How many others are in my position? (Q Mac)

TPCaldwell

I have a 10-year-old Mac Pro costing upwards of $10,000, but the new operating systems will not run on this machine — there is no way to upgrade beyond 10.11.6. Now Quicken has announced that it will no longer support older versions of Mac OS. My computer works fine and at $10,000, I'm not about to replace it just so I can run Quicken. This is distressing news, since it seems I'll have to find a new bookkeeping system once Quicken stops working. I'm very disappointed in Quicken for abandoning users like myself.

smayer97

If your Mac Pro is 2010, I believe the only thing stopping you from further upgrading macOS is your graphics card. If so, you can simply upgrade it to a Metal compatible graphics card. Doing so will at least get you to upgrade all the way to macOS 10.14 Mojave, which will buy you several more years.

See this list of compatible graphics cards:

https://support.apple.com/en-ca/HT208898

volvogirl

What version/year of Quicken are you running?  Are you thinking of buying a newer version of Quicken?  By the way, do you use Turbo Tax?  You will have the same problem.

TPCaldwell

I have Quicken Online which just updated to version 5.18.2, which it says is the last that will support my computer. I did have TurboTax and had to switch for this reason. QuickBooks also stopped supporting older OS versions, which is what prompted me to choose the new Quicken in the first place.

RickO

You may be able to install Parallels Desktop on your machine, then install a newer version of macOS within that. I've done it the reverse way in order to run legacy 32 bit apps. I don't know if Parallels will let you run a newer guest OS than the machine natively supports. But might be worth exploring.

TPCaldwell

It appears that Parallels also requires at least OS 10.13, which my computer will not support.

RickO

I was thinking perhaps an older version of parallels. But then again, I don't know if an older version will let you run 10.13 as a guest OS.

jtemplin

Brainstorming:

• A used Mac Mini that can run later MacOS just for running Quicken. But even those are more expensive than...
• An inexpensive Windows laptop to run Windows Quicken ($350 and up)
• A used Windows PC (free if you can find one sitting around, and up -- for instance I have a leftover 10-year-old HP PC with a 2nd generation Intel Core processor that runs current Windows just fine).

Using the Mac Remote Desktop client, you could remote desktop to any Windows solution from your Mac.

Of course you would be running Windows Quicken, but if you're on subscription, you are entitled to both Mac and WIndows Quicken. 

jacobs

@TPCaldwell  I know this isn't what you want to hear, but it might help if you adjust your thinking about your decade-old Mac Pro. Yes, it cost you a very substantial $10,000 back in the day, but today, a computer that costs just over 10% as much runs circles around the old beast. Whether the computer you bought in 2010 was a $1,200 iMac or a $10,000 Mac Pro, older computers become obsolete, and the sad reality is that the higher cost of a high-end machine generally doesn't bring much more longevity. You can buy a refurbished 2010 Mac Pro for under $400 today because of it's decreased value for most uses.

The fact is you're running an operating system no longer supported by Apple. It's vulnerable to malware which Apple is no longer protecting you against. Your web browser may not work on all websites, especially with many financial institutions that require more recent, more secure web browsers. Most software developers find they have to stop supporting older versions of operating systems after some number of years because of security concerns as well as the programming tools and underlying features of the operating systems changing; newer features can't be made to work on the older operating systems (or if they can, it takes more time and work than they deem viable for the small number of people using the old operating system.)

You may be disappointed in Quicken for "abandoning" users of old operating systems, but most software companies, from Microsoft and Adobe to -- as you've found -- Intuit and Parallels, no longer support those old operating systems. So it's not like Quicken is doing something arbitrary or out-of-step with the software industry. 

Here's the latest usage of macOS stats I could find as of August 2020:

macOS version        Pct of users   Cumulative Pct
Catalina (10.15)         58%            58%
Mojave (10.14)           16%            74%
High Sierra (10.13)      13%            87%
Sierra (10.12)            5%            92%
El Capitan (10.11)        4%            96%
Yosemite (10.10)          2%            98%
Mavericks (10.9)          1%            99%
Snow Leopard and older    1%           100%

Since Quicken Mac currently only runs on El Capitan and above, there are probably fewer than 10% Of Quicken Mac users still using El Capitan and Sierra. And you can continue to use your current Quicken Mac if you wish to stay on your current computer, but you won't be able to get future upgrades and at some point won't be able to do online transactions.

With a 10 year-old computer running a 5-year-old operating system, you're running into an inevitable fork in the road: (a) keep using the old system and know that you can't get upgrades and certain online sites won't work, or (b) move to a newer computer with a new operating system and current software (some of it upgraded at a cost) which will get you through the next chunk of time (likely 5-8 years for the hardware, and probably 3 years for the operating system). Factor into the decision-making that the hard drive(s) on a 10-year-old machine are likely past their life expectancy, and other hardware -- from a power supply to a cooling fan -- is going to be increasingly likely to fail the longer you use the old machine. 

The only good news, such as it is, is that it will "only" cost about $800 for a new Mac Mini that will be far faster than your 10-year-old former top-of-the-line machine. (Although if you have old peripherals, they may or may not work with modern hardware.)

Please understand I'm not criticizing you for wanting to continue using your expensive older computer; I'm just trying to provide a reality check about the issues you're up against as you continue down that road.

smayer97

If your Mac Pro is 2010, I believe the only thing stopping you from further upgrading macOS is your graphics card. If so, you can simply upgrade it to a Metal compatible graphics card. Doing so will at least get you to upgrade all the way to macOS 10.14 Mojave, which will buy you several more years.

See this list of compatible graphics cards:

https://support.apple.com/en-ca/HT208898