I have a 2019 iMac, running Mojave V10.14.6--and Office 2008. I need to update!

[callmedory]

I understand that to update the iMac’s OS to Catalina, I should update Office first, since Office 2008 will not work with Catalina.

We also have an older iMac (no OS updates possible, it’s 2010? 2011?)--and a MBP that should also go to Catalina & Office. I haven’t decided if the iPhone 11’s really need Office on them or not.

We have old docs (word/excel) that we don’t want to lose and continually use (yes, everything on the iMac is double-backed-up, the MBP is only single-backed-up). We’re not gamers, social media types, video, or even porn--we’re boring and we don’t mind that. Mostly just word processing, spreadsheets, and going online.

My husband and I use one Apple account and have open-access to everything between us. I’m responsible for making sure things work and such, so we don’t *need* 2 usernames/accounts, though if we had it (family plan), some siblings may--or may not--use the access.

1) So, what’s the best plan to update and in what order?

2) And what’s the difference between Office 365 and 2019 (besides price)--and which would be best in our situation?

 

[MacInWin]

There may be varying opinions, but I use the MS365 subscription and get up to five copies of Office for $7/month, which is not bad. I have three installed, plus the mobile versions on two iPhones and two iPads. The latest version still opens all of the old doc and docx files, the old xls and xlsx files, plus you get Outlook and Powerpoint as well.

So, my recommendation is to switch to the 365 subscription, but you don't have to do that first. You can upgrade to Catalina and then reinstall Office with the 365 subscription and all your files should work.

 

[chscag]

In addition to what Jake advised, Microsoft has announced that they will publish a stand alone (non subscription) version of Office 2020.

However, according to Apple, Microsoft is working on a version of Office which will natively run on the new Apple Silicon machines. For now though, Office will be translated by Rosetta 2 on the new Macs.

 

[MacInWin]

I suspect, although I have not investigated, that the MS365 subscription version will be upgraded to run natively on Apple Silicon when the time comes as part of the general support. MS has updated the Office package through HS to Mojave to Catalina that way, so there is no reason not to expect it to continue into Big Sur.

 

[chscag]

Definitely. Office is a "cash cow" for Microsoft so there is no doubt that they will keep it up to date.

 

[Randy B. Singer]

I understand that to update the iMac’s OS to Catalina, I should update Office first, since Office 2008 will not work with Catalina.
...

1) So, what’s the best plan to update and in what order?

See:

Upgrading To The Very Latest Macintosh Operating System

I do not recommend upgrading to Catalina. Ever. You will lose the use of all of your 32-bit only apps. Catalina also had a couple of nasty bugs that were never fixed, including a data loss bug in Mail.

If your Mac(s) have an internal rotating disk hard drive (rather than an SSD), I don't recommend upgrading to either Calalina or even Mojave. Mojave reformats your internal hard drive to APFS non-optionally. APFS is optimized for SSD's and not for RDHD's and so will impact performance if you have an internal RDHD.

Unless you need to run something that will only run in Catalina, I'd stand pat with the version of the OS you are currenly running if it is working well.

2) And what’s the difference between Office 365 and 2019 (besides price)--and which would be best in our situation?

Office 2019 is the current version of the Microsoft Office suite that you are accustomed to. Office 365 is a subscription service that includes Office 2019 and a few other things such as storage space in the cloud. You can purchase Office 2019 for a one-time fee. You pay for 365 monthly in perpetuity, and when you cancel, you don't own a fully functioning copy of Office 2019.

If you like Microsoft Office, and want to update it, you may instead want to check out this free alternative that is extremely similar:

Free Office (free)

FreeOffice: Die beste kostenlose Alternative zu Microsoft Office

FreeOffice, die beste kostenlose Alternative zu Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, PowerPoint) für Windows, Mac und Linux

www.freeoffice.com

It might help if you tell us why you feel that you want/need to upgrade to Catalina.

 

[MacInWin]

Couple of nitpicks on Randy's post. The product from Microsoft is Microsoft 365, not Office 365. I have the "Family" plan so for $10/month I get up to six copies of Office, plus Office for iDevices and a TB of storage for all six licenses on OneDrive. Given I have an actual need for four licenses, that's the best deal for me. Yes, I won't own a copy if I stop the license, but then again, I get all the updates and upgrades for that monthly subscription rather than having to buy a new copy every time. For me, it makes economic sense.

