Upgrade to original OS, but which one and where from please?

Hi. I'm running my stock os x of 10.6.8 on my 2010 iMac 21inch. These days I mostly just use the computer for web based stuff. However, the version of chrome I am running (Version 49.0.2623.112 (64-bit) - Is no longer supported. As such quite a few online features no longer work and its getting more and more noticeable each day.

Chrome, My Browser of choice, Says I need to upgrade my OS to at least 10.9 which I believe is 'Mountain Lion'

However, I cannot see it in the app store, Please could some advise me on where to get it from? It seems to be compatible with my iMac, but I cant find it !

Thanks in advance, I dont wanna have to purchase a new iMac when this one is fine otherwise. Just upgrade the OS enough so as chrome is supported again hopefully that makes sense

The biggest issue in this situation is the OS should have been upgraded long ago. 10.6.8 is SEVEN OS version's old (current OS version is 10.13...High Sierra).

Ever since Apple started releasing free OS upgrades via download (4 years ago)...when a newer OS version is released the older previous version is removed. Thus OS 10.9, 10.10, 10.11, and 10.12 will not be available to you...unless you downloaded one or all of them previously (which I'm guessing was not done).

Your 2010 iMac is capable of running the latest MacOS 10.13 (High Sierra)...thus upgrading to High Sierra may be your only choice. Of course keep in mind that when upgrading SEVEN OS versions newer...pretty much any user installed apps will no longer work.

HTH,

- Nick

p.s. By the way...OS 10.9 is Mavericks.

p.p.s. Thread moved to better area. Not a "Switcher Hangout" topic. Thanks

pigoo3 said:

The biggest issue in this situation is the OS should have been upgraded long ago. 10.6.8 is SEVEN OS version's old (current OS version is 10.13...High Sierra).

Ever since Apple started releasing free OS upgrades via download (4 years ago)...when a newer OS version is released the older previous version is removed. Thus OS 10.9, 10.10, 10.11, and 10.12 will not be available to you...unless you downloaded one or all of them previously (which I'm guessing was not done).

Your 2010 iMac is capable of running the latest MacOS 10.13 (High Sierra)...thus upgrading to High Sierra may be your only choice. Of course keep in mind that when upgrading SEVEN OS versions newer...pretty much any user installed apps will no longer work.

HTH,

- Nick

p.s. By the way...OS 10.9 is Mavericks.

p.p.s. Thread moved to better area. Not a "Switcher Hangout" topic. Thanks

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Thanks. So I cant really just go half way, but I need to go all out? Thanks for moving the thread btw. I posted in switchers out of habit.

Also, if I were to go all out and opt for the sierra upgrade, and give up on all my paid for apps (ie cute ftp, and superDuper etc etc), would everything else still be in the same as normal, or would I be effectively starting again from scratch with all my files and folder locations etc?

I don't know but I would strongly advise you to back up to Carbon Copy Cloner or similar on an external hard drive before you upgrade. That way you can restore if some of your apps no longer work.

I upgraded to a 2014 iMac but my wife still has a 2010 iMac although I haven't upgraded hers to High Sierra as I am still experiencing an issue with it on my iMac. The problem has to do with the fact that I have an old Time Capsule which can't be upgraded so you shouldn't have a problem.

OK so I was looking at the high sierra update in the app store and clicked it out of curiosity, and got "This update requires macOS version 10.8 or later." so I guess I cant do this either?

TGITC said:

OK so I was looking at the high sierra update in the app store and clicked it out of curiosity, and got "This update requires macOS version 10.8 or later." so I guess I cant do this either?

Click to expand...

Its OK. I think Ive answered my own question and found the link to El Capitan

Sorry, another question. Would my address book on my current system still be 'full' after the update or would I need to re-enter all the contacts?

TGITC said:

OK so I was looking at the high sierra update in the app store and clicked it out of curiosity, and got "This update requires macOS version 10.8 or later." so I guess I cant do this either?

Click to expand...

OS 10.8 is Mountain Lion. 10.8 was the first fully download only Mac OS...and was the last OS version we had to purchase (currently $19.99).

- Nick

TGITC said:

Its OK. I think Ive answered my own question and found the link to El Capitan

Click to expand...

Where did you find this link?

- Nick

pigoo3 said:

Where did you find this link?

- Nick

Click to expand...

On this apple page - https://discussions.apple.com/thread/7678883?start=0&tstart=0

Scroll down to helpful answers and its the first link. I have downloaded it from the itunes link that I had to log in to. In otherwords, its from apple - Not something dodgy

I downloaded it, then quit before installing, so I have the update option in my menu bar

TGITC said:

On this apple page - https://discussions.apple.com/thread/7678883?start=0&tstart=0

Scroll down to helpful answers and its the first link. I have downloaded it from the itunes link that I had to log in to. In otherwords, its from apple - Not something dodgy

I downloaded it, then quit before installing, so I have the update option in my menu bar

Click to expand...

Good deal. Wanted to be sure you had a "safe link".

As mentioned above...would be a great idea to do a backup of your current setup. Since you have Super Duper...that would be a great app to clone your iMac's hard drive.

As far as your paid for apps. Since El Capitan is still FIVE OS versions newer than what you currently have installed...many (if not all) of your paid for apps will probably not run. You may be able to get a free update so some may run with El Capitan (but I'm thinking the chances of this are rare). More than likely if you still want these apps...you will have to repurchase them...since app developer's usually require an app be repurchased every 2-3 OS versions...since they make major improvements to them over time.

OS 10.6 was released back in 2009 (8 years ago). That's a very very long time in "computer years"!

Good luck,

- Nick

Cool Thanks for your help,

My plan is not to rush into anything, but to do a complete bootable copy in superduper. Then, upload as many essential bits of info to google as possible and give it a go.

I'll go to El Capitan and find my way from there, working it out as I go, but at least if I really dont like it or have any major issues I can always restore the superduper copy to my main drive

All good. Thanks again.

EDIT: BTW< I know I should have upgraded gradually over the years, but the thing was that everything worked perfectly and I didn't want to mess anything up "If its not broke, don't try and fix it" is a phrase I tend to live by, but in this case, it wasn't the correct thing to do Lesson Learnt!

TGITC said:

EDIT: BTW< I know I should have upgraded gradually over the years, but the thing was that everything worked perfectly and I didn't want to mess anything up "If its not broke, don't try and fix it" is a phrase I tend to live by, but in this case, it wasn't the correct thing to do Lesson Learnt!

Click to expand...

Totally understand...many ways in life this logic works well. Problem with computers is...things advance very quickly...and eventually we're forced to change whether we like it or not.

This may not be a perfect analogy...but with Apple releasing a new OS version almost every year...think of "1 OS version" as being equal to "5 automobile years". Thus with this iMac running OS 10.6 (seven OS versions old)...you're sort of "driving" a 35 year-old car.

Even if "1 OS version" = "1 Automobile year"...that would still be 8 years. Some folks would consider driving an 8 year old car...to still be a pretty old car! Lol

- Nick

Well actually it was broken!

Apple has not issued Security nor General Updates for some years now and many members report problems using Snow Leopard's version of Safari with banks etc.

I'm now on High Sierra, and everything seems to be working perfectly. A lot of worry about nothing I think with the benefit of hindsite...

Just thought I'd report back that although the 2 steps were indeed time consuming, they were simple enough.

Congratulations! Too bad you didn't do/try this sooner. But hey...it all worked out in the end.

- Nick