VFS 2.0 compatibility

Please follow our VFS compatibility guidelines if you use macOS computers.

VFS 2.0 on macOS

New censhare clients will ship with VFS 2.0 and will no longer be compatible with macOS computers that have VFS 1.5 (KEXT) installed. The clients can be started, but an error message will appear on startup that the VFS could not be created.

Some functionality is not supported in such a case:

You cannot use any VFS related functionality, for example, drag and drop of files
You cannot use any Adobe Indesign / InCopy functionality

Ensure that the VFS 2.0 KEXT is installed properly on your client computers. For more information, see censhare Client installation with VFS on Apple ARM architecture.

VFS 1.1.5 on macOS

Older clients that ship with VFS 1.1.5 will no longer be compatible with macOS computers that have VFS 2.0 (KEXT) installed. The clients can be started, but an error message will appear on startup that the VFS could not be created.

Some functionality is not supported in such a case:

You cannot use any VFS related functionality, for example drag and drop of files
You cannot use any Adobe Indesign / InCopy functionality

Ensure to roll out new, compatible censhare Clients on all your client computers

Mixed VFS versions in macOS environment

In general, it is still possible to work in a mixed environment.

Ensure to install both new censhare Clients and VFS 2.0 on selected client computers where you want to use the new VFS.

You can keep some client computers on VFS 1.1.5 KEXT, but you must ensure that an older censhare client version is still used there, i.e. do not roll out the new installers on those computers.

New censhare Client and censhare Render Client installers

All of the above also applies to both censhare Client and censhare Render Client.

Note that the new censhare Client and censhare Render Client installers install VFS 2.0 automatically!

Also note that it is no longer possible to install and run new and old clients on the same macOS computer, since there can only be one VFS kernel extension installed (either VFS 2.0 or VFS 1.1.5)! Once the new VFS 2.0 is installed, you can only use the new Client and Renderer versions on such computers.

For more information, see censhare Client installation with VFS on Apple ARM architecture.

VFS on Windows

There is no new version of VFS on Microsoft Windows. Microsoft Windows computers are not affected.

VFS system requirements

macOS

macOS Version	censhare VFS version
macOS 10.13 (High Sierra) (3)	recommended: VFS 1.1.4 (2) minimum: VFS 1.1.2 (1)
macOS 10.14 (Mojave)	minimum: VFS 1.1.4 (2)
macOS 10.15 (Catalina)	minumum: VFS 1.1.5 (4)
macOS 11 (Big Sur) (5)	minimum VFS 2.0 (6)
macOS 12 Monterey (5)

(1) VFS 1.1.2 contains specific enhancements that are required for macOS 10.12. VFS 1.1.2 is included in the installation directories of the following versions of the censhare Client or censhare Render Client: 5.8.x, 5.7.1, 5.6.4, 5.5.7, 5.4.7, 5.3.10, 5.2.11, 5.1.15

(2) VFS 1.1.4 is included in the installation directories of the following versions of the censhare Client or censhare Render Client: 2019.3.1, 2019.2.x, 2019.1.x, 2018.3.0, 2018.2.3, 2018.1.6, 2017.5.12, 2017.4.11, 2017.3.18, 2017.1.12, 2017.1.10

(3) See the Changes as of macOS 10.13 (High Sierra). Since macOS 10.13 (High Sierra) the installation behavior changed for macOS.

(4) Required for censhare 2020.3.x, 2020.2.x 2020.1.x, 2019.3.2, 2019.2.6. Compatible with all clients using lower VFS 1.1.x versions.

(5) Required for censhare as of 2021.1 and censhare versions 2020.3.3, 2020.2.5, 2020.1.9, 2019.3.10 and 2019.2.11. Incompatible with VFS version 1.1.5 and below.

Apple ARM architecture is supported as described in VFS support for censhare.

(6) Required for censhare as of 2021.1 and censhare versions 2020.3.3, 2020.3.4, 2020.2.5, 2020.1.9, 2019.3.10 and 2019.2.11. Incompatible with VFS version 1.1.5 and below.

The official announcement of Monterey support for censhare is planned for the next major censhare release. So far, we have successfully tested the following combinations without any critical concerns:

censhare Client version 2021.1.1 with VFS 2.0.0 on Monterey 12.0.1
censhare Client version 2020.2.0 with VFS 1.1.5 on Monterey 12.0.1

You will be able to use censhare on Monterey before our official confirmation but will do so at your own risk. If you encounter any problems, please create a support ticket.

Your Mac should not boot with the 32-bit Kernel. This might be the case with older hardware before 2009. For more information, see this Apple support guidance for switching the kernel to 64-bit.

Windows

Windows 10 is supported from version 5.1.164.

Hardware

4 GB or more are recommended for smooth operation.