And real users can keep running that old software on real similarly-old computers. I don't think the number of still-functional old Macs is so small that they're going to be impossible to find any time soon.

I can understand being unhappy that Adobe doesn't offer an upgrade path from an obsolete version of CS to similar licensing terms for a modern version that runs on modern computers. But I think that complaint should be directed at Adobe, not Apple.

So end-of-life releases that have been replaced with newer builds? Any application that doesn't survive the progression of technology doesn't deserve to-- software requires maintenance. We expect hardware to get bigger/faster/stronger but are unwilling to hold software to the same standard?

I am wracking my brain but cannot think of a single application that I ran on previous epochs of hardware (whether it be 32bit, PowerPC, Itanium, or anything else) that I am now missing out on.FOSS has really mitigated this a ton too because if there was a good idea from a defunct codebase, inevitably a project would spring up to fill that void.

Professionally, legacy software is the bane of my existence because I am expected to move heaven and earth to make crappy, long outdated and inherently insecure proprietary enterprise apps work on modern networks with modern operating systems and modern security requirements. Let it all burn.

And those aren’t the worst examples, as alternatives exist (subscription only and/or more expensive, possibly, but they do exist)

Especially in companies, there may be that ‘essential’ app somebody wrote in two decades ago that nobody has the source code to or, if they have, uses a language dialect no modern compiler supports, requires third party libraries of companies long out of business, etc.

Also, hardware support may be an issue. Expensive hardware can have long lifetimes, and hardware companies tend to be bad at upgrading drivers order hardware they don’t sell anymore.

And a massive chunk of Steam library which will never be updated.