Upgrade from 10.6.8

[Peter Finkill]

Hi

Firstly can I say that my background is mainly in MS Windows but I do love my mac for Video editing and Music production.

My Apple imac is at OS X 10.6.8.

I want to run Steam on it but Steam requires at least 10.7 however I cannot find the OS X version 10.7.
Apple always wants me to upgrade to the latest version (MacOS Sierra) however even when I try to upgrade to MacOS Sierra it fails and says that I must be at ver 10.7 before upgrading to Sierra...!

1. Should I upgrade to the latest version (MacOS Sierra) as I purchased my iMac around 2009 (and still has version Snow Leopard that came with the iMac at that time)? Will it seriously slow down my iMac to upgrade to Sierra?
2. How can I upgrade to Sierra from 10.6.8?
3. Can I upgrade to OS X ver 10.7? Where can I find that OS and how do I install it?

Thanks for any help you can give me.

 

[honestone]

OK, you need to let us know a couple of things:

1. Have you ever done any disk cleanup/maintenance/repairs, from a software perspective? There are some excellent freeware and commercial products that you can use for those efforts.

2. Are you making backups to an external device? That is critical.

3. What exact iMac model do you have? If you let us know that, then most likely we can determine what kind of internal drive you have inside the machine. Also, if it is the original hard drive inside it, it could be getting "old".

4. Besides Steam, do you have any other third party software? If you do, then it might be necessary to upgrade some/all of them to be compatible with the OS you want to move to.

5. What do you use your Mac primarily for? That could be a determining factor as to which OS you should upgrade to.

Given that you have OS 10.6.8, you should be able to download, from the App store, any Mac OS from Lion to Sierra. However, there is the possibility that based on your Mac model, you can only install certain versions of the Mac OS. Hence, that is why we need the answer to question #3 above.

 

[Spawn_Dooley]

Your Mac may only be able to go as far as Mac OS 10.11.x

 

[honestone]

Actually, no matter how "far" you can go with an upgrade, it might not be wise to make such a huge jump. Maybe use an intermediate OS for a while, like OS 10.9.5, Mavericks. Then, when you are satisfied with it, you could then upgrade to OS 10.11.6 (assuming you can run that OS on your Mac. Again, that is why we need to know the exact Mac model you have).

 

[Ormond]

FYI, you can buy old versions of OSX on Amazon. I purchased from vendor MacInstaller and he was very helpful. They come on bootable USB sticks, which I've found quite handy.

I don't know about Sierra, I've personally chosen to steer clear for now. Should you choose to upgrade to any recent version of OSX my understanding is that the amount of RAM you have will matter a good bit, as the newer OSXs require more RAM than Snow Leopard. As example. 2gb of RAM unlikely to work. Maybe 4 gb will work. More is better.

Do you have an external drive? If yes, you might try leaving your Mac hard drive as is for now, given that Snow Leopard may be the best OS Apple ever made. Install a new version of OSX on the external drive, install Steam there, and boot from the external drive. This will allow you to test all the changes before you touch your existing setup.

If you don't have an external drive, get one for backups, quite important.

Good luck!

 

[honestone]

While one can (possibly) purchase versions of the Mac OS on Amazon (and possibly via other sources), that would be a waste of money, as one can get prior versions of the Mac OS. starting with OS 10.7.x, from the App Store for free (given that one already has OS 10.6.8). Also, one gets the original OS file/files via the App store, and they are always better to have.

2 gig of RAM should be good enough for OS 10.7.x, 10.8.x, and 10.9.x. However, even with 4 gig of RAM, it is more dependent on how many applications one runs simultaneously. I run only one app at a time about 99% of the time, and for most of those apps, the 4 gig of RAM I have inside each of my Macs is enough (I am using the latest version of Sierra, OS 10.12.3). But with Google Chrome, there are a number of instances where having 4 gig of RAM is necessary. For example, as I am typing this, the amount of free RAM I have left (out of the 4 gig that is inside my MacBook Air) is 1.65 Gig. And when I visit more graphical sites, that amount of free RAM is even lower. Yet, I am not using any other programs, except the Finder. I actually wish there was a way for me to get rid of a number of the Apple apps that come with the OS, as the only ones I use are the Finder and (once in a blue moon) Safari. I also wish there was a way to determine which OS-related processes that are loaded on start up are not really needed, and thus getting rid of them will save some memory.

Another thing that helps is how often one does disk cleanup, maintenance, and repairs. Myself, I do it quite often (once a week at a minimum, along with doing disk cleanup on my own on a daily basis).

