OS X 10.7 Or Later Does Not Support Rosetta / PowerPC Software
Article ID = 2Article Title = OS X 10.7 Or Later Does Not Support Rosetta / PowerPC Software
Article Author(s) = Graham Needham (BH)
Article Created On = 30th March 2011
Article Last Updated = 12th March 2019
Article URL = https://www.macstrategy.com/article.php?2
Article Brief Description:
Starting with 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.
Virtualise Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard (Server)
It is possible to legally virtualise Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard on your computer using the server version of Mac OS X 10.6. This enables you to run Rosetta/PowerPC based applications on a modern Macintosh computer. We have an article detailing how to do this.How to check for PowerPC software on your computer
The really easy way:
Download and run Appsoleteor download and run ArchDetect
The easy way:
- 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).
- Go to Apple menu > About This Mac > click the "More Info…" button.
- When System Profiler opens select "Applications" under the 'Software' heading in the list on the left.
- Click on the "Kind" column heading to sort by kind.
- Click (to select) the first PowerPC type application.
- Locate the last PowerPC type application om the list and shift+click on it (this will select all the PowerPC applications).
- A full list of PowerPC type applications will appear in the text pane below the upper list of applications.
- Click anywhere in the text pane and press Command+A to 'Select All'.
- Press Command+C to 'Copy'.
- Go to your favourite text editor e.g. Microsoft Word or TextEdit.
- Press Command+V to 'Paste'.
- Save the document for later analysis if required.
The Terminal/command line way:
- Go to Macintosh HD > Applications > Utilities > Terminal.
- Paste the following command into the Terminal window: system_profiler SPApplicationsDataType | sed -e 's/ *//' | grep -A4 "Kind: PowerPC" | grep Location | sort
- This will produce a simple list (with hard disk location) in the Terminal window.
- 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)
Third party alternatives to Adobe software are available in our Alternative Products To Adobe Creative Suite/Creative Cloud article.- Upgrade to Adobe Creative Cloud WARNING: subscription software - see our blog post
Adobe Acrobat Pro/Standard v7 or earlier
- Upgrade to Acrobat v8/v9/vX(10) Pro, vXI(11) Pro [no longer supported] or DC/2015/2017:
- Acrobat Pro DC for Mac (1 month subscription)
- Acrobat Pro DC for Mac (1 year subscription)
- Acrobat Pro DC for Mac (3 year subscription)
- Acrobat Pro 2020 for Mac (full retail version - no subscription)
- Acrobat Pro 2020 for Mac (full retail version - no subscription - Student and Teacher edition)
- Acrobat Pro 2017 for Mac (full retail version - no subscription)
- Acrobat Pro DC for Mac (1 month subscription)
Adobe (Macromedia) Freehand MX and earlier
- Upgrade to Illustrator CS3, CS4, CS5, CS5.5, CS6 or Adobe Creative Cloud WARNING: subscription software - see our blog post
- No direct replacement for Freehand MX so you could try switching to:
- Pixelmator
- CorelDRAW Graphics Suite 2019
- Eazydraw
- Intaglio
- Sketch
- Manga Studio
Buy it now at
- Corel Painter 2018
- Corel Painter 2017
Buy it now at
- Corel Painter 2016
Buy it now at
- Corel Painter 2015
Buy it now at
- ArtRage
Buy it now at
- Autodesk Sketchbook Pro
- Flame Painter Professional
- Microspot MacDraft Pro
- VectorWorks
- Inkscape
- Kiyut Sketsa
- Drawit
- ZeusDraw
- Flame Painter Personal
- Microspot MacDraft Personal Edition
-
NOTE: For more information about using Freehand see this really useful Free Freehand web site
Adobe Illustrator v12 (CS2) and earlier
Third party alternatives to Adobe software are available in our Alternative Products To Adobe Creative Suite/Creative Cloud article.- Upgrade to Illustrator CS3, CS4, CS5, CS5.5, CS6 or Adobe Creative Cloud WARNING: subscription software - see our blog post
- Switch to:
- Pixelmator
- CorelDRAW Graphics Suite 2019
- Eazydraw
- Intaglio
- Sketch
- Manga Studio
Buy it now at
- Corel Painter 2018
- Corel Painter 2017
Buy it now at
- Corel Painter 2016
Buy it now at
- Corel Painter 2015
Buy it now at
- ArtRage
Buy it now at
- Autodesk Sketchbook Pro
- Flame Painter Professional
- Microspot MacDraft Pro
- VectorWorks
- Inkscape
- Kiyut Sketsa
- Drawit
- ZeusDraw
- Flame Painter Personal
- Microspot MacDraft Personal Edition
Adobe InDesign v4 (CS2), v3 (CS1), v2 or v1