As for the upgrade to Catalina, I agree, in part, with Randy. If you have a rotating drive, definitely avoid it. The 32 bit software issue is a user-by-user issue. I didn't have any 32 bit software that was not updated to be compatible and run, so no issue for me. But the rotating drive and APFS performance hit is real. The Mail bug never got me, either. Maybe I just live a clean life???

EDIT: I meant to add this link to show the name of the products from MS. I'm not pushing or selling it, just linking to the site for the name of the package: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/buy/compare-all-microsoft-365-products

 

[pm-r]

It might help if you tell us why you feel that you want/need to upgrade to Catalina.

I'm glad you asked, as I was wondering the same thing myself, and I am assuming that everything is working well as things are now.


- Patrick
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[callmedory]

I am truly appreciating the help I'm getting here, even if some advice conflicts. I realize "A" may be good in some cases, "B" in others--and I have to figure out which I am.

I am considering updating because when I updated my iPhone 11, it can no longer communicate with our iMac. No loading pics unless I email/message and manually import, but I can't sync any photos back to the iPhone. Our iMac has ALL of our pics--I import them all, sort them, edit the ones I like, and reload various albums back to the phones.

1) How would I know if I have a rotating drive? This MBP says "Flash Storage" in "About This Mac > Storage"--is that where I should be looking? If so, iMac says "Fusion Drive." No idea on this part.

2) And how would I know if I have any 32-bit apps?

3) My husband prefers to own the copies when possible, so I'm going to have to look at that more. I wouldn't mind opinions with reasons, so I know which is more like our case. We basically use Word/Excel and some Powerpoint. But not really a whole lot (Photos...LOTS of photos). I'm looking in Apps folder...aside from what came with this, I'm seeing:
Amazon Music
Google (various: Drive, Chrome, etc--Chrome is needed for access to some websites I must be able to access)
My Harmony (for my logitech remote control)
Pinterest
Quicktime

My iphone 11 has way more apps than this, and I haven't had issues with them after I updated to 14.1.

 

[MacInWin]

To check for 32 bit apps you can look for an app called Go64 that will identify anything 32 bit for you. Or you can open the  icon top left of the screen, then About This Mac, click on System Report and then click on the "Applications" item under Software and wait for the system to fill in the report (It may take some time. Eventually it will populate and one of the columns may show whether it's 32 or 64 bit, or you can click on each and see the "Kind:' information. Don't worry about the stuff from Apple, it will get replaced with the installation. It's the non-Apple stuff that you need to be sensitive to.

In the same report, if you click on Storage in the left column, it should show the nature of your internal drive (and all the connected drives). "Flash" normally means it's an SSD, which will work very nicely under Mojave or Catalina.

I understand your husband's preference. But do the math a bit before you purchase. For essentially $10/month you get 6 copies of the full Office suite, plus access to as much as 6TB of online storage. And the updates come automatically to you about monthly, to all installations, so you never have to worry if you are out of date. If it makes better financial sense to purchase, that's ok, too. If I only needed one license, it would be a closer call at $7/month for one subscription as opposed to the $149 price of one license to buy. The break-even point is about 24 months. For me, I needed 4 licenses, so it was closer to $600 to buy, but I can subscribe for $10, so the break even is 60 months, or five years.

 

[callmedory]

Thanks!

Omg! I could lose "Gallifreyan Translator" app! LOL. Something I've yet to actually look at. "My Harmony," for my Logitech remote...that matters more.

Under Storage > Physical Drive Medium Type, it says "SSD"--so I'll assume that means SSD. That's on the MBP; I'll check the iMac.

 

[chscag]

If so, iMac says "Fusion Drive." No idea on this part.

I'll check the iMac.

As above, your iMac has a Fusion drive which is combo small SSD and regular hard drive "fused" together. Definitely not a candidate for Mojave or Catalina. Do not upgrade your iMac.

 

[toMACsh]

OP, there is a difference between an upgrade and an update. You are talking about an upgrade, but using the term update. You'll notice that all of the people responding realized what you were contemplating was an upgrade, and used that term exclusively. So beware, if you ask about an update, you might get advice about an update, unlike the above.