Having/getting an external drive is always a good idea. In fact, one needs to have such a device for backups. However, if one wants to use such an external drive (or a partition on it) for testing a newer version of the Mac OS, while that is a very good idea, it would be best if one has an external SSD for such a purpose. First, it will be necessary to be able to boot your Mac from such a device/partition. Secondly, doing so from an SSD will be a WAY more pleasant and productive experience.

Finally, as I mentioned above, it would not be a good idea to make a huge leap in arriving at a newer Mac OS than Snow Leopard. Remember, if you have any third party apps that you want to test along with the newer Mac OS, you'll need to insure that you have the correct versions of such apps.

 

[GeorgeS]

While one can (possibly) purchase versions of the Mac OS on Amazon (and possibly via other sources), that would be a waste of money, as one can get prior versions of the Mac OS. starting with OS 10.7.x, from the App Store for free (given that one already has OS 10.6.8). Also, one gets the original OS file/files via the App store, and they are always better to have.

2 gig of RAM should be good enough for OS 10.7.x, 10.8.x, and 10.9.x. However, even with 4 gig of RAM, it is more dependent on how many applications one runs simultaneously. I run only one app at a time about 99% of the time, and for most of those apps, the 4 gig of RAM I have inside each of my Macs is enough (I am using the latest version of Sierra, OS 10.12.3). But with Google Chrome, there are a number of instances where having 4 gig of RAM is necessary. For example, as I am typing this, the amount of free RAM I have left (out of the 4 gig that is inside my MacBook Air) is 1.65 Gig. And when I visit more graphical sites, that amount of free RAM is even lower. Yet, I am not using any other programs, except the Finder. I actually wish there was a way for me to get rid of a number of the Apple apps that come with the OS, as the only ones I use are the Finder and (once in a blue moon) Safari. I also wish there was a way to determine which OS-related processes that are loaded on start up are not really needed, and thus getting rid of them will save some memory.

Another thing that helps is how often one does disk cleanup, maintenance, and repairs. Myself, I do it quite often (once a week at a minimum, along with doing disk cleanup on my own on a daily basis).

Having/getting an external drive is always a good idea. In fact, one needs to have such a device for backups. However, if one wants to use such an external drive (or a partition on it) for testing a newer version of the Mac OS, while that is a very good idea, it would be best if one has an external SSD for such a purpose. First, it will be necessary to be able to boot your Mac from such a device/partition. Secondly, doing so from an SSD will be a WAY more pleasant and productive experience.

Finally, as I mentioned above, it would not be a good idea to make a huge leap in arriving at a newer Mac OS than Snow Leopard. Remember, if you have any third party apps that you want to test along with the newer Mac OS, you'll need to insure that you have the correct versions of such apps.

I just had to purchase Mountain Lion from the app store for $19.95, I was hoping to get it for free. I also have an OS 10.6.8 and wanted to go to sierra but have to get an earlier version first. Is the Mountain Lion too big of a jump? Also, the upgrade will be sent via email in 1-2 business days, can't believe I can't get it as soon as I paid for it!
I'm not an expert in Mac, is this an easy thing to do (installing the upgrade) ?

 

[honestone]

Not sure why you had to purchase Mountain Lion, but I guess that's the deal. Also, it is not much of a jump from OS 10.6.8. In fact, it's a good, intermediate step. However, you still have not answered the questions I posed above, so I'll repeat them again:

1. Have you ever done any disk cleanup/maintenance/repairs, from a software perspective? There are some excellent freeware and commercial products that you can use for those efforts.

2. Are you making backups to an external device? That is critical.

3. What exact iMac model do you have? If you let us know that, then most likely we can determine what kind of internal drive you have inside the machine. Also, if it is the original hard drive inside it, it could be getting "old".

4. Besides Steam, do you have any other third party software? If you do, then it might be necessary to upgrade some/all of them to be compatible with the OS you want to move to.

Trying to get to Sierra, OS 10.12.3, would not be a wise move, and that assumes the machine you have can accommodate Sierra. For the Mac OS upgrade, you do need to first do some important tasks to get ready for it. If you are not making backups to an external device, that is a huge problem (unless you do not need anything on your Mac that you have now).

 

[Ormond]

Assuming your machine can handle a particular OSX (it may not, check first) you can install any OSX directly without intermediate steps if you are willing to do a fresh install, instead of an update to your existing setup.

What I would do is...

1) Get an external hard drive, if you don't already have one. Wipe drive clean if it's not new.

