Will BaseCamp Be Upgraded To 64-bit?

What part did I miss? That article has been there since at least May of 2018, so they clearly didn't hit that target. I don't know what to believe anymore.

Ah sorry, didn't think you'd seen that from your comments. Yes, missed the target of end of year but hopefully in the near future.

I think BaseCamp community users deserve an updated ETA, now that they missed year's end.

I would suspect that all of this will move to their explore.garmin.com web platform. They just released apps for the Fenix 5 series, pulling it from beta to production. It's much easier for them to develop a web app, and not worry about desktop apps. JMO... While I do enjoy my local application, it just seems to be the model with the new hardware.

So, I just checked and neither my Fortrex or eTrex are supported by Garmin’s Explore app. A Foretrex I bought recently. So their plan is to force users to upgrade devices to gain access to the software? Not going to happen and I’ll remember that when I go to buy a new GPS device.

neither my Fortrex or eTrex are supported by Garmin’s Explore app.

at the moment.

Garmin Explore is still very new. Garmin is still adding devices. Best to thing to do is to contact Garmin and ask them what their plans are for your devices. There's no 'forcing' people to upgrade to newer devices as Basecamp will still work. Well at least until Apple refuse to allow 32 bit apps. And then you have the option of not upgrading beyond Mojave.

Do you believe that Windows deprecating older versions of their OS is aimed at forcing people to purchase new computers? Or is it simply because there comes a time when a product become time-expired?

As an aside, I'm still using Garmin Training Centre for some workout creation tasks (as that is so much easier than Garmin Connect at times) and that was deprecated in 2013 if memory serves me correctly..

This happened with iOS last year, so it appears they didn’t get caught out on the iDevice Apps.
Some developers including myself, never compiled for 64 bit when it wasn’t needed because it made the download package significantly smaller.
The so called “Universal” App package contained 32 & 64 bit binaries, making it large if the App contains a lot of assets.

The update to XCode that comes with the new MacOS will only be able to compile 64 bit binaries, so if it is to be kept up to date, there’s probably little choice.

For Basecamp, I have a pretty capable Mac, but run Basecamp on a ten year old Windows 7 Thinkpad that does quite well with it.

Do you believe that Windows deprecating older versions of their OS is aimed at forcing people to purchase new computers? Or is it simply because there comes a time when a product become time-expired?

That's a different thing in my option. Windows doesn't own (or didn't, not before surface) the hardware manufacturing process. Apple for instance does force users to update to newer systems by not offering support for older phones. You can still the devices but are not entitled to the latest apps or worse, security updates.

However I think the case for Garmin is different. They still sell the GPSMAP 64s, the one I have for instance, on the website. It's a wild guess, but I assume they're not going to pull the device from the website before the next OSX release, or time it based on the next OSX release. In that case, if you buy a new Macbook for instance in October, and buy this device, you can't even use the official software. That's a big "IF" but it's possible.

Not updating your OS has much more impact than not letting go 32-bit support. It means you no longer receive security updates. As I see it, not updating is not an option. So it's either hoping that Garmin by then releases a 64-bit version of Basecamp or adds support for the GPSMAP 64s, which is unlikely from what I've read on the forums. (something to do with what's capable to sync with the mobile Garmin Connect app)

That's a different thing in my option.

Yep.

TL;DR Windows and Mac OS are not remotely comparable when it comes to backwards compatibility and deprecation of older devices. You can deprecate old devices (and old OS versions) without deprecating old apps (it's a huge reason for the existence of Windows in the business world.)

Microsoft is almost obsessive about preserving backwards compatibility with decades-old software, to the point that they re-create old bugs when they detect certain old software is running, so that app doesn't break.

Apple was very happy to throw 32-bit apps in the garbage, first for iOS, and now Mac OS. (Which is fine, I get it. Completely different philosophy)

So let's say Garmin never updates Basecamp to 64-bit, which seems to be a possibility. Apple just threw Basecamp in the garbage, and you'll never get Basecamp on a (future) new Mac which doesn't support 32-bit apps.

I think it's a pretty safe bet that even 5 years from now, Windows will support 32-bit apps, including whatever old-ass (yet useful) apps you want to run. It would be suicide for Microsoft to pull the same move as Apple, because, again, backwards compatibility is a huge reason for Windows to even exist.

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The crucial difference, as I mentioned elsewhere is that the philosophy of Windows is completely opposite to iOS/Mac OS when it comes to supporting older software (not devices). In Windows 10, you can run apps/games that are decades old. It's one of the reasons for using Windows. You can buy a new laptop tomorrow and have access to all of that older software, which may be critical for your business (for example). The exception is that very old 16-bit apps are not supported directly, but there's always emulation for that. You can run a fully updated Windows 10 on a brand-new device, with all the latest security fixes, and still run your decades-old apps/games, if you choose to do so.

In Mac OS and iOS, a ton of 32-bit apps and games have been thrown in the trash with the 64-bit transition. Doesn't matter how much you paid for them or how useful they were. If the dev decided it wasn't cost-effective to rebuild and retest for 64-bit, you are SOL. Your only option to run old iOS 32-bit apps, for example, is keep an old iDevice around that's not updated, and try not to use the internet too much, since you don't have the latest security fixes. This is especially obvious with games (which are either not worth updating, or can be rereleased in 5 years to make more money) and free apps made by hobby devs (who don't necessarily have the free time to spare to update their app).

So it's pretty disingenuous, to say the least, to compare Windows and Mac OS like that. I use Windows and iOS, and I can see the different pros and cons for each ecosystem (I'm not a hater), but I'm not going to pretend that they work the same way or that Microsoft and Apple have the same motivations for doing what they do..