Legacy Software on Ventura OS

[Pmagic13]

Is there any way to download and use my prior versions of Photoshop CS6 and/or Lightroom 5 on my Ventura OS Macbook?

[jane-e · Accepted solution]

---

@Pmagic13 wrote:

Is there any way to download and use my prior versions of Photoshop CS6 and/or Lightroom 5 on my Ventura OS Macbook?

---

No, PS CS6 and LR5 will not run on macOS 13. This is due to a change in macOS.

See this blog post from @Conrad_C for details:

https://blog.conradchavez.com/2022/10/24/macos-13-ventura-will-adobe-software-work/

"Only the most recent Adobe applications will be supported"

Adobe Applications have been subscription since 2013. The most cost-effective plan is the Photography Plan (annual) with 20 GB Cloud Storage, payable at $9.99 per month or in a lump sum.

https://www.adobe.com/creativecloud/plans.html

The Photography plan (annual) includes Photoshop, Lightroom, Adobe Fonts, and more. You can get a free trial for 7-days to test it. Be sure to cancel if you change your mind or it will roll into the annual plan. 

Scroll down to see it, as the single app plan and the plan with more cloud storage may be higher in the list. You do not have to save in the cloud, btw, you can save on your MacBook.

Jane

[TheDigitalDog]

Can't install it, can't run it. 

You must boot into an OS that can support the 32-bit installer (the last being Mojave). That's a big problem for M1's because Monterey, Big Sur, Catalina and M1 Macs do not run 32-bit and can't boot into Mojave. 

[Stephen Marsh]

You could use VM software such as Fusion or Parallels to host an old Mac OS... But you would still need to activate the software, which may be the next challenge.

[NB, colourmanagement]

Hi Stephen, are you sure it's possible to virtualise a 32 bit system on an M1 Mac.

Last I asked Parallels they said 'no but maybe in the future'.

If it IS now possible that would be great news. I use an Intel Mini with Parallels and Mojave to enable access to an old email app (Mailsmith) amongst other such legacy apps such as Profilemaker.

As for Photoshop, yeah - the OP likely wouldn’t be able to activate it I fear. The Adobe Activation server for CS6 is closed now I believe, pretty sure I read that here. Bad news for an owner of CS6 who needs new hardware, it’s a conundrum I come across a lot with less wealthy (often non pro) clients.. 

I hope this helps
neil barstow, colourmanagement net - adobe forum volunteer - co-author: 'getting colour right'
google me "neil barstow colourmanagement" for lots of free articles on colour management

[Stephen Marsh]

Hi Stephen, are you sure it's possible to virtualise a 32 bit system on an M1 Mac.

Hi Neil, no, I'm, not, just throwing out random thoughts! :]

[jane-e]

Their website says "yes" Neil. 

Jane

[NB, colourmanagement]

Hi Jane

thanks - but

I'm not seeing 32 bit macOS virtualisation mentioned there. 

Did you see that specifically mentioned somewhere?

thanks neilB

[Test Screen Name]

The website says it can run Windows apps. Correct: on M1 it emulated an ARM PC. That so t help anyone with a Mac CS6 license though, their serial isn't for Windows. I use Parallels and can confirm that on M1 it will emulate only an M1 Mac. Ditto no way to run CS6 Mac. Parallels on an Intel Mac could do that, if you can get the installer for an old macOS. 

[NB, colourmanagement]

"Parallels on an Intel Mac could do that, if you can get the installer for an old macOS. "

IF they could get an Intel Mac, buy Parallels, set up Mojave as a virtual machine and get a CS6 installer, the next problem would be, I fear, activation. As I understand activation (by Adobe) is disappointingly not possible. 

neilB

[Conrad_C]

There are multiples layers to this, but unfortunately none of them help with Photoshop CS6 or Lightroom 5.

Adobe policy for some time has been that the Adobe Creative Cloud desktop application (which includes the installer/updater) provides only the last two major versions of a Creative Cloud application. So the current Creative Cloud app can install Lightroom Classic 12 and 11,  Photoshop 23 and 22, and their minor updates, but nothing older. So you can’t install Photoshop CS6 or Lightroom 5 using the current installer.

On the Apple side, Apple has changed and improved macOS dramatically since Photoshop CS6 and Lightroom 5, in terms of basic hardware requirements, the security and privacy model, etc. These changes mean many macOS applications needed major updates to run beyond macOS 10.15. Unfortunately, with Photoshop CS6 and Lightroom 5 being around 10 years old, both fall on the wrong side of that line, meaning that even if you saved their original installers, macOS 13 Ventura will not allow those installers to run.

For both of those reasons, a Mac running macOS 13 Ventura really needs to be running the latest versions of Photoshop and Lightroom Classic.

[Warren Heaton]

You're going to have to choose:

• Run the current versions of Photoshop and Lightroom under macOS Ventura on a newer MacBook (2017 and up).
• Run the old versions of Photoshop and Lightroom under an older macOS on an older MacBook.  Photoshop CS6 and Lightroom CS6 run really well from macOS Mavericks 10.9.5 to macOS Sierra 10.12 on MacBook Pro from 2009 to 2013.

[Test Screen Name]

You could use VM software if your Macbook has an intel chip. If it has an M1/M2 chip it can't run systems older than Big Sur. But Apple have done a thorough job of wiping out old software on new Mac's, so it's time for you to subscribe. 

[NB, colourmanagement]

"If it has an M1/M2 chip it can't run systems older than Big Sur"

yeah that’s what Parallels told me, sadly, they said they are working on 32 bit macOS virtualisation (which I'd like as I could then get an M1 machine.)

thx

neilB

[Jeff Arola]

As far as i know, there is only one option for running non silicon Mac operating systems on Macs with M1/M2 (Silicon) Processors and that is Qemu. There are other options for running much older Mac operating systems pre OS X that i didn't include.

Qemu along with a beta Virtualbox 7 can run x86/x64 Windows operating systems on silicon Macs.

I believe Parallels 18 can only run Arm Windows and Linux versions and native silicon

macOS on M1/M2 Macs. The Windows Arm versions can run x86/x64 windows software.

Still using photoshop cs6, for example, on native hardware is going to be faster and more reliable than any virtualization/emulation options as described above.

[NB, colourmanagement]

Hi @Jeff Arola, good to know that it's possible, so maybe Parallels will crack it eventually.  Qemu - lots of command line action. Bit beyond my motivation threshold to try learn how to make that work perhaps. 

thanks lots

neilB

[Lumigraphics]

If I HAD to use that older software, I'd pick up a used Mac (Intel or PowerPC, depending on era) and forget the virtualization.

VMs are fantastic for server use, general good practice is to not run on bare metal for most small business servers. But for the desktop, there are still a lot of gotchas.

[gener7]

You can get really nice macbooks for CS6 like a mid 2012 off Ebay for about $130. But then again, not sure CS6 can be activated anymore.