It is time to say goodbye to 32-bit applications within Mac OS. At some point the need may arise to abandon all of the 64-bit apps that your children love and embrace the goodness that is 128-bits or maybe someday 256-bit. This should be part of the normal improvement cycle that computers and their users go through every decade or so, but Apple has made this one a pain in the arse.

Apple has given developers plenty of notice over the years that 64-bits was the way forward (not just iOS) and apps need to be updated and ready to be "clean". The problem that we are having is not with third party apps, the problem we have is with Apple's own apps.

Apple has been making their apps fully 64-bit compliant for years, so that in itself is not the problem. It's the fact that Apple has been very selective about which of its own applications to update and what features to keep during that update.

Users still rely on applications for their daily routines that Apple has not replaced with newer / better versions. Most specifically for this rant; Quicktime Player 7 and Final Cut Pro 7. We at the Waxy Apple are beginning to wonder if 'seven' is an unlucky number for applications.

We've complained about the lack of true updates for these apps but at least we've been able to continue using what 'just works'. But now Apple is forcing these applications to be swept into the trash can once and for all with the forthcoming update to OSX. Users be damned.

Look, this isn't the case of people liking the old software better or being stuck in their ways or just being luddites. This is a case of Apple creating an app that is essentially a Ferrari, and then years later upgrading it to be a Yugo. Sadly the fruity company has gotten very good at doing just that.

Quicktime Player X (QTPX) was supposed to be the successor to Player 7. With its up-to-date black borderless interface and disappearing controls it was a slick (and 64-bit) update to the aging Player 7. At the introduction Apple admitted that it wasn't up to snuff with Player 7's capabilities but they would be added over time. Tic-Tok guys.

Only quick with current codecs

Player X still has to 'convert' videos that use an un-Apple codec. The most frustrating thing is to double click a video file to have QTPX try to open it and present us with the dreaded "Converting" progress bar. Quick is a word that can never be used for this process. Instead of creating a library of codec's that are 64-bit, Apple chose the easy road. Even old MOV files created with early versions of Quicktime can't be directly opened. <facepalm> Will Apple ever learn?

Writing for MacWorld, Jason Snell (a guy who knows a thing or two about Macs) goes into more detail on the features that are loved by so many that Apple has never seen fit to implement within QTPX.

The Final… Cut

We won't rehash our absolute hatred for the software that should be correctly named iMovie Pro. FCX's failure isn't due to not taking the time or money to create a good piece of software - it is purely due to Apple's hubris of thinking that they know how people want their software to operate. 'Hey lets take iMovie and add a few features from Final Cut and call it FCX'.

It would be hard to believe that Apple has not lost market share in the professional video editing market. Partly due to Final Cut X, but also due to the lack of computer hardware geared toward the pro market.

There are other examples of Apple abandoning software or castrating into being the court eunuchs, but these two are closest to our waxy hearts and the ones that we wish Apple would correct and bring back to life.