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For a while I had been getting warning messages ‘this software isn’t optimised for your Mac and needs to be updated’. It’s Orwellian for ‘we’ve made updates to the MacOS and that wrecks some of your software because we’ve declared it obsolete and legacy’. I hadn’t yet figured out what precisely was at issue, but Peter posts about how The 64 Bit MacOS Apocalypse Has Arrived.

He helpfully says where to find your list of software being declared legacy with the update to MacOS Catalina.

You can get a list of all of what Apple now refers to as “legacy software” by clicking the Apple menu, then About This Mac, System Report, and, finally, Legacy Software in the left-hand sidebar: this will show you all the 32 bit applications currently installed on your Mac that won’t run if you update to Catalina.

Here’s my list:

Some of the things on it don’t worry me, such as Citrix, as I’m sure it will get updated, and I don’t currently have clients for which I need it. Similarly the Flickr Uploader is a useless tool, which I can uninstall without consequences to my workflow. I suspect Scrivener will get updated soon enough.

Scansnap does worry me. It’s what drives my extremely useful scanner with feeder. A 450 Euro machine, that is already a number of years old and no longer on the market. So I need to find out if they will update their drivers and software. Otherwise I’m left with a key piece of expensive hardware at home that doesn’t work on my laptop. [UPDATE Fujitsu will not release new software for my scanner S1500M, as its ‘support period has expired‘
So no MacOS updates for me for now, as it would junk a highly capable piece of expensive hardware that is a key tool for my work.]

5 reactions on “64bit MacOS Update Ruins Some Software”

  1. Something similar happened to the software bundled with my HP flatbed scanner a few years ago and I switch to VueScan. It has worked well for me since 2013 and I’ve never had to relicense, which is nice as they issue new releases quite frequently. I also like that the company is basically a father and son, no big corporation! They seem to support your machine: https://www.hamrick.com/vuescan/fujitsu_scansnap_s1500m.html#technical-information . Good luck keeping your Scansnap snapping!

  3. Thank you Thelma, Dave, I wasn’t aware of Vuescan, and it’s a great tip. I’ll look into it! (Also, this is how blogging is meant to work 🙂 thank you for demonstrating that! )

  4. This update has ruined my Macbook. “Ruined”, as in it no longer is the easy system that seamlessly links with anything and everything. I bought a Macbook for this feature. If I wanted to spend countless hours searching for compatible programs so I can still use my large format HP printer, so I can use my nearly new Brother printer, I would have stuck with Windows which seems to have improved over the last decade and now has fewer linking problems. The only way I can now use these two devices is to email my files to myself, upload them on a Windows based machine.

    I’m now searching for a new computer and sadly it will not be a Mac. The system no longer makes my life easier. It makes it more difficult.

    • From the experiences mentioned above it seems Vuescan is a good way to solve the issues. Definitely cheaper than replacing your laptop altogether.

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