Upgrade or wait for the next OS?

[sllewk]

Good morning every-one, I am toying with the idea of upgrading to Mojave, quite why I am not really sure! Perhaps I am missing out on better security etc or even some excellent new software?

I think the Dark Mode frightens me a little bit! Not sure why except to say that the elevator do not go up high enough to reach the top floor very often these days and I end up short tempered and frustrated with it all.

Very best regards from Keith in Derby England.

 

[ferrarr]

You may want to just "Get" Mojave, and not install it? You never know if this one or the next one will mess something up, having other options is not a bad thing. Just downloading it, does not mean you need to install it.

 

[sllewk]

Hi Bob, you are getting very technical now with "just downloading and not installing "! How on earth would I do that with the OS because with the OS I thought it would be an automatic installation. Sorry Bob I am as thick as two short planks glued and screwed together!!! A description on how would be greatly appreciated this way. What would be the point of downloading and not installing?

Very best regards from Keith in Derby England.

 

[Raz0rEdge]

Keith, Dark Mode is an option, not a default on Mojave. If you don't like/want it, you don't have to use it. As far as Bob's suggestion, that's a good one just so that you have a copy of Mojave if you didn't wish to upgrade.

Go to the App Store and you'll find Mojave prominently displayed somewhere, if not, search for it. Click on the GET button to grab the installer. This will download an approx. 4.5GB file to your /Applications folder. Once the download finishes, the installer is automatically run, but you can just quit the installer. Now open up Finder and go over to /Applications and you'll see the Install macOS Mojave or something so named.

Grab a copy of Diskmaker X and a USB drive (that is at least 8GB in size). Plug the USB drive in, start up Diskmaker X and point it to the installer in the /Application folder and it will now create a bootable USB drive with Mojave on it. Anytime in the future if you want to upgrade, use the USB drive.

 

[krs]

I see at least three apps to make a USB installer:
DiskMaker X
Disk Creator
Disk Drill
plus of course the Apple recommended method using Terminal

They all seem to approach creating an installer somewhat differently.
Is there any subtle difference in the final result?

Several of the videos and descriptions I see on line also mention that one needs a 16GB or larger USB flash drive.
Not sure where that comes from.
I created a USB Mojave installer on an 8GB Flash Drive using Disk Creator - seems to have worked fine, but I didn't test it yet.

 

[Raz0rEdge]

I avoid suggesting the Terminal except to those who are advanced users of the Terminal in general. I have used DiskMaker X and have it create workable USB drives for installation. I have not tried the others and do not know if they are free or paid, but since DiskMaker X is free and fairly easy to use (very single purpose), I usually recommend that.

 

[pigoo3]

...I am toying with the idea of upgrading to Mojave, quite why I am not really sure! Perhaps I am missing out on better security etc or even some excellent new software?

The first thing to always consider when contemplating an OS upgrade...make sure any hardware or software you currently use will be compatible with the newer OS version.

If you carelessly upgrade to a newer OS version...you may suddenly find that you can no longer use your printer or scanner (for example)...and some of your apps that worked fine previously...don't work after the upgrade (and you need to update the apps or purchase brand new versions).

This is nothing new. This has been a "rule of thumb" for computer users since the 1980's...when personal computers first became popular.

- Nick

p.s. And definitely download Mojave as member Ferrarr mentioned before it is no longer available. Once the next macOS version is released (Catalina) very soon...Mojave will very likely not be available.

Yes...Mojave can be downloaded without it auto-installing. The auto-installing usually happens if you say "yes" when you get an "upgrade your OS" message from Apple. But if you download OS upgrades directly from the App Store...the installer usually just gets placed in your "Applications" folder...ready for when you want to use it.

 

[sllewk]

Hi Bob, Ashwin and krs, my thanks to all three of you for your interesting replies! I have now downloaded DiskMaker X and when I feel brave enough (NO please do not laugh) I will attempt to put Mojave in there. As I reported I am as thick as two short planks glued and screwed together when it comes to any sort of computer; I do manage to stagger by in most situations, although some really get me going - then I start to swear under my breath.

Very best regards from Keith in Derby England.

 

[IWT]

@Keith

Great to hear from you again.

The best advice has already been given which, if I might abbreviate, is Download macOS Mojave from the App Store, don't install, but keep it in the Applications Folder where it will go automatically.

(Whether you make a Bootable Installer is, in a sense, and with no offence to others, irrelevant because you can always initiate the installation process at a later date).

Catalina is a big, big change not only because it will not run 32 bit apps, but the whole OS has been overhauled.

