Regarding Mojave (10.14)

[borjam]

I updated last week using a beta version and I installed the official one yesterday. 

 

I immediately noticed significant performance enhancements in several areas even on my 2010 Mac Pro. And this is what BJ Buchalter (Metric Halo) says about it:

 

"In fact, we have found that Mojave actually fixes a number of old macOS bugs and generally improves performance all-around (especially CPU load for graphics updates and Ethernet packet handling). 

It also appears that Apple has improved the user experience when installing new kernel extensions (drivers). High Sierra had a number of UX problems and bugs with third party driver installation that seem to have been improved with Mojave. For Metric Halo customers that rely on our drivers for their devices, this is an important improvement."

 

BJ's comment about Ethernet is really significant. While my "feelings" are not backed with actual, rigurous measurements, Metric Halo has adopted Ethernet as transport for their new 3d interfaces. Which means that they are examining Ethernet performance with a microscope, it's critical for them now and they need real time frame delivery.

 

Apart from all these improvements there is a new very significant twist in security and privacy: They are beginning to restrict the access from applications to several file system areas. In short, unless the user allows it, a vulnerable text editor (think about the typical Word security issues in Windows) will not have access to the address book and other important files.

 

I guess that in one or two future releases they will complete the isolation measures between applications. I have my own ideas on how to do it but it's a very major change from a multitasking operating system to a "multi application" one and they wlll do it step by step. They have been going this route for 10 years now, slowly but steadily.

 

So far so good, seems that this release is comparable to what Snow Leopard was. Very significant inside changes, all of them for good. Excellent news even if most of the improvements are barely noticeable by a user.

Edited September 26, 2018 by borjam
typo, wrote performance where I wanted to say privacy

[codyman]

Well that is all promising.  That being said, I won't upgrade for a while until Avid gives the A'OK on Pro Tools being compatible.

[Sonichead]

I'm also waiting on Avid.

[tourtelot]

Avid will reply with a costly update moments before Apple comes out with their costly new machines that don't connect to the real world.  And the cycle will start all over again. 

 

Oh, and then all the plug-in manufacturers will scramble to catch up.

 

D.

[former mixer]

10.14.4 is the most stable configuration I've had in quite some time, thankfully. I could do without most of Apple's new 'features' and would plead with them to just focus on workflow and performance enhancements for a while.

[pindrop]

Yep here we are over 6 months after the official release of Mojave and Avid still haven't made Pro Tools compatible.
Should be a user revolt over subscription based software, everyone just keeps paying regardless, where's the incentive for Avid to make the effort?

If Avid's revenue stream dried up because there was no upgrade to purchase on the old system, they'd have pulled their finger out months ago......but as it is the subscriptions just keep rolling in.....

[borjam]

I wonder what's wrong with Avid's software development. Most Mac OS X version transitions, especially since 10.6, have been rather uneventful for software developers. I guess Protools might still have some Jurassic code in it. 

 

I kept using some Elemental Audio plugins until Apple removed Carbon in 10.13. The plugins were so old, the authorization generator only worked on PowerPC so I had to copy the license files carefully when moving to one machine from a new one, being unable to regenerate them. 

[former mixer]

4 hours ago, pindrop said:

...Should be a user revolt over subscription based software, everyone just keeps paying regardless, where's the incentive for Avid to make the effort?.....

 

Agreed. The subscription model has been very bad for end users. How it was ever allowed to become a standard business model is a genuine shame. Abode and CC are another prime example. CC19 is full of problems- some of which are egregious. 

[codyman]

It's just unfortunate to keep forking out that $399 a year when that $400 only adds a couple frivolous features that I could care less about.  If they really were adding value to the program then I wouldn't complain at all.

[borjam]

This insanity has other serious consequences as well. Macos X is a very robust operating system and you don't need to keep your audio computer in a sort glass box for fear of damaging something. I use the same machine for audio edition, software development and general Internet surfing. 

 

But Protools is a serious problem (I use Digital Performer). If you have to wait for Digidesign's blessing to install an operating system update you might be at risk. Some contain important security fixes. 

 

I usually advise Protools users to use Firefox as a web browser instead of Safari. You can update Firefox without affecting the operating system in any way.