Third party alternatives to Adobe software are available in our Alternative Products To Adobe Creative Suite/Creative Cloud article.- Upgrade to InDesign CS3, CS4, CS5, CS5.5, CS6 or Adobe Creative Cloud WARNING: subscription software - see our blog post
- Switch to QuarkXPress v8 or later
- CorelDRAW Graphics Suite 2019
- Basic page layout capabilities can be found in:
- Stone Create
- Apple Pages
Buy iWork 09 (including Pages) now at
- iStudio Publisher
- Pagestream
- Swift Publisher
- Scribus [FREE - open source]
Adobe Photoshop v9 (CS2) and earlier
Third party alternatives to Adobe software are available in our Alternative Products To Adobe Creative Suite/Creative Cloud article.- Upgrade to Photoshop CS3, CS4, CS5, CS5.5, CS6 or Adobe Creative Cloud WARNING: subscription software - see our blog post
- Other photo/picture manipulation software products are:
- Graphic Converter (some Photoshop PSD file support)
- CorelDRAW Graphics Suite 2019
- Photoline NOTE: Photoline supports 16 bits/pixel, CMYK & Lab colour modes
- Pixelmator (some Photoshop PSD file support)
- OnOne Perfect Photo Suite 7 (standalone version)
- Acorn (some Photoshop PSD file support)
- Gimp (some Photoshop PSD file support) [FREE - open source]
- Adobe Photoshop Elements
2021
2020
NOTE: Elements supports a RGB colour space only - no CMYK!
- Compositor
- ACDsee Pro 3
NOTE: You can turn Pixelmator into "Vectormator" with this free built-in facility
Adobe Acrobat Reader v7 or earlier
- Upgrade to Reader 2015/DC/2017.
- Use Apple's Preview application which is included with OS X
- Switch to:
QuarkXPress v6.5 and earlier
- Upgrade to QuarkXPress v8 or later
- Switch to CorelDRAW Graphics Suite 2019
- Switch to InDesign CS3, CS4, CS5, CS5.5, CS6 or Adobe Creative Cloud WARNING: subscription software - see our blog post
- Basic page layout capabilities can be found in:
- Stone Create
- Apple Pages (£13.99 inc VAT)
- iStudio Publisher
- Pagestream
- Swift Publisher
- Scribus [FREE - open source]
NOTE: More information about alternatives to QuarkXPress is available on the MacHow2 web site.
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).- Switch to Microsoft Office
- Alternative Office like suites:
- Apple iWork for macOS / OS X
- Pages (FREE) - requires macOS 10.12 or later
- Numbers (FREE) - requires macOS 10.12 or later
- Keynote (FREE) - requires macOS 10.12 or later
- Apple iWork for iOS
- Pages (FREE) - requires iOS 11 or later
- Numbers (FREE) - requires iOS 11 or later
- Keynote (FREE) - requires iOS 11 or later
- LibreOffice (OS X 10.10 or later - support for OS X 10.10/10.11 has been deprecated and will end soon…) NOTE: LibreOffice (v4.1 or later) now supports importing Mac Word 5.1, Write Now 4.0, MacWrite Pro 1.5 and Appleworks 6 word processing documents
- SoftMaker Office (macOS 10.12 or later)
- SoftMaker FreeOffice (OS X 10.10 or later)
- Apache OpenOffice (OS X 10.7 or later)
- NeoOffice (macOS 10.12 or later)
- WPS Office Suite for Mac (system requirements not listed on their web site!)
- Alternative word processors / text editors:
- Pages (FREE) - requires macOS 10.12 or later NOTE: Pages supports importing AppleWorks 6 word processing documents.
- Bean
- Mellel
- Write 2
- Nisus Writer Express
- Nisus Writer Pro
- Barebones TextWrangler
- Barebones BBedit
- Mariner Write
- Growly Write
- OmmWriter
- Alternative spreadsheet software:
- Numbers (FREE) - requires macOS 10.12 or later NOTE: Numbers supports importing AppleWorks 6 word spreadsheet documents
- Mariner Calc
- Mesa
- Alternative presentation software:
- Keynote (FREE) - requires macOS 10.12 or later NOTE: Keynote supports importing AppleWorks 6 word presentation documents
- Koingo Project Canvas
- Pro Presenter
- Alternative personal information manager (PIM) software:
- Alternative Exchange server client software:
- Apple Mail, Calendar (originally iCal) and Contacts (originally Address Book) - all included with macOS / OS X
- Email client software:
- Apple Mail (included with macOS / OS X)
- Mozilla Thunderbird
- GyazMail
- Postbox
- Mailsmith (FREE as of 1st September 2015)
- PowerMail
- Airmail
- Mail Pilot
- MailMate
- Mailplane (Gmail only)
- Opera Mail
- Unibox
- Microsoft Outlook (part of Office 2019/2021)
- Penelope Eudora OSE (no longer developed/updated)
- Google Sparrow (killed and discontinued 17/02/2015)
- Alternative drawing software:
-
NOTE: Appleworks 'database' and 'paint' documents cannot be directly imported into other products. You need to export the documents into a usable format first or you could try Panergy Software's docXConverter version 3.2 or later as it purports to convert AppleWorks 5/6 database documents (but not Paint documents).
