OS/X version, hardware platform, and Qt version compatibility¶

Executive summary: For a program like EasyHg that demands the widest possible compatibility, we currently want to build for 10.4 PPC and Intel 32-bit, 10.5 Intel 32-bit, 10.6 Intel 32- and 64-bit. We can't get away with proposing EasyHg for a project if even one project member can't use it.

To do this, we need at least two builds of Qt: a Carbon build for PPC and i386 on 10.4 using gcc-4.0, and a Cocoa build for x86_64 (and optionally i386) on 10.5+.

OS/X 10.4¶

As target¶

• Oldest version still apparently in use as of Feb 2011: not very widespread (low single digit %age of Mac users), but at least two researchers here use it
• Appears in PPC and i386 systems
• Runs in 32-bit mode only
• Can build for it from 10.4, 10.5, 10.6
• Requires SDK /Developer/SDKs/MacOSX10.4u.SDK
• Requires -mmacosx-version-min=10.4 on 10.5+
• Requires gcc-4.0 to be requested explicitly on 10.6
• Does not support Objective-C 2.0
• Not a supported target for Qt's Cocoa builds, Qt Carbon needed

As build host¶

• Does not support Objective-C 2.0
• 10.4u SDK can be used to build 64-bit executables of simple C/C++ programs such as plugins, but not of GUIs or anything using Core frameworks

OS/X 10.5¶

As target¶

• Not all that much more widely used than 10.4 -- if we were dropping 10.4, we probably might as well drop 10.5 as well
• Last version supported for PPC platforms
• Runs in 32-bit mode by default
• Can build for it from 10.5, 10.6
• Requires SDK /Developer/SDKs/MacOSX10.5.SDK
• First version to support Objective-C 2.0
• Qt Cocoa supported

As build host¶

• Builds 32-bit by default
• Can be used to do 64-bit builds

OS/X 10.6¶

As target¶

• By far the most common version as of Feb 2011
• Not supported on PPC
• Runs in 64-bit mode by default where possible
• Is not always 64-bit -- it is supported on 32-bit-only hardware such as Core Duo (first Intel Macs)

As build host¶

• Builds 64-bit by default
• Can be used to do 32-bit Intel and PPC builds