In This Edition: Helix 8.0 is available today 64 bits Helix and Catalina Train fare Those who might not The web store rides again! What’s next

The train to the future leaves from here today

21 December 2019 — The right and proper way to start your next project is to finish your current one. Draw a line in the timeless sands and move forward. Helix 8.0, which we have been using with varying degrees of love and appreciation for some time, must leave the nest sooner or later. Today, just shy of two years after we released Helix 7.0.4, looks like the day.

If you have been following this chapter of our saga, scant though the details have been, you can understand how we, the “parents,” cannot fail to let this event occur without some serious trepidation. After all, we are not merely letting the kid go, but its life begins with the handicap of not being able to run in Catalina (macOS 10.15).

At each major step in its evolution, Helix has had to make some sacrifices. In spite of these, Helix has survived since the dawn of Macintosh time because it has always remained faithful to a superior concept. Helix will also survive this. The public beta we conducted a few months ago largely confirmed what we already knew about 8.0: if you can get here, it will be a smooth ride. Getting here may be bumpy for some, but nearly all collections can, and should, make the trip.

64 bits

As we have done so many times before, this version of Helix began by battening down the hatches, so to speak, to prepare for a tortuous journey through the deep inner workings of Helix to adapt by means of removal and replacement.

While this is certainly not unfamiliar terrain for us, familiarity has become increasingly contemptuous with each new encounter. We will not waste time reciting chapter and verse; a random click in the list of previous postings to the left of this one will more than likely lead to a story with more than enough detail along similar lines.

Our course must, of needs, navigate streams and fjords that lead to a future where every Macintosh application is 64 bit, but little is really known beyond that. One eye must always be out for how to get where we truly want Helix to go, forcing the other to do what must be done to get it to where Apple wants it so that at the very least, we can continue to function on their equipment.

Since we first described what the trip to 64-bit architecture would entail, there has been a significant amount of apparently confused feedback about the underlying purpose of the journey.

To survive this trip and succeed in our mission, we must debunk any notion anyone might harbor that when “64 bitness” is finally achieved, “Helix” will in some way be faster. Helix speed is influenced three ways: First, as Helix only runs in macOS on a Macintosh computer, the faster the computer, the faster Helix will “run“ all by itself. Second, as we all know, all by itself, Helix actually does nothing. Thus, third, the speed at which things appear to happen in Helix derives mainly from the structure of the individual application that Helix is running. A poorly designed form will always be just that.

So Optimize! A well respected member of the Helix community likes to say, “You always know when you’ve done it right. It doesn’t make you wait.”

That said, however, we do believe that a Helix application will gain a measure of stability when running as a true 64-bit application in the latest macOS and those that will follow.

Be careful with Catalina

Beyond the news that Helix 8.0 is now available, there is other good news, as you will read ahead. But let’s talk a little about the one piece of bad news first: Catalina is no longer on the way. It is here and, as noted above, Helix will not run in it.

Be careful! It is not a trivial process to uninstall a macOS. If you generally allow your machines to update automatically, now might be a good time to temporarily disable that capability.

If you are in the market for a new computer, you might want to make sure it will run Mojave, macOS 10.14, or earlier, back to at least 10.6.

In the best of all possible worlds, as we so often like to say, every software vendor will have their new, fully compatible app ready each time Apple decides to unleash its latest creation on the unsuspecting population. As sorry as we are that this is not the case with Helix, for a change, we appear to be in good and subtantial company.

Also, you are not without options if you are overwhelmed with the desire to be in Catalina, or actually require it for any reason. You can, for instance, run macOS 10.14 (or any older version of macOS) in Parallels Desktop, much as you once ran PowerPC applications on Intel Macs by using Rosetta, for those of you who can remember that far back. Another very good option is VMWare Fusion. Be aware that both of these options will cost you some money, but they both work.

If you prefer a cheaper — if somewhat more tortuous option — then we suggest that you create a small partition on your Macs startup drive and install the older version of macOS there. then, when you want to run Helix, restart the Mac while holding the Option key down to start from the alternative version.

So, there you have our “Catalina conundrum.” At this early stage, it is not yet possible to say when this situation will change. We may already be well underway, but the seas ahead are perilous and, to some degree, often uncertain.But when land is again within our sights, you will be the first to know.

The future is not free

As we have said, even though Helix 8 does not contain new features, it is a new Helix, and the update is not free. Click here to see Helix 8.0 pricing. For years, we have offered free upgrades to the next version of Helix if you owned the current one. Unfortunately, we are not presently in a position to offer that kind of incentive. This is an all hands situation. Helix’s short-term survival depends upon support from those who use and depend upon it.

As such, this release also marks the end of any Pioneer discount you may have received for helping us make a modern Helix RADE possible. Without your help, it could never have happened. But a few years have gone by now, the rules have changed again, and we believe those obligations have been fulfilled.