XPost: comp.databases.filemaker
Martin ?rautmann <
t-usenet@gmx.net> wrote:
I just learned that FMP9 does not work on El Capitan, MacOS 10.11
Is there any reliable info around which does still work where?
Not really. The only absolutely clear information is minimum system requirements (the application will not launch on older systems), and any
known issues that FileMaker Inc. publishes.
After a new OS X version is released, FM Inc. usually only tests the
latest version of FileMaker (e.g. FM 14 in the case of OS X 10.11), and publishes a document listing known features, then issues software
updates over time to fix some or all of the known issues.
In most cases, they do not test earlier versions, so the only
information you have to go on is anecdotal reports as to whether an
older version works on a later system (and that may depend on exactly
which features each person is using).
In some cases, specific issues with older versions on newer systems are consistent enough that they can become general knowledge, e.g. FileMaker
Pro 8.5's print dialog crashes on recent OS X versions when you try to
print (I'd have to search to find the details for when it started), but
there is a workaround via Save to PDF.
I do find e.g. <http://help.filemaker.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/12643/~/filemaker-11-an d-earlier-versions,-os-x-mavericks-compatibility>
which claims that FMP 10 and FMP 11 are not compatible with MacOS 10.9
The table says that, but the text at the top explains it more clearly
(and still got it wrong):
"Pre FileMaker 11 version of FileMaker have not been tested or certified
with Mac OS X Mavericks. These products were developed and released
before Mac OS X v10.9 Mavericks became available.
While these earlier versions may install and run on Mac OS X v10.9
Mavericks, you may encounter installation and stability issues for which
there is no resolution. "
The table's "Not Compatible" really means "Not Tested". Furthermore, the
first sentence's "Pre FileMaker 11" should read "Pre FileMaker 12", or "FileMaker versions 11 and earlier". They didn't test version 11 either.
I can say that a friend and I have been succesfully using FileMaker Pro
11 on OS X 10.9 and 10.10, apart from some cosmetic user interface
issues on a retina display (startup splash screen shows a quarter of it enlarged 2x), and it unnecessarily activates the dedicated GPU on a
MacBook Pro (which doesn't happen in version 12 and later).
Our usage is relatively light so there may be areas which don't work
which we haven't run into.
My friend has upgraded to OS X 10.11 and is still using FileMaker Pro
11, but so far I've only done a brief test on 10.11. I'm intending to
upgrade us to version 14 once it settles down.
MacOS 10.9 (Mavericks) does work with FMP from 12.05 upwards...
12.0v5 is when they fixed specific compatibility issues in FileMaker 12
for OS X 10.9. Prior to that there may have been known issues, but I
don't recall the specifics and the obvious document doesn't list them.
No Info on FMP 13 and MacOS 10.11, but FMP 14.03 should work fine.
Not quite, 14.0.3 still has some known issues. It fixed the most serious compatibility problems (including crashes).
http://help.filemaker.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/15187/~/filemaker-14-platform-and-os-x-el-capitan
These sorts of lists may have clues for areas to do your own testing in
earlier versions.
Some of the experienced developers on the FileMaker Community are still avoiding version 14, preferring to stick to 13.
FMP 13 should work from 13.04 on with MacOS 10.10 (Yosemite)
... so far the filemaker.com info
Rosetta and Java SE 6 seem to be the bottlenecks!?
Java is an issue for FileMaker Server (specifically its management
console) but isn't used by FileMaker Pro/Advanced.
Personally, I do use FMP11 on MacOS 10.10, which does work very well.
There are just some limitations due to the gone Rosetta, such as no more
.xls export.
Evidence suggests that XLS export was implemented by a third party
library which FM Inc. licensed, which used PowerPC code and was never
updated to Intel/Universal code, therefore can't run on OS X 10.7 or
later.
--
David Empson
dempson@actrix.gen.nz
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