OS X 10.7 Lion to drop Rosetta support

[waxfang]

If anyone wanted to hustle on getting Freehand freed, now is the time:

http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/11 ... setta.html

[FFH Mark]

Right you are... this is a game changer!

Summer is when Lion is released giving us 4-5 months leeway.

[waxfang]

Not sure how Apple is going to counter this, Rosetta support is a paltry 2MB in the SL 10.6 installer, and it's not like even current versions of CS5 don't have plenty of PPC code.

Also, many installers (Logic, etc.) still run PPC code...while I understand Apple isn't going to support old stuff forever, there are plenty of pro suites and office apps (example, many are pissed Quicken hasn't had a 'real' Mac version since 2007) that still use Rosetta in some way; are they just trying to give the finger to their professional user base?

I understand it's probably due to having to pay royalties or something on the Rosetta code rather than "streamlining" like they're saying, but come on Apple. We pay a premium on these machines as-is, and not all of us just buy these to look pretty and play Angry Birds.

[nudnac59]

This is a concern... Don't want to have to learn Illustrator if I can help it.

[nocturnal YL]

Um... get a Windows compatibility layer and use the Windows version?

http://www.codeweavers.com/products/

It's been (whoa) 8 years since FreeHand MX. And which part of "we don't want FreeHand to discontinue" do they (former Macromedia) not understand?

[cyclopsdx]

Interesting re. the link, nocturnal YL. Have you used this emulator yet? Does it work ok?

[nocturnal YL]

No, unfortunately. I am a Windows user. (This actually made the whole FreeHand issue not as important to me, since as mere hobbyist I can always use an emulator to run it on an older version of Windows - but it's no valid reason to cease development.)

[Yeech1]

There is certainly an urgent need to find a solution. I really don't want to be forced to drive a tank when all I need is a nifty car that gets me from point A to B.

[cyclopsdx]

Interesting analogy - If Adobe DID make tanks, you'd be able see your target, know which weapons you wanted to fire, but it would take you half an hour to find the trigger!