Photo Libraries_2

[RideForever]

A friend has asked me to try to open her Photos library on my iMac as it will not do so on hers.

Using Options+Photos to open and selecting the library file, the attached popup occurs. My version is Photos 4.0 but I am unable to find any link on the Apple website to obtain an upgrade. Does this only occur if I move from Mojave onto either Catalina or Big Sur? Doing so causes me to lose features on my laser printer as well as Photoshop CS6

 

[chas_m]

The current version of Photos is 6.0 (on Big Sur). For Mojave, it's 4.0. So there's the problem -- at some point somebody opened that photos library on a more up-to-date Mac, and it upgraded the library. Your friend needs to upgrade to at least Catalina if not Big Sur in order to open that library.

Since it's not your library, you're not the one that HAS to upgrade, and it is fine to stay on Mojave the next major macOS version comes out this fall -- at that point Mojave will "fall off the list" of supported past versions, and no longer receive security updates. At that point, you will want to disconnect that machine from the internet if you decide to stay with Mojave.

More realistically, it is probably time to look for an alternative driver for your laser printer (such as Gutenprint) -- or just replace it with a modern model -- and an alternative to the now-ancient Photoshop CS6 (plenty of other good options around, including the current Photoshop which can be had for $10/month, or the excellent Affinity Photo which is I think ~$50 outright).

Sticking with out-of-date operating systems can work in the short-term, but gets increasingly problematic, risky, and frustrating in the long-term unless you're willing to use it without an internet connection, which these days is not a realistic option for most people.

 

[RideForever]

Thanks Charles - I know I have been pushing the envelope and recognize my time is coming fast. Appreciate the feedback. David