“I recommended against upgrading to High Sierra right away because the operating system’s early bugs weren’t offset by useful new features—Mojave has no such problem. Later betas and the GM build have been solid, and all the new stuff gives the Mac a serious and much-needed makeover,” Andrew Cunningham writes for Ars Technica. “You should probably read the rest of the review before you upgrade, but it’s been quite a while since I liked a new macOS release this much.”
“Mojave feels, if not totally transformative, at least more consequential than the last few macOS releases have felt. Dark Mode is the most readily apparent evidence of this, even though it changes nothing about the way the operating system actually work,” Cunningham writes. “But Mojave also continues High Sierra’s foundational work on the operating system, and macOS’ next phase looms larger than ever. Many, many features have either been removed already or will be removed within the next release or two—32-bit support, OpenGL and OpenCL, Back To My Mac, independently distributed browser extensions, third-party client support in Messages, subpixel antialiasing, and a bunch of other things that have been a part of the Mac for years if not decades. And even though I, personally, do not find any of the proof-of-concept iOS apps in Mojave to be particularly useful or compelling in and of themselves, that will almost certainly change if iOS developers are enthusiastic about porting their apps over next year.”
“So far, Apple has done a good job of adding iOS-inspired features to the Mac without fundamentally changing what the Mac is or what it can do. Mojave continues to strike that careful balance, and the company truly does seem committed to keeping its two platforms distinct,” Cunningham writes. “But between iOS apps coming to the Mac App Store next year, new security models and pending requirements for apps from outside the Mac App Store for third parties, and new restrictions on what can be downloaded and run using the Mac’s default security settings, it’s clear that macOS is still heading in iOS’ direction. Hopefully Apple can continue adding iOS features to macOS without losing what makes a Mac feel like a Mac.”
Reams more in the full article – recommended – here.
MacDailyNews Take: So far, so good here. How ’bout you?
I never bothered with High Sierra. I WILL “bother” with Mojave. Attach a worthy new 2019 Mac Pro to Mojave and you might really have something. Even still it’s prudent to “beware the Ive of Apple.”
Mojave causes some noncritical “known issues” with FileMaker Pro 17 Advanced. Mojave also causes “known stability issues” with FileMaker Server 17.
Consequently, “we do not recommend to upgrade,” [sic] says the company. Updates to the client software are not expected until November/December and updates to the server software are not expected until November. Furthermore, the release of updates is “subject to change.”
FileMaker is a wholly owned subsidiary of Apple.
why have so many other developers come up with updates and fixes to work with Mojave and FileMaker just sits there waiting for the horse to take dump? Cmon Filemaker Staff! Get off your fat butts and get to work. You should have Update by 1st week of October, That’s your deadline. If not then LEAVE!
After installing Mojave on one of our machines, we were unable to connect to any externally-hosted FileMaker databases using FileMaker 17. We then tried with FileMaker 16 and FileMaker 14, both of which had the same result. We immediately reverted back to High Sierra using Time Machine, and sent out recommendations to all our clients that utilize FileMaker on the macOS to advise them not to install Mojave under any circumstances.
I can’t lose OpenGL, period. It is critical to my work. High Sierra will be my last Mac experience and my current Mac my last computer from Apple if developers don’t get on board with Metal, and I don’t expect a lot of them will. I’d love to be pleasantly surprised.
The writer is misinformed. OpenGL has been deprecated not removed. Apple said they will continue to offer limited support…they didn’t say they would remove it. For example every API deprecated since iPhone OS 2 (which is 1,000s) of all of them only the UDID API has been removed so far.
Sure it’s days are numberered but it has life in it yet. Apple are perfectly aware of the importance of OpenGL and that many won’t switch to Metal for those making software for multi platform.
It’s shocking – but this reporter didn’t get their facts straight and/or own a dictionary.
Don’t take any notice of tech writers they talk out of their arses all day long.
That’s a pretty big IF. Given Apple only supports Metal on iOS, which is rapidly becoming the largest revenue generating software ecosystem in the world, I personally wouldn’t bet on your expectations.
OpenGL is the next Flash, people just don’t know it yet.
Mojave causes some noncritical “known issues” with FileMaker Pro 17 Advanced. Mojave also causes “known stability issues” with FileMaker Server 17.
Great so far. All fast and butter smooth on the 2016 MB Pro. Apple News, having syncronised with my iOS channels and prefs, is a better ‘experience’ than I’d expected. Liking Dark mode a lot.
Copying files to a networked Mac mini running Yosemite does not work. The connection just drops. Everything else seems to be running smoothly, but I have to transfer files using TeamViewer or something else.
Update to above: Switched to afp for connecting and can now transfer files without loosing the connection. All other functionality I’ve tested is good.
Reviewed the article..
Im concerned about the implications of abandoning Open GL and CL….
Feels like Apple walls are closing in too tight for comfort and freedom… …….
See my above reply to another poster. And chill!
I did.. and i know..
But the long run is where the issue and concern is.
I’m with James for slightly different reasons. I’ve got software that cannot be replaced.
Subfix is for attaching subtitles to my digitised movie and TV show collection. There are no alternatives. Well there is one but it will only read AAC files. Great!
Likewise I’ve got games that that are 32 bit and Mohave will soon be 64 bit with no half-way house.
This being the case High Sierra will be my last Mac upgrade and I’ll squeeze every bit of life out of it and my 2015/27 inch iMac. And when that point is reached I don’t want to even think of the alternatives. APFS is a great idea but I’ve got other software that is still HFS+ dependent.
I just cannot understand why Apple is determined to lose some of its user base. Maybe I’m being too Machiavellian but I wonder if they can alienate enough of their Mac base they can then justify abandoning Macs completely. I just don’t get it.
That’s what Apple IIe users said long ago. Time moves on. Keep your antiquated hardware as long as it serves you.
Legacy support is like a ball and chain for OS/API/SDK developers. There is always a balancing act between focusing on the future and the past. Apple has always leaned in the direction of the future, and sometimes people get left behind.
Is this one, finally, 64-bit only? The cross compiling of the LLVM in previous macOS’s causes issues when building Linux-ie apps.
If you read the article, there is an issue with font rendering with non retina Macs. I think thats really a big mistake from Apple. It’s not like they stop selling non retina Macs.
I too find that Apple’s direction sucks. I don’t want a huge iPhone as my computer. I want to skin the OS. I want to install third-party extensions on various apps. I want freedom and creativity. Apple is selling security and the price of their soul. Mojave is great if you want to live in a world like the Matrix — ugly, sterile, limited, but oh so safe. That’s not for me. Someone get a hold of the folks that designed OS 9 and drop-ship them in.