Which Mac operating system is the best is a topic of numerous debates among Apple fans.
Make sure you are ready to downgrade your operating system by checking in with what version of OS X you already have and ensuring you have enough hard drive room to download the older version. Clicking the apple in the top left corner of your desktop and selecting About This Mac will allow you to see what OS X version you are currently running. MacOS Big Sur (version 11.0) is the seventeenth and next major release of macOS, Apple Inc.' S operating system for Macintosh computers. The successor to macOS Catalina (version 10.15), it was announced at Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference on June 22, 2020, with public release scheduled for later in the year. It is named after the coastal region of Big Sur in the Central Coast of California.
Since the mission of this blog is to refute myths and legends around Macs, it’s time for me to provide my 2 cents about the issue on hand. While everything below is just my opinion, as a long-time Mac user and veteran software engineer, I hope my opinion worth something.
TLDR; The best Mac OS version is the one that your Mac is eligible to upgrade to. In 2019-2020 it is macOS Catalina. However, users that need to run 32-bit applications on Mac should not go with Catalina because it only supports 64-bit apps. Also, older Macs would benefit if upgraded at least to macOS Sierra because this is the earliest operating system for which Apple still releases security updates.
Update: On WWDC 2020 Apple announced a new macOS Big Sur, which is said to have the biggest UI redesign and the biggest Safari update. New Safari will run 50% faster than Chrome and use less battery. It also has new limitations: Big Sur will require at least MacBook Pro late 2013, MacBook Air 2013, and Mac Mini 2014 or later to run. Big Sur will be released in the fall of 2020.
To find out which macOS is currently running on your Mac, follow these steps:
Not all Macs can be upgraded to the latest OS version. For instance, old Macs powered by PowerPC CPUs cannot run OS intended for Intel-based computers. Also, some versions have hardware limitations.
For instance, Mojave cannot be installed on MacBook Pro earlier than Mid 2012 model.
Check below to know exactly what version of OS your Mac can run.
Anytime someone asks me which OS is best for them I always suggested going with the latest. Things have changed recently, however.
While personally I like macOS Catalina and have it installed on my MacBook Pro, Catalina comes with serious breaking changes. If you have old 32-bit apps, they will not run in the new OS. macOS Catalina and newer can only run 64-bit apps.
If you wondering whether you should upgrade to macOS Catalina, first verify that you don’t have any 32-bit apps. But first, take a back up, so you can go back in case something breaks after upgrade. Squeed 1 12 9 download free.
For instance, I had to remove uTorrent after upgrade. And I didn’t know that uTorrent is 32-bit!
To find out whether the app on your Mac is 32-bit or 64-bit follow these steps:
If you have an older Mac which is not eligible to upgrade with some latest software or hardware, I’d suggest upgrading at least to Sierra for the following reasons:
The most important point when choosing the best OS is the ability getting security updates. While Apple generally does not announce the OS end of life dates, it is possible to know when they stop releasing security updates from this page.
For instance, according to the page, the last security update for OS X Yosemite was released on September 12, 2017. The last update for OS X El Capitan was in July 2018, and Carnegie Mellon University confirmed that El Capitan’s end of life date was August 2018.
I know that some users on forums believe that the best OS version for Macs was Snow Leopard. But that is a myth. And I know how such myths get created.
Once I worked in the company, which was selling a 20-year old product. And customers were still using and didn’t want to switch to new versions, because the old one was rock solid.
I then talked to the engineer who worked on the project, and he revealed that the product was a total disaster when it was first deployed. Engineers had to work on-site for almost a year in order to fix all bugs.
After five or so years of polishing the product, it becomes virtually bug-free, and nobody now remembers how bad it was when it was first rolled out. A similar thing happened Snow Leopard, and it was recognized as best mac os version after some time.
There are two ways to update to the latest OS version on Mac:
This is by far the best option, but it only available if you have Yosemite, or later OS installed already. If you enabled automatic updates, then Mac will inform you that the next macOS is available.
Just open System Preferences, go to Software Update and click on the Upgrade Now button.
This method is also best if wondering how to check if you have the latest version of OS installed on your Mac. Only the version compatible with your hardware will appear here.
For instance, my the latest version for Mac Mini 2012 is Mojave, I can’t install anything newer than that.
For older systems or in case you need to downgrade, you have to download a standalone installer in DMG format. DMG stands for disk image, similar to ISO, just different formats.
After downloading the installer, just double click on it and follow instructions. Again, do not forget to take a backup before the upgrade.
Following is a high-level description of all Mac operating systems as early as Mountain Lion.
You can refer to those descriptions when deciding which operating system is best for your iMac, Mac Pro, Mac mini, or MacBook.
With each OS description, I included a list of Macs supported. However, you can use Mac OS compatibility checker for more detailed information.
macOS v10.15 (codename Catalina) is the latest version of the operating system for Apple computers.
Release date: October 7, 2019
Hardware Requirements: RAM requirement increased from 2GB to 4GB.
Software Compatibility Issues
macOS Catalina is the first Mac operating system that does not support 32-bit applications. Only 64-bit apps are allowed to run on Catalina.
There are two ways to install Catalina: enable automatic updates in System Preferences or download by using the following link.
Release date: September 24, 2018
Hardware Requirements: 2GB RAM and 18.5GB free space on disk
https://heresload773.weebly.com/blog/cooking-cocaine-without-baking-soda. If your Mac is eligible to update to Mojave, then the easiest way to install it is by enabling automatic updates. Downloading a standalone Mojave installer could be a little tricky.
Release date: September 25, 2017
Hardware Requirements: 2GB RAM and 14.3GB free space on disk
Here is a High Sierra download link.
This is the first macOS version. Previous OS versions for Macs were called OS X (X stands for 10).
Release date: September 20, 2016
Hardware Requirements: 2GB RAM and 8GB free space on disk
Here is a Sierra download link.
Apple leopard download free. Last OS X version.
Release date: September 30, 2015
Hardware Requirements: 2GB RAM and 8GB free space on disk
same as OS Mountain Lion.
Here is El Capitan download link.
Release date: October 16, 2014
Hardware Requirements: 2GB RAM and 8GB free space on disk
Same as OS Mountain Lion.
Here is Yosemite download link.
First free Mac OS. Previous OS versions vary from $19.99 to $129.
Release date: October 22, 2013
Hardware Requirements: 2GB RAM and 8GB free space on disk
Same as OS Mountain Lion.
Microsoft excel for mac 2016 newiso. OS X Mavericks installer is not available on Apple Site. Follow instructions here to install Mavericks.
Must be purchased. Apple store external hard drive. Fixed many bugs introduced in OS X Lion.
Release date: July 25, 2012
System Requirements: 2GB RAM and 8GB free space on disk
Mountain Lion installer is not available on Apple Site. Follow instructions here to install OS X Mountain Lion.
Following Mac OS versions are still running on older Macs, but Apple does not support them anymore, and there is no point to upgrade (or downgrade) to them:
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