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Hands-On With macOS 10.14 Mojave: Dark Mode, Revamped Mac App Store, Desktop Stacks and More

"macOS Mojave drops support for some older Macs and will run on 2015 and newer MacBooks, 2012 and newer MacBook Air, MacBook Pro, Mac mini, and iMac models, the 2017 iMac Pro, and Mac Pro models from late 2013 and mid-2010 and mid-2012 models with Metal-capable GPUs."

So it's the end of the road for a lot of Macs. Basically everything before 2012 except for the Mac Pros will be officially obsolete no matter if they're souped up with 16GB RAM and SATA SSDs all because of the old iGPU or dGPU.

At least some of these machines had much longer lifespans than the first Intel Macs and Core 2 Duos.
 
Danoc said:
Metal is here to replace them.
Click to expand...

No.... I get it. But Metal isn't supported in a lot of pro apps where OpenGL is.... it means that every 3D app out there is going to have to rewrite their preview engines. That's not really appealing to the developers. This could be a serious hit on my studio. On top of that, a LOT of Mac games will cease to function. And older games will definitely not be remastered to Metal and 64-bit. I think this is a very big mistake on Apple's part. They should not only continue to support OpenGL/OpenCL.... but also support Vulkan to encourage more cross-platform development.
[doublepost=1528325079][/doublepost]I'm already dealing with members of our design team being unhappy with Apple's obvious disconnect with the pro 3D world. I've had several ask if we are going to move to Windows. This move by Apple isn't strengthening my argument to stay on Mac.
 
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DesterWallaboo said:
No.... I get it. But Metal isn't supported in a lot of pro apps where OpenGL is.... it means that every 3D app out there is going to have to rewrite their preview engines. That's not really appealing to the developers. This could be a serious hit on my studio. On top of that, a LOT of Mac games will cease to function. And older games will definitely not be remastered to Metal and 64-bit. I think this is a very big mistake on Apple's part. They should not only continue to support OpenGL/OpenCL.... but also support Vulkan to encourage more cross-platform development.
Click to expand...

They should've at least announced their intentions back when Metal was first introduced. That would've given devs ample time to figure out what they would do instead of doing this so abruptly.
 
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The ONLY thing I want to see is a better Software Updates experience. Let's hope this is an actual improvement instead of lipstick on a pig. The Updates panel needs to actually behave better.
 
Can I turn off Desktop Stacks?
I've long since learned how I want to keep things organized on my desktop and am unwilling to brook any interference with the right way to do things.


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coolfactor said:
instead of lipstick on a pig
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The announcement of auto-updating desktop backgrounds is not a good sign.
 
One question: with desktop stacks now, have they finally gotten rid of desktop sync? That nonsense has been killing me. I want documents to sync with iCloud, but not the desktop. Why in creation you can't select one or the other has been beyond me.
 
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Partron22 said:
Can I turn off Desktop Stacks?
I've long since learned how I want to keep things organized on my desktop and am unwilling to brook any interference with the right way to do things.
Click to expand...

Same here. I usually solve that problem by only upgrading at the point of a (metaphorical) gun; that is, when software or hardware demands it.

I only moved from Mavericks to Sierra last fall. I don't see myself doing much OS upgrading on this computer (4,1 --> 5,1 Mac Pro) for a couple years.

I tend to stick with what works and not spend too much time fretting about what I might be missing. It's a good way to keep a computer - and a marriage - running well.
 
I wonder if Mojave uses APFS also for the Time Machine backup now, in High Sierra the TM backup is stored on a HFS+ partition. I hoped they would start to store snapshots of the file system, like Local Time Machine does now. Just on an external drive or an SMB share.
 
jwdsail said:
How about an AppleTV-based FrontRow replacement?

If Apple's bringing iOS apps/features to MacOS X...

Why not one I'd actually want and use?

Shrug.
Click to expand...

I’ve been dying for a Front Row replacement since... well, the loss of Front Row. I always travel with my laptop. I’m not also going to lug around an Apple TV.
 
