid 2007 iMac that El Capitan is the latest OS. I would bet that your Mac Pro would be supported.
[automerge]1600811926[/automerge]
I looked it up, and according to Apple, your 2009 Mac Pro can run El Capitan. No reason to use Yosemite:

OS X El Capitan - Technical Specifications - Apple Support

support.apple.com

 

[HDFan]

Is security is an issue, just use Firefox. It will continue to get security updates for a couple years on High Sierra and Mojave.

Browser security is a small subset of OS security.

 

[Juicy Box]

Browser security is a small subset of OS security.

While this this true, most of the vulnerabilities that people will come across would be browser related. Apple pushes the Safari security updates much more often than the OS security updates (which also contain Safari updates) for this reason.

Sometimes Apple pushes updates for older non-support OS versions for when a particular threat is more impactful.

But, more to the point of the thread, If the OP is okay with using Yosemite for the past few years, long after Apple stopped security updates, I think that the OP would a lot well covered security wise if Firefox was used. Maybe if this was a mobile device and security was an issue, a secure browser may not be enough.

If security was a priority though, (which again, the OP is using Yosemite), I would recommend using MacOS versions that was still getting security updates.

 

[VideoWizard]

The reason I'm using Yosemite is a bit complex:
1. When you go to the App store it doesn't give you the option to upgrade to a newer OS.

2. I found a way around reason 1. by downloading it off another system, but it actually created instability in software I needed to use. DVD Studio Pro and my Adobe CS5 apps started crashing. Then I understood why they don't give you the option to upgrade the OS. What good is a newer OS if it doesn't like your old hardware?

Almost all of my dance recital and high school theater customer still want dvds. The only program on the Mac that allows dvd menu authoring is DVDSP. I thought I could transition to Blu-Ray but that's even worse, there are no programs on the mac that allow for bluray authoring. On the pc Vega has a program DVD Architect but it's built to work with it's editor and will not import chapter markers from other programs.

With Adobe I've been using CS5 since 2008 and it does everything I need. I save $600 every year in subscription fees. Same goes for Microsoft.

 

[HDFan]

Doesn't Toast support authoring?

Roxio Toast | Disc Burning & Digital Media Suite for Mac

Explore the comprehensive toolkit for burning, editing & sharing your digital media. Roxio Toast 20 offers complete customization for DVD authoring, an intuitive interface, easy file conversion tools & more to streamline your workflow.

www.roxio.com

Toast Pro supposedly supports Blu-Ray authoring.

 

[VideoWizard]

Doesn't Toast support authoring?

Roxio Toast | Disc Burning & Digital Media Suite for Mac

Explore the comprehensive toolkit for burning, editing & sharing your digital media. Roxio Toast 20 offers complete customization for DVD authoring, an intuitive interface, easy file conversion tools & more to streamline your workflow.

www.roxio.com

Toast Pro supposedly supports Blu-Ray authoring.

It's terrible. It's intended for consumer use only.You go through a wizard, pick from a few templates , it then creates a menu you have not control of and can't see until after the blu-ray is burned. That's not just Toast they're all pretty much like that. There's one professional fully featured software and it costs like $80,000

 

[lin2log]

I'm curious if there are any video/media professionals here

Sorry that I find your request for "video/media professionals" or "for professional use" highly ironic when talking about the most unprofessional hard and software setup (as well as projects) imaginable by today's standards. I'm a video/media professional of 25+ years and can only say: get a fully spec'ed 5K iMac (zero need for an iMac Pro, especially for what it is you're doing ?) and move into the 21st century already. Keep the old MP dog around for your DVDs if you insist on degrading your work to the lowest possible SD denominator just because your "clients" haven't heard of this thing called "Internet" or even USB sticks. ??‍♂️

FCPX as well as Compressor will output directly to DVD and BD btw. Can you fiddle endlessly and nonsensically with the menus a lá DVDSP? No. But anyone giving that medium that much thought anymore… wow… But then I'd bet anyone actually still asking for a DVD won't even know the difference or care, to begin with. Therefore a complete waste of energy even thinking about it. I wouldn't even bother with that painfully convoluted behemoth DVDSP to begin with! Complete and utter overkill. Even iDVD offers more than anyone could ever need today and is far easier and faster to work with.

I also have no clue why you speak of Adobe when you're using FCPX. What do they have to do with anything? Why would you want to use exponentially slower, inferior and more unstable apps on such a modern machine when you have the fastest, most modern app already running?? There are far superior replacements for pretty much everything Adobe out there for just a fraction of the cost without any need to pay ransom money for your own intellectual property! Of course none of which will run on that old turd.

Check out dosdude1's website. Upgrading to an "unsupported" version of macOS is what many have done, successfully, to solve that issue.

This also has nothing to do with professional. Nothing any self-respecting pro would ever consider doing since it's nothing more than a sloppy kludge for hobbyists. Certainly nothing for anyone that needs to make actual money off their gear and wants to be taken even the least bit serious. ? Never mind that just HACKING some OS onto your machine that isn't even qualified still isn't going to let you run highly modern apps such as FCPX… or even Pages! You're "solving" absolutely nothing.

I'll also never get why so many would offer up such nonsense when he's already said that he wants a new machine! On what planet does sticking endless, flimsy bandaids on some ancient machine qualify as a better more feasible alternative? Do people think this somehow makes them look clever or think they're "stickin' it to the man" i.e. Apple?

Either you're a professional and you act it or you at least refrain from using the term as your lead-in.