British Flag
British Apple Users Info & Support
LOGIN
The next event is:
European Sign Expo 2013

From 25 June 2013
to 27 June 2013
More events…
Apple Store Affiliate Link

OS X 10.7 Or Later Does Not Support Rosetta / PowerPC Software

Article ID = 2
Article Title = OS X 10.7 Or Later Does Not Support Rosetta / PowerPC Software
Article Author(s) = Graham Needham (BH)
Article Created On = 30 March 2011
Article Last Updated = 1 June 2013 08:25
Article URL = http://www.macstrategy.com/article.php?2

Article Brief Description:
Starting with Mac OS X 10.7 Lion, OS X does not support the "Rosetta" environment for running PowerPC based applications. This is a list of common PowerPC applications with information on upgrades and alternatives.

How to check for PowerPC software on your computer

The really easy way:

Download and run Appsolete
or download and run ArchDetect

The easy way:

  1. Make sure Spotlight is turned on (go to Apple menu > System Preferences > Spotlight > Privacy tab and make sure your boot hard disk is not in the list OR use Spotless to check).
  2. Go to Apple menu > About This Mac > click the "More Info…" button.
  3. When System Profiler opens select "Applications" under the 'Software' heading in the list on the left.
  4. Click on the "Kind" column heading to sort by kind.
  5. Click (to select) the first PowerPC type application.
  6. Locate the last PowerPC type application om the list and shift+click on it (this will select all the PowerPC applications).
  7. A full list of PowerPC type applications will appear in the text pane below the upper list of applications.
  8. Click anywhere in the text pane and press Command+A to 'Select All'.
  9. Press Command+C to 'Copy'.
  10. Go to your favourite text editor e.g. Microsoft Word or TextEdit.
  11. Press Command+V to 'Paste'.
  12. Save the document for later analysis if required.

The Terminal/command line way:

  1. Go to Macintosh HD > Applications > Utilities > Terminal.
  2. Paste the following command into the Terminal window:
    3. system_profiler SPApplicationsDataType | sed -e 's/ *//' | grep -A4 "Kind: PowerPC" | grep Location | sort
  3. This will produce a simple list (with hard disk location) in the Terminal window.
  4. This simple list can be copied and pasted into your favourite text editor e.g. Microsoft Word or TextEdit (and saved for later analysis if required).

List of PowerPC Apps likely to still be in use

Adobe Creative Suite 2 (CS2) and 1 (CS1)
Adobe Acrobat v7 or earlier
Adobe (Macromedia) Freehand MX and earlier
    NOTE: For more information about using Freehand see this really useful Free Freehand web site
Adobe Illustrator v12 (CS2) and earlier
Adobe InDesign v4 (CS2), v3 (CS1), v2 or v1
Adobe Photoshop v9 (CS2) and earlier
Adobe Acrobat Reader v7 or earlier
  • Upgrade to the Intel versions of Acrobat Reader v9, vX(10) or simply upgrade to Reader XI(11).
  • OR just use Apple's Preview application which is included with OS X
QuarkXPress v6.5 and earlier
AppleWorks v6 and earlier (including ClarisWorks)
Panergy Software's docXConverter version 3.2 or later purports to convert AppleWorks 5/6 word processing, spreadsheet and database documents (and is OS X 10.7 or later compatible).
    NOTE: Apple's iWork suite will usually only import AppleWorks v6 documents. Older versions of Appleworks/ClarisWorks may need to have their documents opened first and exported to a useable format or if you can, update to AppleWorks 6.2.9 first.
    NOTE: For more information about transitioning from AppleWorks see this really useful Abandoning AppleWorks web site.
Microsoft Office 2004 (including XML document converters), vX or earlier
Microsoft Internet Explorer v5 for Mac
Microsoft Remote Desktop Client v1
Microsoft Virtual PC v7 and earlier
Omnipage Pro X and earlier
Roxio Toast v6 and earlier
ABBYY FineReader (also included with some scanners/the Fujitsu ScanSnap products)
Adobe GoLive (all versions)
BBEdit v6 and earlier
  • Upgrade to v8, v9 or v9 Buy it now on the Mac App Store
Eudora
FileMaker v7 and earlier
Canvas X
Retrospect 6
  • Upgrade to Roxio Retrospect v8 Buy it now at Buy it now at Amazon UK Buy it now at Amazon USA
  • For alternative products/solutions to Retrospect backup please see this MacStrategy article (not available yet).
Quicken 2007 and earlier (US market only)
QuickBooks 2007 and earlier (US market only)
i1 / Eye-One Match (colour calibration software)
iView Media Pro 3.0.2 and earlier
iView Media Pro was purchased by Microsoft in July 2006 and renamed "Expression Media". It was then subsequently purchased by PhaseOne recently and renamed Media Pro 1. So your options are:
ZipIt
No direct replacement but you could use the basic zip facilities included with Mac OS X or try these alternatives:
Tex-Edit+
Update to v4.9.9 or later. Download from www.tex-edit.com.
MacLink Plus
No direct replacement but you could try the Zamzar online conversion tool/web site.
Palm / Palm Desktop
eBookfaces

Further List of additional PowerPC Applications with unknown options

Check back regularly as we update this article with more information.
  • Amadeus II
  • Dimage Scan Dual IV software (film scanner)
  • Emergency Records Organizer
  • FontLab Studio (also their other products such as Fontographer)
  • Inspiration 7
  • MacTheRipper
  • Merriam-Webster dictionary
  • Now Contact
  • Panorama 5
  • TurboTax 2005 and earlier (US market only)
  • Wake 550
  • Hemera Photo-Objects

Other PowerPC software that may be on your computer

  • Installer software (old VISE installers, etc).
  • Some Xerox printer drivers use a PowerPC installer application.
  • Old printer, camera, scanner and/or peripheral applications or drivers e.g. scanning software, multifunction printer utilities, camera image utilities.

Additions, Omissions or Errors

If you have any please use our Contact Form.
NOTE: The alternative software titles listed in this article are listed on the basis that they are Universal Binary or Intel compatible software. They are not necessarily OS X 10.7 (Lion) or later compatible. Application software Lion or later compatibility information is available here.

Article Keywords: 107 108 Lion Mountain Rosetta PowerPC PPC

This article is © MacStrategy » a trading name of Burning Helix. Apple, the Apple logo, and Mac are trademarks of Apple Inc., registered in the U.S. and other countries. App Store is a service mark of Apple Inc.

Article Contributors/Thanks To: www.macintouch.com

If this information helped you or saved you time and/or money why not donate a little to us via PayPal?
All proceeds go directly to MacStrategy / Burning Helix Limited to help fund this web site.
If this information helped you or saved you time and/or money why not donate a little to us via PayPal?
All proceeds go directly to MacStrategy / Burning Helix Limited to help fund this web site.

Go to this
web page
to donate to us.

To comply with European Union law your continued use of this website gives your consent to allow this website to create a cookie on your computer for site analytics. This website also uses cookies to make your browsing experience easier and more secure. See our Privacy Policy for more information including a list of cookies that this site uses.