Q-emulator for Mac with macOS Catalina

[Sparrowhawk]

The recent thread about Daniele's email address in this subforum reminded me that I had some info to share as I emailed him about macOS support going forward:

There are currently no plans for a 64 bit version of Q-emuLator for macOS, and the current 32-bit version (1.3) will not run with the recently released macOS 10.15 aka "Catalina". Apple have dropped support for 32 bit apps as of this latest version of their OS.

It's a pity but Daniele's own Mac is not supported by the new OS and so he cannot build a compatible 64 bit executable

[RalfR]

I understand. You have paid but it doesn't work. Remind me of a lot of QL companies....

[Sparrowhawk]

It works exactly as Daniele built it and as I expected (I helped test it a bit before it was released to the public)- ie as a 32 bit application. Daniele never claimed it would work on a 64 bit only OS, so I don't think he can in any way be blamed for a decision made by Apple to remove support for 32 bit apps. I was merely letting people know in case they decided to update to Catalina and suddenly found that the OS refused to run it.

And I doubt that the sales of Q-emuLator for OS X justify his purchase of new hardware just to get out another version.

Luckily I have a backup MacBook Pro, my old 2010 model, and that is staying on High Sierra so will run the emulator. Or I can switch to my Windows machine.

Hopefully one day Daniele suddenly decides that he absolutely loves macOS and needs a new machine and then maybe we get a nice shiny new version. One can dream.

[stephen_usher]

It's a pity but Daniele's own Mac is not supported by the new OS and so he cannot build a compatible 64 bit executable

But Xcode has been able to build 64 bit executables for many years. I seem to remember that the 64 bit macOS kernel arrived with Snow Leopard, 10 years ago, and 64 bit only (with 32 bit application compatibility libraries) since Mountain Lion in 2012. The hardware has been 64 bit capable since the Core 2 Duo Macs arrived in 2006/7.

The 64 bit only move was flagged a couple of years ago but has been on the cards for far longer.

Of course, it's not only the small operations who have been caught with their pants down on this, there are many large companies who have left it beyond the last minute to transition, as we are finding at work.

[Sparrowhawk]

You are right re xcode, it's probably that Daniele cannot test on Catalina I suspect.

[stephen_usher]

You are right re xcode, it's probably that Daniele cannot test on Catalina I suspect.

Or that the code is not 64 bit clean. There are quite a few m68k emulators which fail when compiled 64 bit as the original programmers assumed the size of ints, longs and pointers.

I wonder how long it will be until first Linux and then Windows go 64 bit only. I can see Linux distros switching quite soon actually. Some already only grudgingly support 32 bit code.

[mk79]

I wonder how long it will be until first Linux and then Windows go 64 bit only. I can see Linux distros switching quite soon actually. Some already only grudgingly support 32 bit code.

In the case of Windows I wouldn't hold my breath, it has only dropped 16-bit support because the CPU doesn't support it anymore when switched to 64-bit mode

[Andrew]

In the case of Windows I wouldn't hold my breath, it has only dropped 16-bit support because the CPU doesn't support it anymore when switched to 64-bit mode

I hope it will never drop the 32-bit support. I still use some very old software (scientific programs made for a very small market - most of them have not been updated in the last 20 years)

[M68008]

Having received a number of requests for a 64 bit version, I might reconsider. I decided to buy a new (used) Mac for the port and have been working on it for three weeks now. It's only partially working so far, so no promises.

The issue remains that I don't currently use a Mac other than for developing Q-emuLator, so considering the cost of Macs, their relatively short lifespan (the oldest Mac models supported by Catalina are from 2012) and the very limited (and diminishing) number of Q-emuLator for OS X licenses sold each year, it's not even clear whether by the time this new Mac becomes obsolete I'd have recovered its cost.
If I get a working port, I may need to ask a fee for the upgrade. In the meantime, cost is covered by the Windows licenses.

Thanks,
Daniele

[Sparrowhawk]

How did I miss this?

Daniele, that is encouraging news, and I for one would be willing to pay for the upgrade to 64 bits. Full price even.