Technology

Xojo and REALbasic Support, Migration & Modernisation
the tool is current. The old project is the problem.

For businesses running a Mac or Windows application written in REALbasic, Real Studio or an early Xojo. We get the old project building again, fix it, bring it into current Xojo with 64-bit and Apple silicon builds, and replace it in stages where that is the better answer.

Request a Xojo assessment Discuss a REALbasic or Xojo application
More about this service

We are an Australian team working remotely with businesses in the United States, the United Kingdom, New Zealand and Australia. Every engagement starts with a scoped technical assessment, so the estimate that follows is based on your code and your data.

  • Assessment A scoped technical review before any estimate
  • 18+ yrs Building business software
  • Independent No licence commission, no reseller agenda
  • US UK NZ AU Australian team, working remotely
Australian owned and operated

Built here. Your data stays here.

  • No offshore development. Everything is written by our own team in Australia. Nothing is subcontracted overseas.
  • Your data stays onshore. Hosted in Australia, on infrastructure you own, under Australian law.
  • Every state, not just ours. Perth, Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, Adelaide and everywhere between.
Xojo developers

The program still runs. The project behind it no longer builds

REALbasic let one person build a proper desktop program for Mac and Windows from a single project, so many businesses ended up with a custom tool written by a consultant or a member of staff. The product became Real Studio and then, in 2013, Xojo, which is still sold and still updated several times a year.

Read more

What ages is the project. It was last saved by a version from years ago, it leans on plugins whose makers have gone, and it was built for the Macs of another era: PowerPC first, then 32-bit Intel, where current Macs run 64-bit Apple silicon. Each of those has a known answer, and Xojo documents which release dropped what.

Our Xojo developer service is for businesses in Perth, Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane. It covers three kinds of work: code fixes and updates, migration to a modern technology stack, and ongoing maintenance and support.

See legacy software modernisation

Three ways forward for a REALbasic or Xojo application

The second is usually the right one, because the tool itself is healthy.

  • Keep it and support it

    The program stays as it is. We work out which version last built it, set that version up on a machine kept for the purpose, fix faults, make small changes, and write down every plugin and file it needs. This suits a Windows program that works, or a Mac program on machines you plan to keep.

  • Bring it into current Xojo

    The same project is opened in a current Xojo and made to build again. Missing plugins are replaced, code written for old Mac and Windows systems is updated, and the program is built as 64-bit for Windows and for Apple silicon Macs. Staff keep the screens they know.

  • Replace it in stages

    Where several people need the same data, or need it from a browser or a phone, the desktop program is replaced by a web application one function at a time, with the data moved to a shared database.

What we do with REALbasic and Xojo projects

Six kinds of work. Most engagements are two or three of them.

  • Project recovery

    Old project files (.rbp, .rb and early Xojo formats) opened, stepped through intermediate versions where needed, and saved in a current format.

  • Plugin audit

    Every plugin the project uses listed, with whether a current 64-bit version exists, has a successor, or has to be replaced with code.

  • 64-bit and Apple silicon builds

    Programs rebuilt as 64-bit for Windows and as native Apple silicon for Mac, with the calls they make into the operating system corrected.

  • Xojo maintenance

    Faults fixed and changes made in existing windows, classes and modules, in whichever version the project is on.

  • Database moves

    Code moved off the old REALSQLDatabase class, and single-user data files moved to a shared database such as PostgreSQL or SQL Server where several people need them.

  • Staged replacement

    Functions rebuilt as a web application one at a time, where a program installed on each computer no longer suits the work.

Supporting it, bringing it forward and replacing it are different projects

Each trades cost against how long the result will keep running on new computers.

  • Leave it on the old version

    Lowest cost. Often fine on Windows, where 32-bit programs generally still run. On a Mac it has a limit: macOS has not run 32-bit programs since Catalina, and Apple is withdrawing the layer that runs Intel programs on current Macs.

  • Bring it into current Xojo

    Most of the code is reused and the program runs on current Macs and Windows again. It is still a desktop program, installed on each computer, and it still depends on Xojo and on whichever plugins remain.

  • Rebuild as a web application

    Nothing depends on Xojo afterwards, and people can use it from anywhere. It takes longest, and is only worth it when shared or remote use is a real need.

What a Xojo assessment looks at

Xojo the product is current. The risk is in the age of the project, its plugins and what it was built for. The release facts are from Xojo documentation and the Mac facts are from Apple.

  • Which version last saved it

    REALbasic, Real Studio or Xojo, and which release. Xojo 2026r3.1 came out on 10 November 2026, and Xojo states that it can open REALbasic and Real Studio projects. Very old files sometimes have to pass through an intermediate version first.

  • Whether the source is complete

    The project file (.rbp, .rb or .xojo_binary_project, or a folder of .xojo_code files), plus the pictures, external files and plugins it used. A site that holds only the built program can run it but cannot change it.

  • Plugins

    Add-ons from other companies, in old .rbx or newer .xojo_plugin files. Current Xojo only recognises a plugin that has a 64-bit part, so each one needs a current version, a replacement or new code.

  • What it was built for

    Xojo documents the cut-offs. PowerPC Macs ended with release 2011r3, Carbon, the older Mac foundation, with 2014r2, and 32-bit Mac programs with 2019r3.2. 64-bit builds arrived in 2015r3 and Apple silicon builds in 2020r2.

