Who is using older OS X and why?

[fessen]

As a pro user (meaning I have loads of work files made w various software going back 10+ years), I have no choice but to keep at least a working SL mac so as to open and convert audio, video or publishing projects from way back, but ESPECIALLY for pro-level scanners and equipment. A lot of people don't realize that some peripherals from 2005 - 2011 and even some current scanners and the like will NOT work on recent OSX versions, and some will just never work with more recent Intel processors, somehow there is just no way of making drivers to make say a high end 2006 scanner work with a post 2009 Intel processor.

Sometimes the reason is simply that OSX no longer updates drivers for these items, or the manufacturer doesn't develop drivers past ML or something. For scanners, it's very frustrating to not be able to use a faster OS and USB 3 or something.

I've been struggling to install OSX 10.6.8 on an external FW just to use as a boot drive when I need to run an older scanner, and discovering the hard way that old OSX versions can't be installed using some more recent Macs (ie cannot install any of 3 diff OSX SL install discs using a 2011 MacBookPro running Lion, the OSX install app has the bar through it ...) God knows why Apple still charges you $20 for Snow Leopard when they're bugging me to upgrade my macs to Mavericks for free ...

Amen to that.
WHY does Apple charge money for Snow Leopard, and for older versions of apps like Garage Band, while giving Mavericks and newer versions of some of those same apps away for free? Grrrr!

 

[grahamperrin]

… WHY does Apple charge money for Snow Leopard, and for older versions of apps like Garage Band, while giving Mavericks and newer versions of some of those same apps away for free? …

https://diigo.com/01bmwk for some thoughts from John Gruber.