With the introduction of macOS 11 (Big Sur) and the transition from an Intel architecture to the Apple ARM architecture, there are important changes regarding the censhare Client, Virtual file system (VFS) and the Adobe plugin (XML command plugin).

1. censhare Client (aka Java client)

Can we install the censhare Client on macOS Big Sur?

All censhare 2020.x versions upport macOS Big Sur. 

Do we need to upgrade the censhare Client when we upgrade to macOS Big Sur?

If you use the censhare Client without a Virtual File System (VFS), you do not need to upgrade. If you use the censhare Client in combination with VFS, you must upgrade to a VFS 2.0 compatible censhare Client version. For more information, see our VFS 2.0 compatibility.

Can we upgrade the client computer hardware to the Apple ARM architecture?

The release of macOS Big Sur also marks the transition to the new Apple ARM architecture on their platforms. Applications can run on the new Apple ARM-based platforms in two ways:

  • Native: For this way, applications must be ported to run on the new ARM architecture.
  • Legacy: For this way, applications run in the Rosetta translation environment. This allows Intel-based applications to run in the new architecture. The Rosetta translation environment is part of macOS Big Sur.

When you upgrade your hardware to Apple ARM-based platforms, any Big Sur-compatible censhare Client can run in the Rosetta translation environment as is. However, the censhare Client usually requires a Virtual File System (VFS) that stores a local copy of asset files and allows censhare Client users to edit, update and synchronize asset files with the censhare Server. The VFS uses macOS Kernel extensions (KEXT). Apple has announced to deprecate KEXT on ARM platforms in future releases of macOS.
Currently, KEXT can still be enabled under macOS Big Sur (version 11.x) on Apple ARM platforms. This must be done once on the client computer by a system administrator. For more information, see the Installation guide.

2. Virtual file system (VFS)

Do we need to upgrade the VFS when we upgrade to macOS Big Sur?

macOS Big Sure requires VFS 2.0 and a compatible censhare Client version. For more information, see our VFS 2.0 compatibility.

Can we use the censhare Client with VFS on Apple ARM-based platforms?

The censhare Client with VFS 2.0 can be installed on Apple ARM-based platforms. For more information, see our VFS 2.0 compatibility.

The instalation requires to boot the computer once in recovery mode and change the Kernel security settings to allow Kernel extensions. Currently, this works on macOS Big Sur version 11.3.1. In future releases, Apple might deprecate and remove the KEXT from their ARM platforms. For more information, see the Installation guide.

The censhare Client on ARM platforms runs in the Rosetta translation environment without any restrictions. Whether a native Apple ARM censhare Client will be released is currently under investigation at censhare. Please follow our announcements on this topic.

Will censhare release a VFS version that uses system extensions instead of kernel extensions?

As of today, Apple has not released a system extension API to replace the Kernel extensions in the VFS. We are following Apple's announcements and releases on this topic. However, censhare can only start to investigate and develop the upgrade of the VFS to an ARM-compatible version if Apple provides a system extensions API with the required functionality.

3. Adobe plugin (aka XML command plugin) 

Can we use Adobe applications with macOS Big Sur?

Adobe 2020 apps (version 15.x)  are not officially compatible with macOS Big Sur. Internal test have shown no issues so far with InDesign 2020, but any use in production systems is at your own risk.

Adobe 2021 apps (version 16.x) are stated as compatible with macOS Big Sur, but are not production-ready due to known issues reported by Adobe. If you use Adobe 2021 v16.3 or higher, you must run the Adobe apps in Rosetta. The native mode, which was introduced in Adobe 2021 v16.3, does not work with the censhare Adobe plugin. To start an app in Rosetta, go to the Programs folder in the client computer, right-click the app icon, and select Information. In the General section of the dialog, select Open with Rosetta. The native mode does not work on macOS 11.x Big Sur  on Apple ARM (M1) platforms (more information).

Is a macOS Big Sur-compatible Adobe plugin required?

In general, the Adobe plugin (aka XML command plugin) for censhare has only little dependencies to the OS on its own. However, it must be adapted and built for major versions of Adobe applications. Likewise, a censhare Client version is required that supports the respective Adobe product version. Therefore, the dependencies of the Adobe plugin exist towards the Adobe version and the censhare Client version, but not directly towards the OS.

censhare released the Adobe plugin version 2.9.4 that is compatible with Adobe 2021 apps (version 16.3). The Adobe plugin version 2.9.4 is compatible with censhare Client 2021.1 on macOS Intel and ARM platforms, and with earlier versions of the censhare Clients on Intel platforms. For more information and supported censhare versions, see Adobe plugin - compatibility.

Will the plugin for Adobe 2021 support Apple ARM-based platforms?

Yes, the Adobe plugin version 2.9.4 runs on censhare Clients on macOS Intel platforms and macOS ARM platforms. However, as of today Adobe announced that their Adobe 2021 apps are only available for Intel architecture Macs.

If you run the Adobe 2021 apps and the plugin on Apple ARM-based platforms, both will be executed inside the Rosetta translation environment.

When Adobe releases native 2021 apps for Apple ARM-based platforms, the plugin must be adapted and build for major versions of Adobe applications. As of today, Adobe has not not yet announced when they will take this step and provide developers with the required SDK.