Perian, a free open-source plug-in that enables QuickTime support for a wide variety of video formats, has been updated with additional video format compatibility and fixes. Version 1.2.2 of Perian was released yesterday and is available from the download page at Perian.org.
This week's update added compatibility with WebM/VP8, FFv1 lossless video formats, and compressed MKV files, as well as bug fixes involving Matroska file importing and reading. The full list of changes in version 1.2.2 can be found in the version history section on this page.
Notably, the 1.2.2 version notes indicate that older versions of Mac OS X will no longer be supported in future versions of Perian:
The next planned version will remove support for PowerPC and Mac OS X versions prior to 10.6. Maintenance updates may be provided if necessary.
Perian 1.2.2 requires Mac OS 10.4.7 or higher.
Top Rated Comments
With 2 very part time developers who actually have real jobs and real lives outside of this, and myself as project manager who has a real job and a real life, I really just don't see the point. 1.2.2 and 1.2.1 will still work in 2 years if they still work today. We're just not going to continue supporting it in 1.3 (or whatever version number I end up being happy with).
Please bear in mind that we have 3 real problems to address here in order for any sort of ppc support to return:
1) Nobody who actually works on perian likes working on this old stuff.
2) A lack of time resources. Did you know that we could have released in November if it hadn't been for supporting 10.5 and ppc? Not even 10.4, but 10.5.
3) A userbase which for the most part moves with updates. Over 80% of our userbase that hits the website is on 10.6. We focus on the 80/20 rule.
Let me explain this a bit further, and how we came to this decision. Essentially 2 and 3 are tied together. We spent a large amount of time on support for something which didn't apply to well over 80% of our user base. That's huge for any kind of software. For an open source project with a very small developer pool, it can cause the project to actually die off. No more perian < perian which is enjoyable to work on.
I can entirely understand your point. I have an old g4 800 mhz imac, I had a nice g4 ibook, a g3 700 ibook, and I had even older machines I won't list. The point is that we have to make the best choices for us currently, and for our users. I do respect older versions of os x and hardware, but not at the cost of what we're doing now.
I post this not looking for a response, but as an explanation. Concisely put, we have almost no motivation to continue working on 10.5 or ppc.
Chris Forsythe
Perian Project Manager
Nothing runs on PPC anymore because as the dev said, no one wants to support 20% or less user base. Linux for PPC is getting less support as well (e.g. no firefox4 there either it seems). Ironically, Safari is the only major modern browser still supporting PPC and who knows how much longer that will last. Part of the fault is Apple dumping developer support so quickly. I still maintain if they had kept PPC through Snow Leopard and waited until Lion to dump it, much of the 'needed' software would have more likely remained viable well into 2013. Firefox4, for example dumped PPC precisely because of the lack of certain dev structures that Apple doesn't provide for PPC because they don't support it. If Apple doesn't support it, most devs won't bother either. Some devs dump older OS versions even for newer hardware. It's just easier for them.
All I know is in Windows Land if devs dumped support for Vista tomorrow (not even mentioning XP), that product would likely be in trouble. But therein lies the difference. The Mac users base is so TINY to begin with (compared to PCs) and throw in Apple's forced/encouraged upgrade tactics and it's not worth the effort. The sad net effect is that Macs are getting shorter 'useful' life spans than in the past. And part of this is due to Apple's short shelf life for so-called 'major' operating system updates, especially if those updates DUMP large segments of hardware (e.g. PPC with Snow Leopard and Intel 32-bit with Lion) so that the users have NO upgrade path but to replace their entire machine (even if speed-wise it's still meeting their needs. Sometimes you NEED the newer software for hardware support like newer iTunes to support the iPad2 or whatever even if otherwise the older version was FINE. For example, I bought a new iPod Touch 4G today. It works with my PPC iTunes 10.1.1. But if an update to the iOS firmware requires iTunes 10.2 I'm screwed because 10.2 is buggy as heck on PPC for some reason (crashes within hours here whereas 10.1.1 is the MOST STABLE version of iTunes I've EVER used; I can literally leave my PPC server on for MONTHS and it won't crash) and I haven't seen an update to fix it yet.
So it's fine to say you can still run older software, but SOME things like browsers, e-mail and iTunes need to be running newer software at some point and pretty much force you to upgrade regardless if the hardware is otherwise doing its job (i.e. how much CPU power do I need to use this as a server? AppleTV is doing all the work in the end). Frankly, I hate to put a lot of money into a computer whose purpose is mostly just to serve audio/video and maybe surf. If you want to play games, you interrupt your whole house audio/video system, for example. Oh well, the more I can stretch out of this PPC machine, the more features I'll get when I do replace it with something else. Actually, a Mac-Mini with USB3 might be a nice little server (could be shared on the same desktop with ANOTHER computer that does games, etc. since it takes up so little space), but Apple doesn't want to do USB3 and my media drives are now USB3.... UGH on Apple again.
Just use VLC! It uses the same decoder-libraries (from the ffmpeg-project (http://www.ffmpeg.org/projects.html)) as Perian.
http://www.videolan.org/vlc/download-macosx.html
:D
I kinda see what your saying. My 3 year old Dell Inspirion 1525 is still running strong save for a touch pad issue (which doesn't bother me because I like to use a mouse anyway) on Vista. Recently I installed Snow Leopard on it and it is running very well though slightly slower than Vista. My friend's 2 year old Macbook is not running as well. It has more hiccups despite having near the same internals AND he paid more if I remember correctly.
I think that by and large Apple makes great hardware and software but with iOS bringing in so much revenue I am wary that Apple will put less and less focus on OSX stuff. I guess time will tell :confused:
-100 :mad:
Heck on the makers of Perian. Just another developer dumping support for true Mac fans who existed in a time before Steve caved to the PC World CPUs after spending nearly a decade touting how great PPC was and how crappy x86 was. It seems developers cannot wait to dump support for older OS versions regardless while Windows machines from 1999 can still run nearly all new software within their CPU capabilities speed-wise (i.e. XP is still supported by nearly all developers a decade later while Mac developers dump support for an OS version that is barely two years old...PATHETIC). The Mac shelf life continues to shrink.... Soon you will need to buy a new computer every year or be left behind by Apple and developers alike while your hardware can run Windows for the next decade. :(
There WAS a time when Macs usefulness outlasted PCs by some margin. Now it's just the opposite. Macs have obsolescence built into them on purpose and PCs last for ages and yet the price ratios have NOT reversed. You still pay way more only now for less time. No wonder Apple is making money hand over fist.... What's the point of a better made computer if Apple just pulls the plug on them? It's not just PPC. Intel Core Duo is dumped in Lion as well. I guess owners of those Intel Macs can install Windows 7 instead.... :rolleyes:
Remember when they said that a MBP ran Windows Vista better than a PC? Well now they can say Windows 7 runs better on Macs than OSX! ;)