AW and 10.4

[Jonny]

I am still using 10.2.8 as it works so well that I was afraid to update.I will be upgrading to the latest 10.4.8??
I now feel that it is time as I want to update other software that we use.
I would assume this question has been addressed before but I would like to make sure that Appleworks 6.2.9 is compatible with this newest operating system.
Once I have updated the operating system will I need to re-install Appleworks??

[Barry]

I am still using 10.2.8 as it works so well that I was afraid to update.I will be upgrading to the latest 10.4.8??
I now feel that it is time as I want to update other software that we use.
I would assume this question has been addressed before but I would like to make sure that Appleworks 6.2.9 is compatible with this newest operating system.
Once I have updated the operating system will I need to re-install Appleworks??

For the most part, yes, AppleWorks is compatible with Tiger. There does seem to be some increased sensitivity to the Recent Items bug, so you may want to pick up a script that can be used to weed older items from AW's Recent Items folder. And you may also find an increased sensitivity to corruption of AW's preferences files (I haven't).

One other possible issue is continuing availability of standard fonts. OS X brought Unicode encoded fonts to the Mac, replacing the older Mac Roman encoding. AppleWorks cannot use Unicode fonts (and will crash immediately if text is entered from a Unicode keyboard layout). This is not a problem so long as Mac Roman fonts continue to be available, but will be if Apple shifts to a completely Unicode font set.

Once I have updated the operating system will I need to re-install Appleworks??

Possibly, depending on the type of installation you do. You should be prepared to reinstall AppleWorks in any case, and should keep the following in mind:

APPLEWORKS IS NOT, NOR HAS IT EVER BEEN, PART OF OS X OR OF ANY VERSION OF THE MAC OS.

You will not find an AppleWorks installer on the retail set of Tiger install disk(s). And it's possible, although not likely, that the installer on the set that came with your Mac will not run under Tiger.

The easiest and most sure way to re-install AppleWorks after an OS installation is to start NOW: Make a back up copy of the entire AppleWorks 6 folder to a CD. To re-install, simply copy the folder to the Applications folder on your Hard Drive (which is the same location as you got it from).

There are other files associated with AppleWorks in other locations on your HD, but it's not necessary to include these in the back up copy of the application, as AppleWorks wil generate new copies of these files as it is run.

Regards,
Barry

BTW: I'm running AppleWorks with no significant issues under OS X 10.4.6 on an iBook G4. Software Update keeps reminding me that the 10.4.8 update is available, but like you, I'm a bit cautious regarding updates when things are running well, and have chosen to wait for reports of problems before making this small jump.
B

[djkowall]

BTW: I'm running AppleWorks with no significant issues under OS X 10.4.6 on an iBook G4. Software Update keeps reminding me that the 10.4.8 update is available, but like you, I'm a bit cautious regarding updates when things are running well, and have chosen to wait for reports of problems before making this small jump.
B

I've done all the OS X updates for Tiger through the latest 10.4.9 and none of them interfered in any way with AW 6.2.9. performance on my G4 iMac. It's a very good thing, too, because all of my business and personal financial records are in AW. I'm amazed to find that I was actually less timid than you to do the OS X updates. I've got 2 backups of AW ready for loading into Leopard when it's released. Long live AppleWorks!

Donna

[Barry]

BTW: I'm running AppleWorks with no significant issues under OS X 10.4.6 on an iBook G4. Software Update keeps reminding me that the 10.4.8 update is available, but like you, I'm a bit cautious regarding updates when things are running well, and have chosen to wait for reports of problems before making this small jump.
B

I've done all the OS X updates for Tiger through the latest 10.4.9 and none of them interfered in any way with AW 6.2.9. performance on my G4 iMac. It's a very good thing, too, because all of my business and personal financial records are in AW. I'm amazed to find that I was actually less timid than you to do the OS X updates. I've got 2 backups of AW ready for loading into Leopard when it's released. Long live AppleWorks!

Donna

I moved to 10.4.9 shortly after its release (and a couple of postive reports regarding its interaction with Appleworks). For the most part, I work on the Ann Landers principle—If it ain't broke, don't fix it. AW 5 was my main version of AppleWorks, running under Mac OS 9 until about 18 months ago when I updated to an iBook with Tiger (and AW 6.2.9). On the older iMac I'm now running 10.2.x and AW 6.2.9 (and still running into domestic complaints over the extra Permissions needed with multiple users in OS X).

Regards,
Barry

[djkowall]

I understand. The Ann Landers principle kept me with Jaguar all through the Panther release until Tiger came out. I took the leap because I wanted to familiarize myself with the 3 years of mostly-unimportant-to-me applications that were developed between 10.2 and 10.4. AW has been a real champ through it all.