Precursor Systems | Ventura Primer

Apple released its latest version of macOS October 24'th: macOS 13 Ventura. We have been looking forward to Ventura (and running it in beta) ever since Apple debuted it at the Apple World Wide Developer Conference in June. Ventura brings some great features and security enhancements to your computers! Here's what you need to know:

When will Precursor do upgrades?

We plan on moving our clients to Ventura in the coming weeks depending on hardware and software compatibility.

If you feel you need to have Ventura on your computer before that time comes you can request an upgrade by choosing the "Schedule an OS Upgrade" option from the Precursor Contact menu (the little blue "P" icon) in the menubar at the top of your Mac's screen.

Compatible Hardware

Certain computers that supported Monterey and Big Sur are not Ventura compatible. You will require on of the following:

iMac 2017 and later
iMac Pro 2017
MacBook 2017 and later
MacBook Air 2018 and later
MacBook Pro 2017 and later
Mac mini 2018 and later
Mac Pro 2019 and later
Mac Studio 2022

Stage Manager

Stage Manager automatically organizes your apps and windows in a single view on any Mac, so you can stay focused while easily moving between tasks. The app you’re working on is displayed prominently in the centre, with other apps and windows arranged on the side. This makes switching between apps and windows much faster and reduces desktop clutter. Apps on the side stay updated so you can quickly glance at incoming messages and email.

Mail

Apple Mail gets improved search capabilities and usability improvements like: Undo Send; Schedule Send; Follow up reminders; and, the ability to add Rich Links

Messages

You can now edit a message you just sent or unsend a recent message altogether. And you can mark a message as unread if you can’t respond in the moment and want to come back to it later.

Safari and Passkeys

Passkeys introduce a new sign‑in method that is end-to-end encrypted and safe from phishing and data leaks. This makes passkeys stronger than all common two‑factor authentication types. They also work on non‑Apple devices.

Spotlight

Gets a new search design plug the ability to find images in Photos, Messages, Notes, the Finder and the web right from Spotlight. You can even use Live Text to search for an image based on text inside it.

What's compatible?

RoaringApps has a partial list of what works and what doesn't

Of note:

A partial list to watch out for

MSC = available in the (may require subscription purchase to activate)

Software	Alternative	MSC
Adobe Creative Cloud (Illustrator, InDesign, Photoshop, etc)	Adobe Creative Cloud is a subscription service and generally supports the current OS and two versions back. This document details Ventura compatibility: This means you always have access to the latest versions of the Creative Cloud apps. For best compatibility you should therefore use the Creative Cloud Desktop app to ensure you have them all up-to-date. Precursor recommends Adobe CC 2023 for use with macOS Ventura. Adobe also strongly recommends that macOS Ventura users keep the Adobe Creative Cloudlogin item turned on in macOS Ventura because turning it off stops many of Adobe's core processes required for the apps to function seamlessly. Turning off the Adobe Creative Cloud login item will disrupt Creative Cloud services such as Adobe Fonts and Creative Cloud Libraries. When Precursor Support Plan clients have installed the Creative Cloud Desktop app from the Managed Software Center they can install and update any of the Adobe apps using the Creative Cloud Desktop app and the computer's administrative password is not required.	√
Adobe Acrobat Pro	Adobe Acrobat is a subscription service. This means you always have access to the latest version of Acrobat. For best compatibility you should therefore use the Creative Cloud Desktop app to ensure you have Acrobat up-to-date. Note that as of Fall 2022 the "DC" is no longer part of the product name and it is now just "Adobe Acrobat Pro". When Precursor Support Plan clients have installed the Creative Cloud Desktop app from the Managed Software Center they can install and update any of the Adobe apps using the Creative Cloud Desktop app and the computer's administrative password is not required.	√
Affinity Photo Designer and Publisher	We recommend using Affinity v2 or higher...Affinity Version 2. NB. This requires a new purchase if you previously owned v1.
Apple Aperture	Relace with Adobe Lightroom?
Apple iWork (Keynote, Numbers, Pages)	use latest iWork apps from AppStore (12.1 or higher). Precursor Support Plan clients are provisioned with these apps and their updates automatically via Mosyle MDM deployment.
Apple Final Cut Studio	Purchase Final Cut Pro X from AppStore
Apple Logic Studio	Purchase Final Cut Pro X from AppStore
Apple macOS Server	Replace with Synology or QNAP NAS
Dymo Label Software 8.7.5 and earlier.	Upgrade to DYMO Connect v1.4.2 or higher
Extensis Connect / Suitcase	As of launch date Extensis is not listing support for Ventura but is supporting Adobe CC 2023. We would say upgrade to 24.0.1 or higher. Or use Apple's Font Book app.
FileMaker	FileMaker is a subscription service. and is currently compatible with macOS Ventura. We recommend upgrading to FileMaker Pro 19.5.4 and FileMaker Server 19.5.4 - with subscription. Precursor Support Plan clients get provisioned with FileMaker Pro and its updates automatically via the Managed Software Center.
MacPractice	MacPractice has a special build of Gen 15 available by special request that can work with macOS Ventura.
Microsoft Office 365	Microsoft 365 is a subscription service and generally supports the current OS and two versions back. Mirosoft has stated on the MacAdmins Slack that "We expect therefore to remove support for Catalina and to formally support Ventura with the 16.67 release of Office in mid-November." Precursor Support Plan clients will get these updates automatically via the Managed Software Center.
Parallels	Upgrade to at least Parallels 18
PowerCAD 9.1.13 and earlier	PowerCADD is being redeveloped to work in macOS 13 Ventura and a beta version may appear in late in 2022.
Printer software	some older printers may not have a compatible driver and may need to be replaced!
QuickBooks 2015 and earlier	upgrade to latest QuickBooks Onine subscription	√
Scanner software	Vuescan may be a substitute or replace scanner
ScanSnap	See for details.	√
TextWrangler	Replace with BBEDit	√
Transmit 5 and earlier	Upgrade to Transmit 5.8	√
Vectorworks	Vectorworks 2023 SP2 is fully compatible with Ventura: Vectorworks Ventura Compatibility. Precursor Support Plan clients are provisioned with Vectorworks upgrades and updates via management/maintenance routines from Precursor.
VMWare Fusion	Upgrade to VMware Fusion 12.1.2 or higher and check out this tweet about VMware Fusion for Apple silicon Public Tech Preview is now available

Printer / Scanner Drivers

Manufacturer	Driver Compatibility
Brother	https://support.brother.com/g/s/os/mac/index.html
Canon	Canon Europe Support Site
Epson	https://epson.com/s0/macOS-12-Ventura-Support/s/SPT_Ventura-NS
Fujitsu Scansnap	https://www.fujitsu.com/global/support/products/computing/peripheral/scanners/scansnap/faq/ventura-ss.html
Konica Minolta	https://www.konicaminolta.eu/eu-en/support/new-os-compatibility
Lexmark	https://infoserve.lexmark.com/ids/common/content.aspx?content=OS22&loc=en_US
Ricoh	https://ricoh-kb-en.custhelp.com/app/home/region/eu/brand/ricoh/
Xerox	https://www.xerox.com/en-us/about/printer-driver-update

More info:

There are a number of online articles regarding upgrading to Ventura - all better written than mine:

9 to 5 Mac.

Mr. Macintosh

macOS 13 Ventura Primer

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