Versions

This table indicates the types of Mac for which each version of Image SXM is optimised. Some versions can be used on Macs for which they are not optimised, though this is not recommended in general.

Mac Model (and Mac OS)

Version

U
F
P
C
 X
Mac LC, LCII, ..., + Mac emulators
O
x
x
x
 x
Mac II, IIx, IIcx, IIfx, Quadra 700-950
c
O
x
x
 x
PowerMac 6100-9600
( Mac OS 8 )
c
x
O
c
 x
PowerMac G3/G4/G5
( Mac OS 8/9/X )
c
x
c
O
 x
Intel Macs ( Mac OS X 10.0 - 10.6 ) x x x c O
Intel Macs ( Mac OS X 10.7 -   ) x x x x O







Key

O

Optimised for these Macs

c

Can be used on these Macs

x

Cannot be used on these Macs

Version Code Letters

Five versions of Image SXM exist, though all except the most recent two are essentially redundant:

U

Universal

For any 68K Mac from the LC upwards

( also suitable for some Mac emulators )

F

FPU

For 68K Macs that have a floating point unit

( Mac II, Quadra, ... )

P

PowerMac

PowerPC code for PowerMacs only

( also called the pre-Carbon version )

C

Carbon

Carbonised version of the PowerMac application

( for Mac OS 9 and Mac OS X )

X 

Xcode

Intel version compiled using Xcode and GNU Pascal

( for Intel Macs only )

The current version is the Intel (X) version. If your Mac is more than a few years old and it is not clear to you which version you need, click here.

Carbonising Image SXM

The code of Image SXM was rewritten so that it is Carbon compliant. This means that it is possible to run the application under Mac OS 8 and 9 (which have a 'CarbonLib' file in the Extensions folder) and under Mac OS X (for which Carbon is an integral component). Carbonising Image SXM required quite a few code changes as NIH Image was written many years ago and uses procedures and functions that Apple now deprecates.

So why the 'pre-Carbon' version? A Carbon application is one that uses only those parts of the Mac OS that Apple approves, and none of the parts that it deprecates. This is part of Apple's aim to streamline the Mac OS by removing support for obsolete pieces of code. Not a bad idea in principle, but doing this means losing some established features (such as support for sending data to/from the serial ports). For users who want to keep these features, I still make available a version that has not been fully Carbonised (the 'P' or 'PowerMac' or 'pre-Carbon' version).

Developing the Carbon version was a necessary step in the production of a version for Mac OS X, as OS X does not support code that is not Carbonised. Eventually, the pre-Carbon version will be phased out when the Carbon version does everything that is required by users.

Notes

Image SXM for Intel

Image SXM compiled into PowerPC code can run on Intel Macs if the code is translated by Rosetta into Intel code. As Mac OS 10.7 (Lion) does not support Rosetta, only an Intel-native version of Image SXM will run on a Mac updated beyond 10.6 (Snow Leopard). Hence Image SXM was recompiled into Intel code.

The CodeWarrior compiler that I have been using for over 15 years does not compile Mac applications into Intel code. Apple's compiler Xcode does not (officially) support Pascal, but after the release of Snow Leopard I worked on compiling Image SXM with Xcode and the GNU Pascal compiler. See ImageSXM.Xcode for more details.

Steve Barrett    April 2012

S.D.Barrett@liv.ac.uk


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