macOS Sierra and App Compatibility
Episode #195
I’ve told you more than once that it’s a bad idea to upgrade your Mac’s (or any device’s) operating system immediately after the operating system’s release. Alas, waiting is not an option for me because of my vocation, so I once again disobeyed my own advice and installed macOS Sierra 10.12 on my production Mac on the day it was released.
I’ve got good news and bad news.
First the good news: The macOS Sierra upgrade was painless for most users including me. I’ve heard very few reports of Macs becoming unusable after the upgrade.
The bad news is that there are still several popular Mac applications that ceased to function under Sierra. And there are several others that work, but have problems or issues they didn’t have under El Capitan.
Warning to ScanSnap Users
For me, that means I have to exercise caution whenever I use my ScanSnap ix500 scanner. While it still works, Fujitsu has warned that under Sierra, some scanned pages may become blank; black & white scans may spontaneously turn into larger color files; and pages may be deleted from PDFs during merge operations. A fix is promised by mid-October, but the issue affects all Fujitsu ScanSnap scanners, so if you depend upon yours, you might want to wait for the fix before you upgrade.
Fujitsu’s Sierra Compatibility Warning for ScanSnap users.
Keyboard Weirdness
Another problem is that my beloved Microsoft Ergonomic Keyboard 4000 has gone completely wonky under Sierra with the “a” key completely dead and the “i” key typing an “h.” At first I thought the keyboard itself had died, but it works fine connected to a Mac running El Capitan. Fortunately, my second favorite keyboard— a Matias One — has no such issues, so I’m using it until I can figure out a way to make the Ergonomic Keyboard 4000 get along with Sierra.
News flash: I figured it out. After rebooting (to no avail), I used my Google-Fu and found this suggestion that worked for me:
I had the very same issue and found a different fix thanks to the team @ Daskeyboard: “Open up System Preferences and open up Keyboard. In the Keyboard tab, open up the Modifier Keys button and click Restore Defaults. Once you do that, open up Shortcuts and click Restore Defaults there.”
That worked for me and I’m happily typing away on my Ergonomic Keyboard 4000 once again.
Even More Things That Cease to Function Under Sierra
Last but not least, my screenshot utility of choice—Snapz Pro—has issues so annoying I disabled it and am using another utility for the time being.
Since I have other scanners, keyboards, and screenshot utilities, my transition from El Capitan to Sierra wasn’t bad. But I know others who weren’t so fortunate. For example, I heard from a nice lady who upgraded only to discover that QuickBooks 2012, which her business relies upon, broke under Sierra and was unlikely to ever be updated. Her choices were: Backup her hard disk, then erase it, reinstall El Capitan, and finally, restore her data from the backup, or buy a QuickBooks upgrade she neither wanted nor needed before Sierra.
Another friend was still using an ancient version of Microsoft Word (Office 2004); when he upgraded to Sierra he faced the same unpleasant choices.
The Moral of the Story
Related
I know that software gets old and eventually stops working under new OS versions… but neither of these users knew that. All they knew was that they didn’t need an upgrade before they installed Sierra.
The moral of the story is that if you haven’t pulled the trigger already, it would behoove you to take a moment to visit Roaring Apps crowdsourced compatibility table to ensure that the apps you rely upon work properly with Sierra.
Visit RoaringApps to confirm Sierra compatibility.
And, if you rely upon third-party hardware (like my Fujitsu ScanSnap scanner), you might want to check your device’s Sierra compatibility on the manufacturer’s web site.
Don’t get me wrong—I’m not a hater. I like Sierra. It’s just that I hate to see users blindsided when the Sierra upgrade causes an app or device they rely on to fail.
Sierra is a solid upgrade, but you don’t have to install it today. And, when you do, you don’t have to do it blindly. Be smart and confirm that the apps and devices you depend on are going to function properly under Sierra. Then (and only then) it’s ok to pull the trigger.
And that’s all he wrote…
0 Response to "macOS Sierra and App Compatibility"
Post a Comment