Apple started transitioning their processor architecture from PowerPC (PPC) to Intel’s x86 in 2006. The Macbook Pro and the iMac being the first Intel Macs. When they did so they gave Xcode (the OSX development environment) the ability to create Universal Binary application. These contain native executables for both PPC and x86 CPUs. So giving these applications the ability to run natively on both types of Mac.

However, to support earlier applications that had only been available as PPC executables they included a PPC Emulator called Rosetta (named after the Rosetta Stone). This allowed PPC only applications to run on Intel x86 Macs.

OS X 10.5 Leopard was the last release of OS X that was distributed as a Universal Binary OS. With OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard being a x86 only release. That is it will not run on PPC Macs. Even so they kept Rosetta as an optional install (previously it was installed by default). However, OS X 10.7 Lion does not include Rosetta and you cannot install earlier versions. This means that PPC applications will no longer run on Lion. In reality this is only applications that are over six years old.

MacVector 9.5 (released in 2006) was the first Universal Binary version of MacVector. Previous versions are PPC only and will not run on Lion.

If you are running such an old version of MacVector then your options are limited to either upgrading MacVector or not upgrading to Lion. You can still upgrade such an old version of MacVector at a significant discount. Contact Sales to request a quote or visit the website. There’s many other reasons to upgrade as well. The interface has changed substantially since MacVector 9.5 being more powerful and easier to use. There’s also many new tools with enhancements to older ones. The latest release is MacVector 12.5 and this release has improvements to sequence assembly (support for NGS reference assemblies using Bowtie) and extra options for multiple sequence alignment with Muscle and T-Coffee added.

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So after you’ve chatted about the holidays with your colleagues have a slow start to 2012 and take the opportunity to keep your copy of MacVector up to date. MacVector 12.5 was released at the end of last year. So if you’ve not yet done so then do so here! It’s also a good idea to run a few system maintenance tasks to make sure your Mac is running great.

Happy New Year!

We have a lot to look forward to in 2012. MacVector 12.6 will be released in the first quarter of 2012 with some great new primer design tools. We’ve also got another release planned for the backend of the year.

But for now, we thank you and we wish you a prosperous, happy and enjoyable New Year from the whole MacVector team.

But before we all break for the end of the year remember that we’ve just released MacVector 12.5. You’ve probably seen the release via Software Update inside MacVector but if not you can download it from our website if your license is valid for this release or download a 21 day trial.

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Credit: Matthew Yohe

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Nonetheless even though we’ve not yet come across any issues we are committed to fixing bugs. So if you are running MacVector 12 and have already updated to Lion then please do not hesitate to email us or comment on this blog if you find a bug, even if it’s just a little niggle.

If you are not running MacVector 12 then there are some issues. Lion does not include Rosetta and because of this if you are using MacVector 9.5 or earlier then this will definitely not work on Lion.

MacVector versions between 10, 10.5 and 10.6 may still work although these have not been tested yet. MacVector 11 and 11.1 appear to work although it is possible that there are issues.

So before you upgrade your Mac make sure you upgrade your copy of MacVector and discover why MacVector 12 is the best and easiest to use version of MacVector yet!

Why upgrade MacVector?

MacVector has always been designed to be the easiest sequence analysis application to use on the Mac. With the latest release MacVector’s strengths are:

- Graphics: displaying feature rich annotated sequences with a sequence overview allowing you to see your full sequence at a glance

- Subcloning: A point and click interface allows you to select RE sites, digest, then ligate into a vector with ease! Compatible sites are highlighted with a Klenow blunting tool if there are none. MacVector also supports Gateway and TOPO cloning.

- Comparing sequences: You can align cDNA/mRNA/EST clones against genomic sequences, Blast your sequence, search and align against multiple sequences on your hard drive, generate dot plots and much more. Assemble reads against a template sequence with easy SNP analysis.

- Open your data from many sources: direct from Entrez, from Vector NTI databases, from many sequence formats (e.g. GenBank, EMBL, GCG etc) or from sequencing facility files in Fastq, ABI or SCF formats.

- Sequence Annotation: A wide array of algorithms combined with the drag and drop of results to your sequence makes it a quick process to annotate your blank sequence with features. Auto annotation lets you quickly annotate new sequences based on your own collection of curated sequences.

- Designing primers: Click on a feature in your sequence, run the analysis and get a ranked graphical list of the best primer pairs to amplify that feature. You can also design internal hybridisation primers for realtime PCR analysis with additional functions to check/design sequencing primers.

- Sequence assembly: there are tools to easily create de novo assemblies in a few steps or simply compare your sequencing results against the template of your new construct.

The cheapest time yet to upgrade

If all those features are not enough then to help you upgrade we are offering a discount on all upgrades. Upgrade before the end of September and we’ll give you a 25% discount on even very old copies of MacVector. This means you can upgrade to MacVector 12 for as little as $450*

To upgrade request a quote and enter LionUpgrade in the promotional code box

Remember all upgrades of MacVector also include 12 months of free upgrades. This means upgrading now means that you will receive MacVector 12.5 which is due for release later this year.

….and as well!

If you are not convinced about upgrading your copy of MacVector then if you request a quote by the end of August we’ll send you a mousepad to help you remember that which codon stands for Aspartate…..

…and when we receive your order we’ll add a floatie for your water baths!

*For upgrading MacVector 8.1 or higher in the US. Please contact sales@macvector.com for other pricing.

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Kevin Hardman, Rosemary Maratta, Kevin Kendall, Pei-Li Li, Aaron Stainback, and Chris Lindley

It was nice to meet Pei-Li Li, our Asian/Pacific Representative finally!  We had  lunch in exciting downtown Raleigh, even showed him the big acorn!  Guess which person was really not there.