OS X upgrades with 3.7.9

[Martin102]

I'm using a Powerbook G4 with MAC OS X 10.5.5 and C1 PRO 3.7.9. Will 3.7.9 continue to work if I keep updating OS X beyond 10.5.5 even as far as a major upgrade like OS X 10.6 due out Summer of 2009.
Martin

[Paul_Steunebrink]

Martin,
There are some show stoppers here, while stating that I like your question. Two answers, beginning with last, ending with first (I have a twist today).
Last: Phase One won't develop CO 3.x further now CO 4.x Pro has been released. So how a future operating system will handle today applications can be decided when it (i.e. OS X 10.6) will be out. This is also true for CO 4.x and (just an example) Photoshop CS4. These two application will be maintained and adapted to 10.6 if necessary. CO 3.x won't. (=assumptions on my behalf)
First: But you have another and maybe bigger problem or no problem at all. OS X 10.6 won't run on your PowerBook G4 or any PPC (G4, G5) based Mac. It is Intel Mac only next summer.

So you stick to your current setup and don't buy a new camera CO 3.7.9 Pro does not support, or you buy a new camera (don't tell me I did not warned you!) and buy a new MacBook with OS X 10.6 in addition to it and upgrade to the latest Capture One (and probably CS4 because for CS3 and earlier it is probably the same story).

Get the picture?

[Martin102]

Paul thanks for the response. One more question. I still want to keep my G4s optimized and stretch this out for as long as possible. To that end will I have problems with 3.7.9 if I keep updating OS X from 10.5.5 to 10.5.6 and to the last Leopard update?
Martin

[Paul_Steunebrink]

Martin, I forwarded my question to my crystal ball, and it said you're like pampering endangered species.
That said, bringing up the question is almost answering it. There is a minor risk in updating in general (after all, it is software isn't it) and the risk is increased for a not supported application. You either take that risk and keep on updating, or freeze your configuration. Note that some other application might need the update.

I am in the IT business and have learned never to update/upgrade without previous testing (people were fired for less). You could go into that scenario as well if you like. So how will you solve this?

Buy a firewire disk, install OS X and CO 3.7.9 onto it, boot your PowerBook with it when an update is released. Install each update on this system first and test its performance. If alright, install the update on your internal disk.
You could reverse this scenario in that you install your working setup onto the external drive and store the drive until something went wrong with your internal drive and you have a backup to restore. There are several alternatives to these scenarios to come up with.

The disadvantage is that you may forget to live, love and make pictures (put your own priority here). You might start looking to CO 4 in the near future after all.