  • Calls into the operating system

    Lines that call Windows or macOS directly, which Xojo calls Declares. In a 64-bit program the size of numbers changes and only 64-bit libraries can be used, so each one is checked.

  • Removed features

    QuickTime classes were removed in 2014 and the old 3D classes in 2012. The REALSQLDatabase class was replaced by SQLiteDatabase. Code that used any of them needs a replacement.

  • The data

    A SQLite file beside the program, plain files on a shared drive, or a server database such as MySQL or PostgreSQL. A file used by one person is a different problem from one shared across an office.

  • Licences and current systems

    Xojo is free to download and open a project in, and a licence is needed to build a finished program. Current Xojo builds for macOS 11 to 26 and Windows 10 and 11. Signing, so that a Mac will open the program, is checked too.

A REALbasic project that no longer opens, or a Mac program that will not run?

Call 0425 531 127 or Request a Xojo assessment

What the assessment needs from you

A fixed-scope piece of work with a written result: the options, the risks of each, and a staged estimate. No production data is sent by email. We agree a secure way to share it first.

  • Version

    The REALbasic or Xojo version that last built it, if known, and the Mac and Windows versions it runs on.

  • The project

    Whether the project file exists, where it is kept, and when it was last opened.

  • Plugins

    Any plugins or add-ons you know of, and whether you hold their installers and licences.

  • Xojo licence

    Whether you hold a REALbasic, Real Studio or Xojo licence, and in whose name.

  • The data

    Where the program keeps its data, how big it is, and whether more than one person uses it at once.

  • Users and machines

    How many people use it, on which Macs and PCs, and how it gets onto a new computer today.

  • Integrations

    Files in and out, printers and devices, and other systems it exchanges data with.

  • What is hurting

    The two or three problems that started the conversation.

  • The way back

    How long the business can run on the old program if a changeover has to be reversed.

How it runs

From assessment to a supported application

Done remotely, with meeting times agreed to suit your time zone.

  1. Technical assessment

    We establish which version last saved the project, what source you hold, every plugin it needs and what it was built for. You get a written list of options with the risks of each and a staged estimate.

  2. A working build

    The project is made to open and build, first in a version close to the one it was written in, and the result is compared with the program you run today. Until that works, no change is safe.

  3. Proof of concept

    One representative piece, usually the main window and its data built in current Xojo for a current Mac or PC, is taken end to end.

  4. Staged work

    The work is done in stages agreed from the assessment, each with its own scope and estimate, starting with whatever is hurting the business most.

  5. Comparison and user testing

    Old and new are run side by side on the same data, on the Macs and PCs you really use, and your staff test the work they do every day.

  6. Cutover and support

    Each switch is planned with a way back. We watch the first days of live use, then maintain the system for as long as it stays in service.

What people ask us about Xojo

Is REALbasic still supported?

Under its current name, yes. REALbasic became Real Studio and then, in 2013, Xojo. Xojo is still sold and updated, and Xojo 2026r3.1 was released on 10 November 2026. The old REALbasic and Real Studio versions themselves are no longer updated.

Will an old REALbasic project open in current Xojo?

Often, yes. Xojo states that it can open REALbasic and Real Studio project files. Opening is the easy half. Building again means replacing missing plugins and updating code written for older Macs and Windows. It is a project, not a file conversion.

Why did our Mac program stop running?

Usually because of what it was built as. macOS stopped running 32-bit programs with Catalina. A program built only for Intel depends on Rosetta, which Apple says is available up to macOS 27 and only for certain older games after that. A native build fixes both.

Xojo is still sold. Why would we replace it?

Often you should not, and we will say so. The reasons to move are usually that several people now need the same data at once, that people need it from a browser or a phone, or that the business does not want to depend on one desktop tool.

A plugin we relied on no longer exists. What happens?

Each plugin is checked for a current 64-bit version, then for a successor from another maker, and last for whether plain Xojo code can do the job. The plugins with no answer are the hard cases, and they are found first.

We have lost the project file. Is that fatal?

It rules out bringing the same code forward, because a built program cannot be turned back into a project. It does not end the conversation. The data survives, and a replacement can be built from what the program does today.

Do you provide Xojo developers in Perth, Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane?

Yes. We are an Australian team and we take on Xojo work for businesses in Perth, Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane, and elsewhere in Australia. Most of the work is done remotely, by video call and screen share, with secure access to a copy of your system. The service is the same in every city: code fixes and updates, migration to a modern technology stack, and ongoing maintenance and support.

How does this work from the United States, the United Kingdom or New Zealand?

Remotely. We are based in Australia and do not have offices elsewhere. Discovery is done by video call and screen share, with meeting times agreed to suit your time zone. Confidentiality, who can reach your systems and where your data is held are agreed in writing before work starts.

What does it cost?

The assessment is a fixed-scope piece of work with an agreed fee. The estimate for anything after it comes from what the assessment finds, in stages, so you are not asked to commit to a whole project on a guess.

Tell us about your Xojo or REALbasic application

What the application does, the version if known, whether you hold the project file, and what is forcing the question. Include your country so we can suggest meeting times. Please do not send production data.

Prefer a quick chat? Call 0425 531 127. We answer the phone in Perth.

Kasun Wijayamanna, founder of HELLO PEOPLE

Kasun Wijayamanna, founderYou deal with Kasun from scope to delivery. No account managers and no offshore handoff.