run OS 10.6.8 on new Mac?

Discussion in 'General Questions' started by Whit, Oct 27, 2014.

  1. Whit

    Whit Bit poster

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    Hello. I have a couple of old applications that are crucial to my business that only run on the older versions of OSX, up to OS 10.6.8. This has to do with Rosetta, which was discontinued in 10.7. Can I update my Mac laptop to a new machine running the latest OSX, and use Parallels to run a virtual machine with 10.6.8?

    I've seen mention of 10.6.8 server being possible to emulate. Would this suit my needs? In other words, could I run 10.6.8 server and have the full functionality of my old machine running 10.6.8? I've never needed any of the additional features of server and indeed know nothing about them.

    THANKS VERY MUCH
    Whit
     
    Last edited: Oct 27, 2014
  2. John_Faux

    John_Faux Bit poster

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    Not trying to hijack your thread.. HOW do I post a NEW post on the forum???? 15 minutes poking around.. I only see REPLY aaarrrrrrrgggggg anyone?
     
  3. Specimen

    Specimen Product Expert

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    The server version has exactly the same functionalities as the client version and plus some that you can probably ignore and use SL the same way as you did before.

    You will need to acquire the server version of SL, but only the server version is allowed to be installed and ran under PDM.

    Depending on the hardware you were running SL and the new one you might notice less graphical performance on an OS X virtual machine, this is due to the fact there's no graphical acceleration in an OS X Guest and as such it's all done via CPU.
     
  4. Richard_Lee1

    Richard_Lee1 Junior Member

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    @John_Faux

    Assuming you're logged in, and you're at any forum - i.e. not inside a thread - then the Post New Thread button...

    Screenshot 2014-10-29 14.41.54.png
     
  5. KentS

    KentS Bit poster

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    I have tried to get VirtualBox to run Snow Leopard Server (SLS 10.6.8) and it just crashes in the boot process on any Mac hardware I have tried that was released after 2011. I have successfully installed Snow Leopard Server (SLS 10.6.8) guest OS running in a VM under Parallels 10 on a late 2012 iMac (13.2 model). I think this means Parallels has done a better job of hardware abstraction to allow SLS to run on hardware/CPUs/Graphics chips that did not exist when SLS was supported.

    My question is... Under Parallels 9 or 10, does SLS 10.6.8 guest OS still work on the latest Mac hardware like the mid-2014 iMacs or the just released Retna 5K iMac?
     
  6. rjvbertin

    rjvbertin Bit poster

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    VirtualBox has very little support for virtualising OS X, so it's not amazing if it crashes (on newer or older hardware).
    PD does have good support for running OS X guest OSes, so I presume that you should be fine.
     
  7. Specimen

    Specimen Product Expert

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    I don't have specific experience with that scenario, but I don't see why it wouldn't, SLS has always worked in Paralleld in a variety of hardware since it was first supported.

    Don't forget that SL does not have support for HiDPI displays, some customization might be required.
     
  8. KentS

    KentS Bit poster

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    Our IT guy at work thinks it won't work cause the SLS guest does not have the drivers needed to talk to new hardware. I think it depends on how well the virtual machine has been abstracted from the hardware. I need to know if it works on the latest Apple hardware (the retina 5K iMac or retina Macbook Pro isn't really in the budget so HiDPI display compatibility is not a serious issue right now).
     
  9. Specimen

    Specimen Product Expert

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    Pardon me for saying this, but if your IT guy says that, he shouldn't be your IT guy, and I only say this because I'm very confident of my assertion. He has absolutely no idea how a virtualization application like Parallels (or Virtual Box) works, does not have the curiosity to investigate and learn, and made and assertion about a purely technological issue without having any experience or knowledge on the subject, based solely on wrong assumptions. This results in infusing people with wrong ideas and false issues, like the one presented, because after all, he is the 'IT guy'.

