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Apple’s latest desktop operating system, macOS Catalina, dropped support for 32-bit applications. As a result, many older scanners lost native support for the operating system, forcing owners to upgrade to newer hardware or use a different computer that retained compatibility. Third-party scanning software VueScan offers a different solution, namely support for around 6,000 older scanner models.
VueScan was upgraded this week to version 9.7. With it, Mac users can use their older 32-bit scanner with their Apple desktop or laptop even if they’re running macOS Catalina. The third-party software is made possible by reverse-engineering drivers for more than 6,000 older scanners from 42 manufacturers, including film scanner and flatbed models.
Manufacturers include Ricoh, Canon, Fujitsu, Kodak, Nikon, Panasonic, Polaroid, Samsung, Mitsubishi, and Epson, among others; a full list of supported models can be found here. Overall, VueScan supports around 2,400 scanner models on Windows, 2,100 models on Mac, and 1,900 models on Linux.
The software is available for $ 49.95 USD (Standard Edition) and $ 99.95 USD (Professional Edition), the latter of which includes support for film and slide scanning, among other things.
Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)