Mavericks v El Capitan v Sierra

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I have a late 2010 Macbook Air; Processor: 2.13 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo; Memory: 4GB 1067 MHz DDR3. At the moment it runs on OS 10.9.5 (Mavericks). I recently had a notice from Adobe CC that I’d need to upgrade to OS 10.11 (El Capitan) to run the next major revamp of the Adobe CC suite, whenever that is.
Questions:
1 Can I upgrade straight to El Capitan or do I need to upgrade to OS 10.10 (Yosemite), then 10.11?
2 Also, what’s the general verdict re El Capitan? Is it better than it’s predecessors? Or is 10.12 (Sierra) the best so far? (stability and bug-free is more important to me than bells and whistles)

Finally, can I run any of these on my Macbook Air?

With thanks in advance
 
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Well, off the bat, did you previously download El Capitan or Yosemite? If not, those are no longer available in the Mac App Store, only Sierra is available now, so your options may be limited.

You can upgrade however you want.
As for the recent OS X versions, I have not had any major issues due to them, other things, yes, but not with OS X.

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201475
 
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That's very helpful, ferrarr - thankyou very much! V useful link which I've noted. No, I never got around to downloading Yosemite or El Capitan: Updating OS software always brings on a severe case of deferral-itis for me (horrors of ending up with all kinds of glitches not to say unexpected expense re having to update all sorts of other stuff - with all the accompanying loss of time (earnings) and sanity until I eventually reach the sunny uplands of useability. Hence I take the plunge as rarely as I can get away with! I'm sure I'm not alone there. I'll keep an eye on how Sierra fares - I see it only came out Sep 2016 so they may add some improvements over the next few weeks or so to iron out bugs. With thanks again for your help
 

pigoo3

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No, I never got around to downloading Yosemite or El Capitan: Updating OS software always brings on a severe case of deferral-itis for me (horrors of ending up with all kinds of glitches not to say unexpected expense re having to update all sorts of other stuff - with all the accompanying loss of time (earnings) and sanity until I eventually reach the sunny uplands of useability. Hence I take the plunge as rarely as I can get away with! I'm sure I'm not alone there.

The "Apple World" of OS upgrading has changed. The days of upgrading when you feel like it...and being able to easily get that OS version from Apple...is no longer possible.

Ever since the first free Mac OS upgrade download (Mavericks, 10.9)...which you have...almost as soon as a new OS version is released...the previous free download version is removed from the Apple servers. Thus Mavericks, Yosemite, and El Capitan are no longer available for download.

What the strategy now is...when a new Mac OS version is released...you download it at some point while it's available (even if you don't need it or want to upgrade at that time). Then it will be in your "purchased" apps in your App Store account...and can always be downloaded at a later time when you decide you need it & want to upgrade. If a person has never downloaded a previous OS version...then it is not available to them.

Right now some 2010 computer models are at the cut-off for compatability for Sierra (including your 2010 MacBook Air). There's a good chance that the next OS version may not be compatible with a 2010 MacBook Air. Sierra may be the last OS version it can run.

Thus word to the wise.;) Download Sierra ASAP...even if you don't want to upgrade now. If you wait too long (say 10-12 months)...then Sierra will disappear when the next OS version comes out. And then you won't have a Sierra upgrade option either.:(

- Nick
 
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Ah that's wise advice, Nick. Thankyou! I'll look into it when I have a mo... Those links at the bottom of your post look handy for future ref, too
 
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You do not even have to download Sierra, you only need to have it start the download, so it will be associated with your Apple ID, then you can pause the download. When, or, if you are ready, you can download the most recently updated version.
 

Slydude

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That's a good idea I usually download updates as they come out so I have never thought to do that.
 

chscag

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I don't think you can download Sierra from the App Store without it trying to install. And it appears that from now on Apple will be making OS X updates available direct from the App Store and not by notifying users thru the update wizard process. Maybe the combined OS X updates will be the exception?
 
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True that the install starts, but you can exit out at the first screen and the installer will be in the Applications folder. So you can download and store the installer somewhere else for later on. I have done that with each install since Mavericks. Not that I think I'll want to go back, but it just seemed to make sense to have them as insurance.
 
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I have a late 2010 Macbook Air; Processor: 2.13 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo; Memory: 4GB 1067 MHz DDR3. At the moment it runs on OS 10.9.5 (Mavericks).

I have just (well, 10 days ago) upgraded my wife's MacBook Air 11" late-2010 (3,1), 4GB/128GB, 256MB NVIDIA, 1.6GHz C2D, from Mavericks to Sierra.
Straight upgrade, rather than a fresh install.
Not a single issue, much better memory management - I kept checking the stats for a few days.
My wife is very happy with it - appears to run faster too, and she usually has 500 tabs open in Safari, all showing some meowing or baking stuff ... :)
 

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