    The virtualized OS (Guest) doesn't talk directly with the GPU, nor the screen, or other pieces of hardware, there is a level of abstraction in between. Don't forget that the mouse, keyboard, screen, GPU, etc, are working for the Host system primarily, the Guest could never step over the Host, only the Host OS can have direct access to hardware.

    The only piece of hardware that the VM is allowed to talk directly to is the CPU through a technology that specifically supports virtualization. And in case you are wondering, yes, SL can talk directly with CPU made years after it has been released because the architecture is the same (x86 or x64).

    The reason why VBox crashed does not have to be related to hardware abstraction, or the hardware not being supported by the OS.

    There is a virtualization technology that allows for VMs to talk directly with GPU, but requires more than one GPU and isn't supported in PDM anyway.

    The fact that SLS is supported means, among other things, that the hardware is presented to the Guest OS in a way that the Guest OS understands, ie, has drivers for.

    Finally, you always have the possibility of running PDM as a trial if you are still unsure.
     
    Last edited: Oct 31, 2014
  10. Kent_Green

    Kent_Green Bit poster

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    Hi Specimen
    I have the same need to run 10.6.8 as Whit, and desperately need new hardware. My legacy app is VectorWorks 2008 which works fine for me in terms of drawing capability, but as I learn to use more of its CAD graphics capabilities, it has slowed to a crawl on my current old MacMini 3,1 4GB RAM. i don't do photo realistic ray traced models, but even the simple shaded architectural 3d models I draw, use considerable graphics resources, and even an openGL model really hits my work flow.

    Just Like Whit, I want to buy a new Mac, But... I was really looking forward to using the new graphics gpu capabilities (either discrete or embeded GPUs) to speed up my CAD processes. A new version of Vectorworks which will run on the new machine costs thousands, and is overkill for my drawing needs.
    So,
    1. I imagine that even just having the capability of having a new machine and adding lots more RAM with a newer i5 or i7 processor would speed things up somewhat, but for my CAD program, is that really true? If PDM 10 has a new "Design optimization mode, what does that mean for my CAD performance with no GPU being used?

    2. I think I have a copy of SLS kicking around here somewhere

    3.If SLS on PDM can't effectively work for me, ---Can you tell me if the "virtualization technology that allows for VMs to talk directly with GPU, but requires more than one GPU"? is accessible to me and my problem in some way?

    4. I might be able to install VW2018 on a Windows 7 VM. If that is possible, will the Windows7 VM be better able to access the new Mac host'S GPU or be better at Graphics speed than the SLS VM?
     
  11. Specimen

    Specimen Product Expert

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    You should know right from the get go that there is no hardware acceleration for OSX guests. That means you won't be able to take advantage of the GPU on a snow leopard virtual machine, I mentioned this before but I'm reiterating it here that there is no way around this roadblock.

    The technology that allows direct access to a GPU by a VM is not available for Macs, as in, I don't know of a single Mac virtualization app that takes advantage of it.

    Yes, hardware acceleration is available for Windows guests. And the CAD mode you mentioned is for Windows.

    My recommendation would be to go the Windows VM route, the performance is just better thanks to the graphic acceleration support.
     
    Last edited: Nov 7, 2014
  12. Kent_Green

    Kent_Green Bit poster

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    Hi Specimen - Thanks for the quick reply!

    OK so no GPU access, but do you think a new Mac, say a new MacMini with 16GB of RAM and an i5 or i7 processor, running OS 10.6.8 Server as guest OS with my current VectorWorks 2008 Mac version might still be a lot faster than my current MacMini 3.1 Intel Core 2 Duo with an NVIDIA GeForce 9400 with only 256mb of VRAM, even if the SLS as guest has no GPU access? I could do that for a while if it would improve things, and then move either to the Windows VW version in VM, or eventually pony up for the new Mac VW 2014 version?
     
  13. Specimen

    Specimen Product Expert

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    Yes, of course it will be faster, but mostly because of the faster CPU, all graphic operations are done by software in this case, so the faster the CPU(s) the better the performance.
     

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