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And the reason for this is that Apple made some major changes to how macOS and Macs work. As a result, there is not a lot of Mac software made 15 years ago that will run on a 2023 Mac.
Since 2008, Apple made at least three extremely fundamental changes (improvements) to modernize the Mac: They migrated from Intel processors to Apple Silicon, they started improving the specs like requiring 64-bit applications, and in response to increasingly dangerous malware threats, they significantly revised and tightened up Mac security.
The problem is a lot of applications released in 2008 or earlier do not have code written for the new processors, the new security model, or other new requirements. If their installers could run, they might not work right because some system folder locations have changed.
i transferred everything to my new laptop and now a few programs aren't working like photoshop and Microsoft suite. They are all requiring me to type in some code or license number to make them work.
By @Heather331376301dkf
Unfortunately, this is expected, but is a different issue than the age of the software. Many applications, especially from larger companies such as Microsoft and Adobe, tie licensing to a specific computer. This is so people can’t easily make illegal copies and use them on other computers. But that means when any of us simply transfer software to a newer computer, the application notices it is being launched on “different hardware” and it triggers the “they might be pirating, make them enter their license number” routine. Your old installations are tied to your old Mac; that’s why they want to confirm you have a license before running on a different computer.
Having used this stuff for many years, I’ve learned my lesson to always, always record the licensing info for every app I buy. That could mean entering the serial numbers or license keys into a file I can always refer to, or just saving a PDF or screen shot of the license in the same folder where I archive that application’s old installers. The more I paid for the software, the more important it is to always know where that info is, in case I need to migrate or reinstall the software later.
But to be clear, these are two separate problems. Even if you did have the licensing information to enter for Microsoft Office and Adobe Creative Suite, that does not solve the second problem that Mac software from 2008 or earlier is unlikely to be compatible with macOS 14 on a 2023 Mac, 15 years later. So much time has passed that, unfortunately, you probably can’t avoid having to get paid upgrades to get current for much of your software. For Adobe, that means a Creative Cloud subscription.
Microsoft does still offer a pay-once option for Mac Office; before you pay a lot for that look around for discounts because there seem to be a lot of them. Just make sure it’s from a reputable source.
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