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This question arises from an earlier question in which the top answer suggests 32-bit support in Catalina is "disabled" but possible to re-enable with the help of library files copied over from Mojave.

For those who have implemented the workaround, does your experience (OS stability, performance of legacy software such as CS6 and MS Office 11, etc.) suggest this is a viable alternative to running an older 32-bit supporting macOS in virtualization under Catalina?

Adobe_User
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  • To which of the two work arounds are you referring? It’s best to quickly summarize what you did here and reference back. The idea being the question can stand on its own without requiring a jump to another page (even if here on AD/SE) – Allan Jul 26 '23 at 02:57
  • This question solicits the experience of those who have implemented the workaround in the top answer in response to the above-linked question. I am not going to summarize "what I did" because A) I have never tried this workaround, B) I have never run any virtualization, C) I don't have Catalina (yet), and D) I have attempted to "quickly summarize" my reason for asking questions in the past, only to be told to edit so as to avoid going off topic. – Adobe_User Jul 26 '23 at 03:07
  • All valid points, but it still doesn’t help the question stand on it’s own. Please post an [edit] with a quick summary of what you’re interested in and link back rather than forcing the reader to jump back to the question you’ve linked. – Allan Jul 26 '23 at 03:35
  • This piqued my interest, as it's something I'd love to be able to do - however, the link-only answer has suffered link rot, so becomes no answer at all. – Tetsujin Jul 26 '23 at 06:30
  • What model Mac do you have? It's capabilities may help determine the best course. – benwiggy Jul 26 '23 at 08:05
  • @Allen. I don't know how to summarize the answer. It appears to be a novel approach not mentioned elsewhere on the web. – Adobe_User Jul 26 '23 at 20:35
  • @Tetsujin 1) What is meant by "link rot"? 2) Could be wrong, but I don't see any evidence that anyone has implemented the 32-bit workaround, 3) I linked the original Q&A because I can't take credit for it, speak to whether it works, nor can I translate multi-step instructions into a successful "quick summary", 4) I have posted on/off on SE/AD for years. That said, little of my past history on this website has survived because too often it turns into an editing debate (sadly!); 5) Goal is to validate "re-enabling" 32-bit in Catalina, not go off into the weeds with my rationale for asking. – Adobe_User Jul 26 '23 at 21:40
  • @ Allen: I tried to improve the stand-alone quality of the question (best I could do short of a C&P of the earlier Q&A). I really want to focus on responses from those who have tried the workaround rather than further edits. Thanks :-) – Adobe_User Jul 26 '23 at 22:54
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    @ benwiggy Earlier this month, I debated buying/connecting two Mac Minis to a single display, one old, one new., the older one to retain access to legacy software under an older macOS. Q&A was hidden over a comment objecting to what I thought was essential context (was told it might lead off topic). So I ditched the idea and tried to learn from that feedback to strip this Q&A down to the bare bones, only to prompt questions re: a back story (reason for asking). In a nutshell: Research suggests the 2020 27" i9 3.6Ghz 5K iMac won't run Mojave. Choice is to return, virtualize or this "workaround" – Adobe_User Jul 26 '23 at 23:08
  • @Adobe_User - 'link rot' is as happened in the first answer in the question you mentioned. There's a vague hint in the answer itself, but all the detail was in its links to a site which no longer exists… the link has rotted, leaving a useless answer. BTW, I'm also considering keeping legacy Mac; in my case an old MacBook pro, on which I can use my old audio gear, which I could then pipe through to a new Mac Studio. Last Macs to run Mojave will be around 2018/19 – Tetsujin Jul 27 '23 at 06:19

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The linked answer suggests copying "the 32-bit libraries from Mojave" and changing a kernel boot argument in NVRAM to enable 32-bit processing.

I haven't tried this, but I'd suggest that it's not a viable alternative to virtualization.

Firstly, correctly identifying all the necessary files to copy over from Mojave is not without risk of error or omission. (The link that might provide some guidance is dead.)

Secondly, while Mojave and Catalina may have been similar enough for this to work, incompatibilities and problems will increase as new OSes grow apart.

Even assuming that you got the 32-bit apps running, there's also no guarantee that other changes to the OS won't cause serious or 'fatal' problems.

Obviously, none of this will work on M-series Apple Silicon Macs.

If, as you say, you haven't upgraded from Mojave, then I'd consider setting up a VM before you upgrade, to see whether it works with sufficient performance. VMs work best on hardware with lots of cores and RAM. (I used CS6 for a while on my 2012 Mini in a Parallels VM, and it worked OK.)

Otherwise, you need to make a decision about whether to keep up to date with progress, or whether to stay where you are. Why the sudden desire to upgrade to Catalina, after 3+ years? One question to ask yourself is: if your Mac died tomorrow -- e.g. Logic board failure; or got stolen, caught fire, etc -- and you had to buy a new Mac, what would happen?

Some other thoughts about running old software versions:

Microsoft Office can be updated to a 64-bit, up-to-date version at reasonable cost. You can buy a standalone, one-time payment version, rather than the subscription.

There are plenty of modern alternatives to Adobe's apps, such as Affinity suite, or GIMP/Inkspace/Scribus. VivaDesigner will open InDesign files natively. CS6 is now 11 years old.

But of course, it won't be long before Catalina is too old to run the latest apps, either.

If you need to update your Mac, but neither alternative software nor virtualization are a sufficient strategy for your legacy files, then I suggest buying a vintage Mac on eBay or similar, just for your legacy apps, which ideally you should start to migrate away from.

