should I update from Sierra 10.12.6?

[oaxcarmen]

I have been on deadline projects for some time and have not had occasion to check into the pros and cons of High Sierra and Mojave - both of which apparently had/have some highly controversial new features/eliminating some very useful older ones.

Now that I have some free time, I would like to explore reality of operation with upgrade. I am operating late 2015 imac, using Safari 12.1.1 and Firefox 67.0.4. I don't remember all the apparent negatives I had seen from time to time but didn't try to analyze. Can someone please give me some hard information and advice on this.

Another minor point: Since Google disabled Flash Video Downloader, I have not found a good, reliable app to download videos, tutorials, movies, etc. A friend told me I can download many things unspecified using QuickTime but so far the several I tried were "incompatible". Any suggestions?

Any help much appreciated.

Thank you.
Carmen

 

[krs]

On the download question - try ClipGrab.
I have been using that for years quite successfully.

 

[oaxcarmen]

download question

On the download question - try ClipGrab.
I have been using that for years quite successfully.

Thank you, krs. Have downloaded ClipGrab and successfully downloaded a test from YouTube and will try more later. Thank you very much for the tip.

Carmen

 

[pigoo3]

...have not had occasion to check into the pros and cons of High Sierra and Mojave - both of which apparently had/have some highly controversial new features/eliminating some very useful older ones.

There's probably never been a computing OS version released (Apple, Windows, or otherwise)...that some segment of the computing population didn't like something about it.

Looking at things from a different point of view...how about newer versions of the macOS introducing highly favorable new features and eliminating negative aspects of the previous older OS versions.

Also consider this:

- macOS High Sierra was released almost 2 years ago
- macOS Mojave was released almost 1 year ago
- and new macOS "Catalina" will very likely be released in about 2 months

Controversial aspects regarding High Sierra or Mojave is sort of "old news" now. But honestly...there really isn't that much controversial about these 2 OS versions. In fact...macOS Sierra (the OS version you're running now)...was actually considered to be a pretty "crappy" macOS version (compared to the previous OS El Capitan for example). Thus you're working in an "OS environment" that relatively speaking...is not all that great...and will only get better by upgrading to almost anything newer.

HTH,

- Nick

 

[krs]

I would say ClipGrab works in 95% of the cases.
The developer has been improving that application to make it compatible with more and more filwe types.

For the odd case where ClipGrab couldn't detect the file to download I used Video DownloadHelper which was an add-on of sorts for Firefox.
But in Firefox 67.0.4 that seems to have disappeared.

 

[toMACsh]

Carmen, did you upgrade?
Now that Catalina is out, there's more to be wary of. Many of your apps might require upgrading if you jump all the way to the latest, when it is released to the public. I think a late 2015 iMac will run Catalina, but that's just a guess.

 

[MacInWin]

Now that Catalina is out,

???? Catalina is out? Maybe in beta, but I've seen nothing about it being released. Did I miss the memo, again?

 

[pigoo3]

As Jake mentioned...Catalina only out in beta. Very likely Apple will officially release Catalina in September (similar to previous years).

 

[chscag]

As Nick mentioned, Catalina (10.15.X) is only out in Public Beta. As a matter of fact, just yesterday on July 3rd, the second round of the Public Beta was released to those doing the testing.

 

[Slydude]

Several of our more adventurous members are testing the public beta as we speak. As we get closer to the release date for Catalina I'm sure you will be hearing from us about what has changed, what still works and what's broken and needs to be updated. One thing I can guarantee you because Apple has said it emphatically: 32-bit apps will not work in Catalina.

Like me, you probably have a few 32-bit apps in your arsenal that are still being used. Apple's own QuickTime Player 7 (Applications/Utilities) works as late as Mojave but will not work under Catalina. Choosing to open files with the older QuickTime Player 7 isn't an option.

Finding 32-bit Apps on Your Mac

 

[Rod]

I think that overall it's inevitable that we all must eventually upgrade. Either because the older macOS versions become unsupported, meaning that they no longer receive security updates making them increasingly less secure online. Apple now only supports the current and two previous macOS versions which means with the release of Catalina Sierra will become unsupported.
Or because updated devices become incompatible. I encountered this issue after upgrading an iPhone iOS only to find i could no longer sync it with my laptop without upgrading the macOS.
Personally i would reccomend upgrading to Mojave while you can because it will disappear from the Mac App Store after the release of Catalina if Apple follows its usual practices. (It will probably come back but not for a while)

Mojave does support 32bit apps, it will be the last macOS to do so and it runs them perfectly on my 2015 MBPr. You will most probably have to update a few of your existing 3rd party apps, many released new versions if for nothing more than to accommodate the then new Dark Mode Appearance option and System Files Security changes.

Lastly your HFS+ Filing System will be changed to Apple's new (and very successful) APFS System. More specifically, when Mojave is installed it will convert any internal drive (including SSDs, HDDs and Fusion/Hybrid Drives) from HFS Plus to APFS.

This is an important distinction as prior to macOS Mojave, only SSDs were converted to APFS, and this explains some of the confusion over time regarding how macOS Sierra, macOS High Sierra and macOS Mojave have managed things as APFS has continued to evolve.

So my advice is, while you have time do it, but ensure you make a full backup first with say Time Machine if nothing else (it works), I personally prefer a bootable Clone made with Carbon Copy Cloner. If you need any help/hints dont hesitate to get back to us on this thread.

 

[toMACsh]

Carmen, did you upgrade?
Now that Catalina is out, there's more to be wary of. Many of your apps might require upgrading if you jump all the way to the latest, when it is released to the public. I think a late 2015 iMac will run Catalina, but that's just a guess.

As I mentioned, the public release is in the future at this point.

 

[pm-r]

Apple's own QuickTime Player 7 (Applications/Utilities) works as late as Mojave but will not work under Catalina.

But I would think for a lot of stuff that the version 10.x QuickTime that Apple switched to several OS generations ago should do what's needed wouldn't it, and it's 64-bit??

And comes with the OS: Sierra (10.12) High Sierra (10.13) Mojave (10.14) Catalina (10.15) etc.



- Patrick
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[Slydude]

Yes. I was using that was merely the first example that came to mind.

Although QuickTime Player X has been around for a while some users still prefer the older version. About the only complaint I have with the new version is that the editing functions, which make it similar to QT Pro in functionality, are easy to miss if you don't know how to invoke them.

 

[pm-r]

Although QuickTime Player X has been around for a while some users still prefer the older [7] version.

+1!!! And you can add me to that list, especially as an old Apple registered QT Pro user.


- Patrick
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