Since I am quick to complain when a problem arises I think it is only fair that, when things go better than expected, note should be taken.
I have been happily running my mid-2014 15 inch MacBook Pro retina on El Capitan since I bought it, used, about 5 years ago. It does everything that I needed to do, given other measures that I take security is not a major concern and I have been reluctant to upgrade the operating system because of a number of legacy programs that are run, in particular Parallels version 11. My long-term concern has been that, if I were forced to upgrade the Parallels program, the very old Windows programs that I run – windows XP SP 3 and older versions of Microsoft office, Quicken and Dragon NaturallySpeaking would not run under the new shell.
I recently put the latter set of concerns aside when, of necessity, I needed to put my traveling computer, a 2015 MacBook Air, interservice while the Pro was ailing. The MacBook air had been updated to the latest (11.2) OS. Needing access to my Windows programs, I downloaded a trial version of Parallels 16. I was able, with some effort, to get my legacy Windows programs running but found the interface less convenient than the one I was accustomed to in Parallels 11. I think it is possible that the system could of been manipulated give me the functions I wanted but, pre-purchase support for Parallels is nonexistent.
With my MacBook Pro restored to health, I put the matter aside and returned to my comfortably out – of – date structure.
And then……
I decided it was time to start thinking about taxes and downloaded my favorite H&R Block tax software. My attempt to install it was greeted by a message informing me that the High Sierra O/S was required! What to do? I could duplicate what I’ve done with the MacBook Air, go to Parallels 16 and run the risk of being less than happy with the interface. According to the website, my current version of Parallels was not compatible with High Sierra – but maybe the “incompatibilities” were not show up in my usage.
With this in mind, I downloaded and installed 10.13.6. After the download and installation, I nervously booted the system. Aside from a different background, everything looked the same and was in the places previously assigned. I checked a few things – Safari, of course, worked but so did Thunderbird and Firefox. Bracing myself for disappointment, I clicked on the Parallels icon and, lo and behold, my customary Windows start panel appeared, the legacy programs opened obediently on-call (this is being written in Microsoft Word via Dragon NaturallySpeaking.) and Microsoft Outlook, which I use only as a calendar, was sitting nicely in the dock, again opening and closing command. Libra Office works as does my older version of Adobe Photoshop under the new O/S
Sometimes the worst does not happen.
I have been happily running my mid-2014 15 inch MacBook Pro retina on El Capitan since I bought it, used, about 5 years ago. It does everything that I needed to do, given other measures that I take security is not a major concern and I have been reluctant to upgrade the operating system because of a number of legacy programs that are run, in particular Parallels version 11. My long-term concern has been that, if I were forced to upgrade the Parallels program, the very old Windows programs that I run – windows XP SP 3 and older versions of Microsoft office, Quicken and Dragon NaturallySpeaking would not run under the new shell.
I recently put the latter set of concerns aside when, of necessity, I needed to put my traveling computer, a 2015 MacBook Air, interservice while the Pro was ailing. The MacBook air had been updated to the latest (11.2) OS. Needing access to my Windows programs, I downloaded a trial version of Parallels 16. I was able, with some effort, to get my legacy Windows programs running but found the interface less convenient than the one I was accustomed to in Parallels 11. I think it is possible that the system could of been manipulated give me the functions I wanted but, pre-purchase support for Parallels is nonexistent.
With my MacBook Pro restored to health, I put the matter aside and returned to my comfortably out – of – date structure.
And then……
I decided it was time to start thinking about taxes and downloaded my favorite H&R Block tax software. My attempt to install it was greeted by a message informing me that the High Sierra O/S was required! What to do? I could duplicate what I’ve done with the MacBook Air, go to Parallels 16 and run the risk of being less than happy with the interface. According to the website, my current version of Parallels was not compatible with High Sierra – but maybe the “incompatibilities” were not show up in my usage.
With this in mind, I downloaded and installed 10.13.6. After the download and installation, I nervously booted the system. Aside from a different background, everything looked the same and was in the places previously assigned. I checked a few things – Safari, of course, worked but so did Thunderbird and Firefox. Bracing myself for disappointment, I clicked on the Parallels icon and, lo and behold, my customary Windows start panel appeared, the legacy programs opened obediently on-call (this is being written in Microsoft Word via Dragon NaturallySpeaking.) and Microsoft Outlook, which I use only as a calendar, was sitting nicely in the dock, again opening and closing command. Libra Office works as does my older version of Adobe Photoshop under the new O/S
Sometimes the worst does not happen.