Some additional costs are inevitable, whether they be hardware or software.

benwiggy
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  • [Sorry to get conversational on this, but] even though a lot of software is replaceable, Adobe, Office etc, this becomes a hardware trap too. I have audio gear, perfectly serviceable but obsolete, which relies on 32-bit drivers. The cost to replace with modern gear will be about 10k [& still not actually be as good as what I would have to abandon.] – Tetsujin Jul 26 '23 at 08:34
  • @Tetsujin Driver support for audio hardware is traditionally appalling. (And Apple's own "class-compliant" drivers are pretty awful.) For much less than 10k, you could pay someone to write new drivers -- and then sell them to others with the same kit! – benwiggy Jul 26 '23 at 08:41
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    Great idea, in theory - & if I tried really, really hard I might even be able to get the original source code, as I used to work for the company that owns it. Trouble is… I don't have anything like 10 grand to spend on this :\ – Tetsujin Jul 26 '23 at 08:57
  • "One question to ask yourself is: if your Mac died tomorrow -- e.g. Logic board failure; or got stolen, caught fire, etc -- and you had to buy a new Mac, what would happen?" Funny you should ask. I go back to the early '90s with Apple (did my own HD upgrades, memory installs, etc. back in the day). Since then, I have fallen behind on the desktop front (2009 iMac still in use!). Just purchased a NIB 27" iMac with Catalina (2020 model). Doubt Apple will drop macOS security updates for ~4 years, ESR browser from Firefox potentially ~6yrs. MBP will be replaced with Apple Silicone Macbook in ~2yrs. – Adobe_User Jul 27 '23 at 08:11
  • "Why the sudden desire to upgrade to Catalina, after 3+ years?" It's actually the other way around: Catalina represents a long overdue jump forward — so much so that until I began reading up recently I didn't appreciate how much had changed from Mojave (which is installed on my MPB). So it occurred to me that since the question I linked to was from 2020, there may be updates on how well the 32-bit workaround works. If good, I would test on a separate Catalina partition. If not, use VMware or similar. Meanwhile, I take it not many people have tried this workaround for the reasons you describe. – Adobe_User Jul 27 '23 at 08:25
  • @Adobe_User My point is that an Apple Silicon Mac won't run a Mojave VM; nor Catalina with 32bit libraries. You'll have to move up from CS6 at some point -- either by subscribing to Adobe, or using alternative software. Hardware and software are transitory, but hopefully your data can be migrated. Best to do it before you need to. – benwiggy Jul 27 '23 at 08:56
  • "Firstly, correctly identifying all the necessary files to copy over from Mojave is not without risk of error or omission. (The link that might provide some guidance is dead". This is what jumped out at me too: What libraries do I copy over? Q: Would the risks be minimized since I haven't completed migration to the newly-purchased iMac and don't yet need to back anything up with Time Machine? Alternatively, what about testing a dupe of Catalina on another drive partition? ((f all else fails get rid of that drive partition, resume the migration and then go the virtualization route?) – Adobe_User Jul 27 '23 at 08:57
  • @benwiggy If I'm not mistaken, Parallels 18 supports the M1 and the Intel Macs, but that (Rosetta?) compatibility is already on the way out with the M2s. If I were relying on this software professionally, then yes it would be vital to stay current. But mostly I object to the "own nothing, rent everything" business model. I already have too many recurring bills tied to apps, streaming services, etc. that I won't be able to keep going forever, either, especially as the list of subscription services keeps growing by the year. For as long as I can cling to my pre-Cloud licenses, I'm going to try – Adobe_User Jul 27 '23 at 09:07
  • @Adobe_User "Q: Would the risks be minimized...." I don't understand how incomplete migration has anything to do with knowing which files to copy over from the OS. Of course, you can make as many boot volumes as you like to test stuff out. – benwiggy Jul 27 '23 at 09:08
  • @Adobe_User Apple will remove Rosetta from the OS at some point in the future, sure. But there's no indication of it being removed yet. Parallels runs on M-series Macs, but it doesn't support old Intel Mac OSes. I'm with you on not paying subs, but you need to be prepared that one day CS6 will not work. (Arguably, that day has already come.) Make sure you can access your files with other software before that happens. – benwiggy Jul 27 '23 at 09:12
  • @benwiggy I have a brand new iMac with Catalina pre-installed that I haven't set up or used with Time Machine, Migration Assistant, etc. So presumably if I were to test this workaround out, it's now or never. I used to be up for challenges like this years ago but since I'm rusty, I thought I would ask to see if anyone has an updated take on this workaround since it was first mentioned in the linked 2020 Q&A. The answer here is helpful in that it outlines the risks of doing so to an in-use system. But since my data doesn't live on the new iMac yet, I may have less to lose by trying. (Curious!) – Adobe_User Jul 27 '23 at 09:18
  • @benwiggy True. However, for now I can buy an Intel-supporting edition of Parallels or similar before virtualization software is no longer offered for Intel Macs. Of course, I am not opposed to trying out alternative software but whether that happens now or ~5 years from now, same difference, IMHO. Between Firefox ESR, Apple security updates and a reported final macOS update the year after Sonoma debuts, there's still plenty of life left in a 2020 iMac. By the time it comes time to abandon CS6 once and for all, I suspect desktop computers of any sort will be nearly obsolete too. – Adobe_User Jul 27 '23 at 09:52
  • Circling back to say thanks for the answer. I managed to find a related SE/AD question that indicated that the problem (apparently) is that GUI was not functional for those who had attempted it. I don't know if anybody found a solution but from everything I have been able to dig up, presumably not. See: https://apple.stackexchange.com/questions/393340/running-32-bit-apps-in-catalina-using-mojave-libs-and-frameworks – Adobe_User Aug 02 '23 at 17:34