- Alternative database software:
- Alternative paint/bitmap image editing software:
- Adobe Photoshop Elements
2021
2020 - CorelDRAW Graphics Suite 2019
- Graphic Converter
- Photoline
- Acorn
- Pixelmator
- Gimp
- Drawit
- Adobe Photoshop CS3, CS4, CS5, CS6 or Adobe Creative Cloud WARNING: subscription software - see our blog post
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
- Upgrade to Microsoft Office 2011, 2016 or Office 365
- Microsoft 365 "Personal" (1 user, non-commercial use - activation code via email or in box)
- Microsoft 365 "Family" (6 users, 6 installs + 6 portable installs, non-commercial use - activation code via email or in box)
- Microsoft 365 "Business Standard" (1 business/user - 5 installs - activation code via email or in box)
- Office 2019 Home & Student (1 user, 1 install, no Outlook - download/licence key card)
- Office 2019 Home & Business (1 user, 1 install, with Outlook - download/licence key card)
- Office 2016 Home & Student (1 user, 1 install, no Outlook - download/licence key card)
- Office 2016 Home & Business (1 user, 1 install, with Outlook - download)
- Office 2016 Home & Business (1 user, 1 install, with Outlook - licence key card)
- Alternative Office like suites:
- Apple iWork for macOS / OS X
- Pages (FREE) - requires macOS 10.12 or later
- Numbers (FREE) - requires macOS 10.12 or later
- Keynote (FREE) - requires macOS 10.12 or later
- Apple iWork for iOS
- Pages (FREE) - requires iOS 11 or later
- Numbers (FREE) - requires iOS 11 or later
- Keynote (FREE) - requires iOS 11 or later
- LibreOffice (OS X 10.10 or later - support for OS X 10.10/10.11 has been deprecated and will end soon…) NOTE: LibreOffice (v4.1 or later) now supports importing Mac Word 5.1, Write Now 4.0, MacWrite Pro 1.5 and Appleworks 6 word processing documents
- SoftMaker Office (macOS 10.12 or later)
- SoftMaker FreeOffice (OS X 10.10 or later)
- Apache OpenOffice (OS X 10.7 or later)
- NeoOffice (macOS 10.12 or later)
- WPS Office Suite for Mac (system requirements not listed on their web site!)
Office/Microsoft 365 subscription
Office 2019 perpetual license, boxed edition
Office 2016 perpetual license, boxed edition
- Alternative word processors / text editors:
- Pages (FREE) - requires macOS 10.12 or later NOTE: Pages supports importing AppleWorks 6 word processing documents.
- Bean
- Mellel
- Write 2
- Nisus Writer Express
- Nisus Writer Pro
- Barebones TextWrangler
- Barebones BBedit
- Mariner Write
- Growly Write
- OmmWriter
- Alternative spreadsheet software:
- Numbers (FREE) - requires macOS 10.12 or later NOTE: Numbers supports importing AppleWorks 6 word spreadsheet documents
- Mariner Calc
- Mesa
- Alternative presentation software:
- Keynote (FREE) - requires macOS 10.12 or later NOTE: Keynote supports importing AppleWorks 6 word presentation documents
- Koingo Project Canvas
- Pro Presenter
- Alternative personal information manager (PIM) software:
- Alternative Exchange server client software:
- Apple Mail, Calendar (originally iCal) and Contacts (originally Address Book) - all included with macOS / OS X
- Email client software:
- Apple Mail (included with macOS / OS X)
- Mozilla Thunderbird
- GyazMail
- Postbox
- Mailsmith (FREE as of 1st September 2015)
- PowerMail
- Airmail
- Mail Pilot
- MailMate
- Mailplane (Gmail only)
- Opera Mail
- Unibox
- Microsoft Outlook (part of Office 2019/2021)
- Penelope Eudora OSE (no longer developed/updated)
- Google Sparrow (killed and discontinued 17/02/2015)
Microsoft Internet Explorer v5 for Mac
- No longer developed (for Mac) so switch to:
Microsoft Remote Desktop Client v1
Microsoft Virtual PC v7 and earlier
- No longer developed so switch to:
- Parallels Desktop - buy it now at
- VMWare Fusion
- Codeweavers Crossover
- VirtualBox
Omnipage Pro X and earlier
- No longer developed (for Mac) so switch to:
Roxio Toast v6 and earlier
- Upgrade to Toast v7 (specifically 7.1.3), v8, v9, v10, v11, v12, v14, v15 or v16 or switch to an alternative product:
- Roxio Toast Titanium 19 (64-bit compatible)
- Roxio Toast Titanium 18 (64-bit compatible)
- Roxio Toast Titanium 17 (64-bit compatible)
- Corel Toast Burn
- NTI Dragon Burn
- Burn (FREE - Open Source)
- NCH Express Burn (FREE for home use or US$34.99)
- Disco (FREE) - 32-bit software so not compatible with macOS 10.15 or later!