 

[callmedory]

OP, there is a difference between an upgrade and an update. You are talking about an upgrade, but using the term update. You'll notice that all of the people responding realized what you were contemplating was an upgrade, and used that term exclusively. So beware, if you ask about an update, you might get advice about an update, unlike the above.

Thank you for the correction. I see now the difference. Yes, I intended upgrade. (Upgrades get updated?)

 

[MacInWin]

Yes, upgrades get updated. You got it!

 

[callmedory]

As above, your iMac has a Fusion drive which is combo small SSD and regular hard drive "fused" together. Definitely not a candidate for Mojave or Catalina. Do not upgrade your iMac.

Thank you. Yes, the iMac is “SSD,” also.

Are there any *upgrades” (I can get the correct word now) that will allow my iPhone to talk with my iMac?

 

[callmedory]

Just want to thank everyone for their input regarding potential OS upgrades to my iMac.

Looking at it all again, I guess I won’t be upgrading the OS...yet. Which means I can retain my Office 2008 for a while.

Now I just have to figure out how to get my iPhone 11 to talk with the iMac. When I updated that to 14.1, it stopped talking to the iMac’s iTunes. It’s always something, right?

 

[IWT]

Now I just have to figure out how to get my iPhone 11 to talk with the iMac.

I too have an iPhone 11 pro and my wife an iPhone X. Both of these "talk" to iTunes - macOS Mojave and indeed macOS High Sierra, the version before. Both iPhones are on iOS 14.2

There is therefore no reason for your iPhone not communicating with iTunes on your Mac with macOS Mojave.

We need to look at your Mac - I assume it has the latest version of iTunes which is 12.9.9.5 for Mojave? You say it "talked" without a problem to your iPhone 11 until the update to 14.1

Have you tried a forced reboot of your iPhone 11? And a restart of your iMac?

For your iPhone 11, read this article especially under the section Troubleshooting Functions where it tells you how to do a forced reboot.

iPhone 11 and 11 Pro: How to Hard Reset, Enter DFU, Recovery Mode

Apple's newest range of smartphones, the iPhone 11, iPhone 11 Pro and iPhone Pro Max, share the same overall design of last year's iPhone XR,...

www.macrumors.com

This may also help:

If your computer doesn’t recognise your iPhone or iPad – Apple Support (UK)

When your device is turned on and connected to your computer, it should appear in the Finder, iTunes or the Apple Devices app.

support.apple.com

Ian

 

[callmedory]

I too have an iPhone 11 pro and my wife an iPhone X. Both of these "talk" to iTunes - macOS Mojave and indeed macOS High Sierra, the version before. Both iPhones are on iOS 14.1

There is therefore no reason for your iPhone not communicating with iTunes on your Mac with macOS Mojave.

We need to look at your Mac - I assume it has the latest version of iTunes which is 12.9.9.5 for Mojave? You say it "talked" without a problem to your iPhone 11 until the update to 14.1

Have you tried a forced reboot of your iPhone 11? And a restart of your iMac?

For your iPhone 11, read this article especially under the section Troubleshooting Functions where it tells you how to do a forced reboot.

iPhone 11 and 11 Pro: How to Hard Reset, Enter DFU, Recovery Mode

Apple's newest range of smartphones, the iPhone 11, iPhone 11 Pro and iPhone Pro Max, share the same overall design of last year's iPhone XR,...

www.macrumors.com

This may also help:

If your computer doesn’t recognise your iPhone or iPad – Apple Support (UK)

When your device is turned on and connected to your computer, it should appear in the Finder, iTunes or the Apple Devices app.

support.apple.com

Ian

I will check this first thing in the morning! Thank you!

When I connect the iPhone, the iMac says something about "not being able to sync without the iMac be upgraded." But I'll see what happens, since you're running the same stuff.

 

[pm-r]

When I connect the iPhone, the iMac says something about "not being able to sync without the iMac be upgraded."

You may want to do a Google search and review some of the hits pertaining to your IPhone and iMac syncing, such as:

Google Search

There should be something among those topics to show what might be missing.



- Patrick
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