So my advice is get Mojave now, while you can - it will likely not be available after Catalina is released. (NB I said get, not necessarily install).

That way, you can decide later whether to make the big jump from macOS High Sierra to Catalina OR just move up to macOS Mojave which will be supported for at least the next three years.

Choice! Keeping the options open!

Ian

 

[harryb2448]

When you use DiskMaker X and make the Mojave USB thumb drive, if it wants to install, you can use Command Q to get it to quit, and you will have HS stillk as the operating system.

 

[Slydude]

As I reported I am as thick as two short planks glued and screwed together when it comes to any sort of computer; I do manage to stagger by in most situations, although some really get me going - then I start to swear under my breath.

Very best regards from Keith in Derby England.

BTW If you must swear, do so at the top of your lungs and with as much gusto as you can manage. I've heard that it's much more fun that way.

 

[sllewk]

Good morning every-one, all the advice given so freely was instrumental in bringing about the mind blowing decision to upgrade! I bit the bullet about an hour ago and am now running Mojave 10.14, what sort of difference it will make I have no idea and could not even hazard a guess! Thank you all so very much for your input it is greatly appreciated this way. THANK YOU ALL!

By the way my Apple iMac and the MacBook Pro are both expensive toys not workhorses.

Very best regards from Keith in Derby England.

 

[IWT]

Bravo, Keith.

Enjoy macOS Mojave. Any questions....well, you know where to come.

Ian

 

[Rod]

When you download Mojave and quit, it will be in your applications folder as stated. Creating a Mojave installer on a USB drive gives you one very important extra feature. Diskmaker X will create a Bootable Installer from the Mojave Upgrade installer. This is a very handy tool and form of insurance
In short it means that if your internal drive were to fail for some reason you can boot your device from the USB installer. By holding the Option key at startup. You can repair or reinstall or even erase your internal HD and perform a clean instal of Mojave using the Disk Utility on the USB.
This is very valuable because Apple will not allow you to perform a retrograde macOS instal if it can see you have a later version installed like Catalina even if it's broken.
Lastly, be patient. Once you start and follow the instructions for using Diskmaker X it may seem as though nothing is happening. Don't fret, it will notify you at various stages of its progress and it can take a while.
Oh and 10GB is plenty for the task. Diskmaker will erase and format it for you so a new one is probably worth the price.
And this is why I prefer Diskmaker X.


Sent from my iPad using Mac-Forums

 

[sllewk]

Good afternoon to every-one, the response to my query has been outstanding, too many to name on here but you know who I mean - THANK YOU ALL!

Hopefully I shall continue to enjoy Mojave as days go by with each day bringing a new revelation; I do like the NEWS under that new icon- it is split up into different bits just as I like it.

Sad to say I did something wrong after the download and ended up installing it instead of saving it on a bootable memory stick. Never mind it is up and running and also most pleasing. Oh, I know I could go

into Superduper and do an about turn but why bother, it is up and running that is all that matters this way.

Very best regards from Keith in Derby England.

 

[harryb2448]

It has always been a conundrum Keith ~ should it be no swearing aloud or no swearing allowed?

 

[pm-r]

(Whether you make a Bootable Installer is, in a sense, and with no offence to others, irrelevant because you can always initiate the installation process at a later date).

I'm in full agreement with Ian's comments here, and I often wonder why so many always seem to suggest using DiskMaker X.app to create an installer disk and creating the extra work when most users can just use the MacOS installer file that was downloaded from the Apple site.

Just curious, but why suggest a process that most new users don't even need, or to make an OS X install more confusing that it needs to be.

I'd say that Apple got it pretty well as simple as it could be done. Except for when they forgot to tell the user that the installer was downloaded into the Applications folder with a different name than expected.


- Patrick
======

 

[ferrarr]

Patrick, some members prefer to have the installer on a USB, so they can do testing on their Mac(s) without having to boot into the Recovery partition. And it will also install the OS, without discarding it from the Applications folder.

 

[Slydude]

You're right Bob. I keep the installers around for just that reason. Especially now that some of the installers might not be in a user's purchase history. I ran into that issue recently when I was in the process of resurrecting my 2008 MacBook Pro. The OS version I wanted to use wasn't in my purchased items list in the App Store. It took me a while to get to the version I wanted. In the time it took me to find a workable download that was legit I could have been half-way toward completing the reinstall.

There's also the time and data wasted re-downloading OS versions. Users with metered data plans or slow internet connections are not going to like that option.

 

[MacInWin]

I have it on a bootable USB so that if my SSD dies and I have to get a replacement, I don't have to go through the whole Internet recovery process and can just. boot from the USB and install and get back in the water quicker.