Check Application Architecture

This document will show how to see what processor platform your Mac OSX Applications are built for. This is most useful to see what programs will stop working when switching from 10.6 or lower to Mac OSX Lion, which no longer supports PowerPC code.

• Begin by clicking the Apple Menu then click About This Mac
• Next, as shown on the screenshot below, see what Processor your Mac is running.
  
  • Supported Processor Types for Lion (10.7):
    • Intel Core 2 Duo
    • Intel Xeon
    • Intel Core “i” series (i5, i3, i7)
    • Anything purchased in 2008 or newer
  • Processor Types NOT supported by Lion (10.7)
    • PowerPC
    • Intel Core Duo
    • Intel Core Solo
• If you are running a supported processor, click More Info then click Applications on the left
  
• Sort the list by Kind by clicking that column header then look for anything with a Kind of PowerPC. Anything listed will need to require your intervention or it will not work under Mac OSX Lion.

Any applications found via the steps above that are running as PowerPC will need to be upgraded or replaced with similar applications. Lion removes Rosetta, a PowerPC emulation application so all the old PowerPC code stops functioning.

You will need to either check for updates for your PowerPC applications, contact the manufacturer to see if they have a newer version or find a similar application to replace the out-dated one.