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This video literally showed off everything that was already in the keynote. Why not cover some more of the nitty gritty changes and tweaks? Have a peak in your own forums
 
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Dark mode seems to be the only appreciated new feature.
Stacks would be cool, but isn’t that what the “desktop folder” is there for? My desktop is organized accordingly now - and has been!
 
djeeyore25 said:
Mojave is the most stable first build of a macOS developer preview I've used. The dark mode is sharp, especially using Safari.
Click to expand...

I'm curious how Dark Mode works in Safari. Is it pretty intelligent about adjusting the styling of webpages? Or does it even attempt it?
 
Desktop stacks is a failure. It’s a bandaid to a bad habit.

Dock stacks would have made more sense and been a better solution.
 
so did anyone get the dynamic wallpaper to work? I have enabled location services, restarted, but it won't change depending on the time of day.
 
Dark Mode - looks good, but will take time until apps get re-themed (if ever)

revamped App Store - meh

Desktop Stacks - yuck!

GadgetBen said:
Has anyone got a list of bugs?
Is the Beta stable?
Click to expand...

Maybe you're just curious about the state of things... but, DO NOT INSTALL on any production system.
And, if it's a beta-testing system... install away and find out for yourself. :)

DesterWallaboo said:
So... it appears that Apple is likely dumping OpenGL and OpenCL with Mojave, or shortly thereafter..... anyone else think this is a huge mistake?
Click to expand...

This is a problem. Most pro 3D/CAD apps I'm aware of are OpenGL/CL and I'm imagining the likelihood of these companies jumping through Apple's hoops to be near zero unless it's a Mac only app that is determined to survive.

Maybe this will get rid of all the creatives that aren't video editors. That way Apple can focus on developers and video editors until they get rid of the Mac?



lec0rsaire said:
Including Type-A ports would've resulted in a thicker machine just for that port. Apple wasn't going to do this. Honestly it's a good thing. It forces companies to make more USB-C accessories and speeds up TB3 adoption. Otherwise people would simply hang on to Type-A forever like they did with Windows XP and Snow Leopard.
Click to expand...

Except that few other companies seem to have embraced it yet, and Apple's market penetration is pretty small to make that kind of difference. I think this is more a matter of the industry switching to USB-C and then people will start following. But, this move will just inconvenience Mac users for the next several years.
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Partron22 said:
Can I turn off Desktop Stacks?
Click to expand...

Oh my... that's a really good question. I assumed it's an option, but if not, this could be terrible.
 
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lec0rsaire said:
It's not only the dark mode itself that is cool, but the dynamic desktop that will go from dawn to dusk. It looks incredible with the default wallpaper and I hope they produce other great ones. So much eye candy!
[doublepost=1528322239][/doublepost]Well the death of 32-bit on the Mac is really near now. DVD player supposedly got updated to 64-bit so it won't be removed for 10.14 like many of us thought. Not that most need it. Now VMs will be needed to run 32-bit stuff. I wonder if OS X Server 10.6.8 works on High Sierra or Mojave. I haven't tried but it would be cool to be able to retain Rosetta and 32-bit support for those who need it.
Click to expand...

Funny how people say things like “most people don’t need...”

Apple collects data on app usage. They would not have bothered updating DVD Player unless they know people use it.

I am one who uses it and personally glad they did.
 
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The main feature that caught my attention was "stacks." Which is great for some of us with less than neat desktops and push everything in folders named "month - year," myself included. A dark mode has been available on W10 for a long time. Though it wasn't great at first. It's getting better with each update, especially now that M$ has adopted a design language they can stick with. Which is just a fancier version of aero. I'm not terribly impressed with the rest of the Mojave features. Or Apple's problems of shipping a relatively bug free iteration of High Sierra.
 
Danoc said:
Metal is here to replace them.
Click to expand...
Anyone with Mojave noticed differences in graphics performance now? In UI smoothness in general? In Metal apps?

Are all apps/games using OpenCL and OpenGL still working?

I'm trying to find what are the concrete advantages/disadvantages of dropping OpenCL and OpenGL.
 
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