> On Sep 26, 2016, at 9:51 AM, Julia Brinckloe <[email protected]> wrote: > > I have a query regarding Mac system upgrades. > > I am currently running Mavericks (OSX 10.9.5) on my Mac Mini, 2.3 GHz Intel > Core i5, 16 GB RAM. > > I've been reluctant to upgrade to Yosemite or El Capitan because this works > well for me (and my peripherals). I know upgrades use more memory. Not sure > about support for older peripherals. > > Is there any real advantage to upgrading--enough to override "if it ain't > broke, don't fix it"..? > > Thanks in advance for opinion on this. jb
The amount of installed RAM in your Mac Mini is more than enough to handle even macOS 10.12 Sierra, so that’s not a problem. And the size of the basic macOS software has been shrinking, so that’s not a concern either. What is a concern, though, is the support Apple provides with security updates. Beginning with OS X 10.7 Lion, Apple has settled into a regular 3-year cycle. Mavericks was introduced on October 22, 2013 and thus is nearing the end of the cycle during which Apple actively provides security and other updates, such as to Safari. Since macOS updates to new versions have been free since Mavericks, it makes sense to take advantage of them, if only to keep the operating system up to date with today’s online environment, where security is an ever-growing issue. For me, that’s reason enough to upgrade to the newest version of macOS/OS X that my Macs will run. Yes, there are niggling concerns about the need to update third-party software, and I just went through about a half dozen updates of things such as Carbon Copy Cloner, DiskWarrior and SpamSieve to make them work with Sierra, but a bunch of other software providers including Apple had already automatically provided updates to their software. As for peripherals, yes, that’s a concern. Printer manufacturers, to pick an apt example, are notorious for pushing out new hardware and ignoring operating system-compatible driver updates for older hardware. Often, trying to make an older printer work with the latest version of an operating system is impossible for that reason. But there’s a workaround for all that. What I do — every year since Apple’s now on an annual OS update cycle — is to keep a cloned copy of the most recent 2 or 3 versions of OS X on an external drive. Right now, for example, I’ve got one 4 TB drive loaded with a clone of Sierra which is backed up daily by Carbon Copy Cloner. Then I’ve got a clone of El Capitan and Yosemite on that same drive. The Sierra clone space was used for the Mavericks backup clone. When macOS 10.13 comes out next fall, the Yosemite clone will disappear. This setup allows me to reboot into an older OS X version should the need arise, whether it’s because of hardware or software. I rarely have to use these older clones, but it’s nice to know they’re there if I need them. The Yosemite clone helped me get past the drastic changes to Disk Utility that El Capitan introduced. On the other hand, an easier solution for you may be to partition the internal drive so that you’ve got a Mavericks partition and a current-macOS partition. Another solution would be to use software like Parallels which permits users to run multiple versions of Mac operating systems side by side without rebooting. Or you can stick with what you’ve got until it no longer can do the job and then get all-new everything, which is a strategy a lot of people I know use. Since I think you’re running a mid-2011 Mac Mini, you’ve probably got a few more years to go on that platform. Good luck. -- You received this message because you are a member of the iMac Group, a group for those using Apple iMacs and eMacs. The list FAQ is at http://lowendmac.com/imac/list.shtml and our netiquette guide is at http://www.lowendmac.com/lists/netiquette.shtml To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To leave this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/imaclist --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "iMac Group" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