2) Buy whatever OSX you want, or get from App Store for free if possible.

3) Install the new OSX on external drive.

4) Install your most commonly used programs on the external drive.

5) Play with setup on external drive for a month and see how it goes.

6) If you become convinced everything is working well, you can use an app like SuperDuper to copy the new setup on externaldrive over the old setup on your Mac's internal drive.

Note that this method avoids killing your old setup until a new setup is thoroughly tested. Trying to update your existing setup, especially in big leaps, is usually not a good plan.

All the Mac forums are flooded with threads from those who tried to update their existing setup without testing or backups, and then wound up with no setup at all.

 

[honestone]

That's one of the best posts I have seen from you, Ormond. I'd just like to add a couple of additional things:

1. No matter whether the drive is new or not, you should still use Disk Utility to Erase, Format, and if necessary, Partition the drive.

2. When you install your most commonly used software on the external drive, with the new OS, for third party software, make sure you have the versions that will work with the new OS.

3. Perform disk cleanup/maintenance/repairs on a frequent basis. There are some excellent freeware and commercial products that can help you with that.

Also, your pertinent statement "All the Mac forums are flooded with threads from those who tried to update their existing setup without testing or backups" is "right on the money", so to speak. To that I'd add the lack of performing any disk cleanup/maintenance/repairs.

 

[honestone]

I forgot to add one other thing. Regarding "you can use an app like SuperDuper to copy the new setup on external drive over the old setup on your Mac's internal drive", what is even better is to 1) Erase and Format the internal drive on your Mac, using Disk Utility on the external drive, 2) do a clean, fresh, "virgin" installation of the OS you have on the external drive, and 3) via Migration Assistant (you'll be offered that once the installation of the OS completes), "migrate"/copy needed "stuff from that external drive to the internal drive. For #2, when you receive Mountain Lion (not sure how it will be via EMail), eventually you'll have a file entitled "Install Mac OS Mountain Lion" "somewhere" on your internal drive. Normally, when you download it from the App Store, it winds up inside your Applications Folder. No matter where it's at, you must make a copy of it first, somewhere else on your Mac. The reason is that, typically, when you launch such a file from your Applications Folder, and complete the installation, that file gets deleted automatically. So, to avoid having to re-download it again, it's best to have a copy of it somewhere else. Once you complete the OS installation onto the external drive, you need to copy that "copied" OS file to somewhere on your external drive.

The recommendation for SuperDuper! is an excellent one, as it is a program that makes an exact backup/bootable clone of what is on the source drive/partition that you are backing up. I have been using it for a number of years, and it has "saved my bacon" a couple of times, for both of my Macs, in the past. There is a similar, excellent program called Carbon Copy Cloner that does the same thing. However, the two differences between those products are 1) cost (SuperDuper! costs $27.95, and Carbon Copy Cloner costs $39.95), and 2) Carbon Copy Cloner also backs up the (hidden) Recovery HD partition whereas SuperDuper! does not. But, for me, that is not an issue, as 1) it can easily be re-created, and 2) when I want to do a complete recovery, I'll boot my Mac to that SuperDuper! backup, use Disk Utility there to Erase and Format my internal SSD, do a fresh, clean, "virgin" installation of the Mac OS that I am using, and then use Migration Assistant to "migrate"/backup needed "stuff" from that SuperDuper! backup to the internal drive. The clean, "virgin" installation of the applicable Mac OS creates that Recovery HD partition. Also, I have a more robust disk maintenance/repair program with TechTool Pro, which does a lot more than Disk Utility, and thus I really do not need the Recovery HD partition (there are other reasons why I do not need it).

Just to "prove" that such a procedure works, while we were on our recent vacation, I mistakenly permanently deleted all the EMails in my In Box (I use Outlook 2016 as my EMail client) on my mid 2013 13" MacBook Air. Fortunately, I had a recent SuperDuper! backup that was only 4 days old, and also I had not received any "critical" EMails in the 4 days since the backup. So, after saving some critical files to my backup, I booted my MacBook Air from that backup, used Disk Utility there to Erase and Format the internal SSD on the machine, did a fresh, clean, "virgin" installation of OS 10.12.3 (the latest version of Sierra, and it was from a "saved" copy of the "Install macOS Sierra V10.12.3" file (I had renamed the file after I made a copy)), and then used Migration Assistant to "migrate"/copy needed stuff from that SuperDuper! backup. I then rebooted my MacBook Air, and I was back in business, with all my Emails restored (I also have to do some additional "upgrades", but as I mentioned above, I first saved some important stuff).