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cenutrio · Apr 2, 2007, 04:53 AM

Before everybody starts the flame because OS9 being so 90s.

We need to run a bioinformatician application called PAUP, nothing beats it, it is an essential tool. No new versions are expected anytime soon.

We run Paup under classic in our G4s and G5s running 10.4, but we wonder if classic will be supported in 10.5 on PPC systems.

Just wondering, thanks.

OreoCookie · Apr 2, 2007, 05:03 AM

We simply don't know. I can feel your pain, though. A friend of mine creates chips for BECs with an electron microscope. Even though this microscope costs about $750,000, the software just runs on Win95-WinME! (Yes, we are in the year 2007 and Vista just came out

)

So they are stuck with an old machine and just pray nothing ever goes wrong with it

The other obvious solution would be to keep a few machines just for that purpose. I'm not sure how cpu intensive this app is, but if all you need is a gui, then an old machine just might do the trick.

mfbernstein · Apr 2, 2007, 07:48 AM

Depending on how fancy the app is and how much luck you have, something like SheepShaver may allow you to use it on Macs without Classic. Obviously, you should test it out extensively before depending on this. On the other hand, PAUP looks like a Unix app. It's not possible to run it remotely on a Linux server or something along those lines?

Big Mac · Apr 2, 2007, 07:53 AM

This question has come up before. I'm sure someone who has used a developer build could tell you. I haven't, and I have no Leopard specific knowledge, but in my mind it would make no sense for Apple to strip Classic Environment support out of OS X. I imagine it's still in there - we haven't heard any information to the contrary.

OreoCookie · Apr 2, 2007, 07:56 AM

You can run the command line version natively on OS X, there's no need for a Linux box. But my guess is that they want the GUI.

mfbernstein · Apr 2, 2007, 07:58 AM

So you're saying the Unix version doesn't have an X11-based GUI? Odd.

cenutrio · Apr 2, 2007, 08:09 AM

There are some versions of the application, for UNIX, DOS, etc, all command-line apps which is a problem but not huge, the big trouble is printing which is not possible.

The classic application though, does beautiful printing of very complex phylogeny trees. This is the reason why we use it, even when processing is slower.

angelmb · Apr 2, 2007, 09:05 AM

Originally Posted by cenutrio

The classic application though, does beautiful printing of very complex phylogeny trees. This is the reason why we use it, even when processing is slower.

Wouldn't it be faster under a 'true' OS 9 environment instead of under OS X Classic mode?, if so I would look for a MDD able to run Mac OS 9 'natively'.

mfbernstein · Apr 2, 2007, 03:54 PM

Not really. Classic is pretty fast. Not quite native speed , but fast. The advantage of a G5 over a 1.25GHZ MDD would overwhelm any advantage of Classic over native. That said, the idea of keeping a dedicated machine for this app isn't half bad. I wouldn't really consider upgrading the OS on a production-critical machine unless there was a very compelling reason.

CharlesS · Apr 2, 2007, 04:15 PM

Originally Posted by Big Mac

This question has come up before. I'm sure someone who has used a developer build could tell you.

Or not, due to NDA.

Thinine · Apr 2, 2007, 06:35 PM

I thought this was one of the first things leaked about Leopard. No Classic app included, Classic app from Tiger doesn't work.

Big Mac · Apr 2, 2007, 08:22 PM

Originally Posted by Thinine

I thought this was one of the first things leaked about Leopard. No Classic app included, Classic app from Tiger doesn't work.

Source?

Chuckit · Apr 2, 2007, 08:31 PM

Originally Posted by Thinine

I thought this was one of the first things leaked about Leopard. No Classic app included, Classic app from Tiger doesn't work.

I thought this was the reason there were NDAs — things as they appear in prerelease builds don't necessarily have any bearing on what will be in the final version.