What To Do When My Programs Become Outdated?

Comments: 2 Responses to “What To Do When My Programs Become Outdated?”

Gary Rosenzweig

5 years ago

You are getting these messages because those apps are 32-bit apps, and starting with macOS Catalina, only 64-bit apps are supported. So it sounds like you are using older versions of Microsoft Office and FileMaker. The more recent versions of these apps are 64-bit, but it sounds like you are against updating.

In that case, one option is to find alternative apps. You say you "can't justify buying..." so that makes me think those apps aren't very important to you. In that case, just go with a free alternative. Use Pages instead of Word, for instance. Numbers instead of Excel. Keynote instead of PowerPoint. Or use Google Docs. Or go with OpenOffice or LibreOffice. It really depends on what you are still using Microsoft Office for at this point. You mentioned that you are retired, so maybe you just don't need an office suite at all? The same for FileMaker. What are you using FileMaker for if you are retired? Finding a replacement depends on that answer.

Another option is to simply never update your Mac past macOS Mojave. If you are already cutting back on spending money on new software, perhaps you are already using an older Mac that can't even support macOS Catalina anyway. But even if so, you can always simply not update to Catalina in the fall. I don't like this option as you'll be missing out on new features, but if you are using very old versions of other software anyway, then why use the latest macOS?

For more information on this, see: What To Do About Those Mojave “App Is Not Optimized” Messages.

T John Breeze

5 years ago

Thank you Gary. I shall start looking around for alternatives. I already use Page, Numbers and Keynote. Photoshop and a replacement for my database are no exit on the list. Always enjoy your posts, thank you again.