- SimplyBurns (FREE) - 32-bit software so not compatible with macOS 10.15 or later!
ABBYY FineReader (also included with some scanners/the Fujitsu ScanSnap products)
- Upgrade to ABBYY FineReader Express Edition
Buy it now at
- Switch to:
Adobe GoLive (all versions)
- Upgrade to Dreamweaver CS3, CS4, CS5, CS5.5, CS6 or Adobe Creative Cloud WARNING: subscription software - see our blog post
- Alternative web development software:
- Panic Coda
- Realmac Rapidweaver
- Karelia Software Sandvox
- Espresso
- Taco HTML Edit
- Softpress Freeway Express (discontinued 2016)
- Softpress Freeway Pro (discontinued 2016)
BBEdit v6 and earlier
- Upgrade to v8, v9, v10 or v11
Eudora
- No longer developed so alternative email client software:
- Apple Mail (included with macOS / OS X)
- Mozilla Thunderbird
- GyazMail
- Postbox
- Mailsmith (FREE as of 1st September 2015)
- PowerMail
- Airmail
- Mail Pilot
- MailMate
- Mailplane (Gmail only)
- Opera Mail
- Unibox
- Microsoft Outlook (part of Office 2019/2021)
- Penelope Eudora OSE (no longer developed/updated)
- Google Sparrow (killed and discontinued 17/02/2015)
FileMaker v7 and earlier
- Upgrade to v8, v9, v10, v11, v12, v13, v14 or FileMaker Pro 15
Pro 14
Pro 14
Canvas X
- Upgrade to Canvas X 16
- Eazydraw
- Intaglio
- Google Sketchup
- RealCADD
- Microspot MacDraft Personal Edition
- Microspot MacDraft Pro
- Corel CAD
- CADintosh
- VectorWorks
Retrospect 6
- Upgrade to Retrospect v11 or later
- For alternative products/solutions to Retrospect backup please see our backup article.
Quicken 2007 and earlier (US market only)
- Upgrade to Quicken Essentials for Mac
- Alternatives: NOTE: See also this really good Macintouch discussion web page.
QuickBooks 2007 and earlier (US market only)
- Upgrade to QuickBooks 2014 Buy it now at
- Try switching to:
i1 / Eye-One Match (colour calibration software)
- Upgrade to X-Rite i1Profiler (i1Publish)
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:- Update to iView Media Pro v3.1.3
- Upgrade to PhaseOne Media Pro 1
- Alternative photo asset managers:
- Adobe Lightroom Buy it now at
- Extensis Portfolio Buy it now at
ZipIt
No direct replacement but you could use the basic zip facilities included with Mac OS X or try these alternatives:- Archiver (£15) also on the
- Smith Micro Stuffit Destinations
- Smith Micro Stuffit (US$29.99)
- Smith Micro Stuffit Deluxe (US$49.99)
- BetterZip (US$19.95) also on the
- WinZip
- Entropy
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
- No direct replacement but you could try one or a combination of these:
- Hardware:
- Apple iPod Touch - Buy it now at the UK
- Apple iPhone - Buy it now at the UK
- Apple iPad - Buy it now at the UK
- Android device
- iOS Software not included on an iOS device:
- Scientific Calculator > PCalc or HP 15C
- Opening text documents > GoodReader iPod/iPhone / iPad
- Notes management > NoteMaster iPod/iPhone / iPad
- To do lists > Clear
- Outliner > Simple Outliner
- Outliner > JOutliner
- Outliner > CarbonFin Outliner for iPhone/iPod / CarbonFin Outliner for iPad
- Database > HanDBase for iPhone/iPod / HanDBase for iPad
- Mac Software not included in Mac OS X:
- coming soon
eBookfaces
- You could try one of the following:
- Veenix Font Catalog Creator
- Veenix TypeBook Creator
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 or later compatible. Application software Lion or later compatibility information is available here.
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