Upgrade to Mac OS High Sierra ?.

[johneee]

Hi,

I have the option of upgrading from Mac OS Sierra to Mac OS High Sierra, What do you guys recommend is it beneficial to do the upgrade or stay with OS Sierra ?.

John.

 

[honestone]

Need to have some more information:

1. What exact Mac model do you have?

3. Have you ever done any disk cleanup/maintenance/repairs, from a software perspective? You can actually do quite a lot of disk cleanup on your own, and there are some excellent products available (both free and commercial) that can help you with that.

3. Are you making backups to an external device? That task is so, so critical. If you are doing that, what software do you use for that task?

4. How much space is on your internal drive?

5. If you upgrade to High Sierra, and if you have any third party software (ie, non-Apple software), there is s good chance you'll need to update some/most/all of your third party programs. It might be best if you make a list of all such third party products.

Once you let us know that, we can better assist you. Be aware, though, that High Sierra uses more resources than Sierra. Also, the next Mac OS, OS 10.14, Mojave, will be coming out in the fall. If your Mac is "eligible", it might be best to wait until OS 10.14 comes out.

 

[johneee]

Hi, honestone

1, macOS Sierra ( iMac ) version 10.12.6 ( 21.5” 2017 ).


2, Have you ever done any disk cleanup/maintenance/repairs, from a software perspective? ( All I do is run Malwarebytes once a week, empty Trash / Chrome History / Caches / backup Bookmarks / Auto Updates ) not yet sure about disk cleanup/maintenance/repairs still getting used to using my first Apple Computer.


3, I do a backup four times a week using Time Machine onto an external Hard Drive + backup Documents onto Memory Stick & External Hard Drive.


4, 964 gb available on 1tb.


5, if you have any third party software (ie, non-Apple software) the only thing I have put on is Malwarebytes.


Sorry I can’t explain better as I am not well up on computers.


John.

 

[honestone]

OK, thanks for the detailed reply. Your iMac can run High Sierra, OS 10.12.6. However, be aware that High Sierra uses more resources than Sierra. I upgraded from Sierra to High Sierra on both of my Macs back last December via a clean, fresh installation of OS 10.13.2, and have upgraded to each subsequent High Sierra update. (My 2 macs are 1) a late 2012 Mac Mini with 8 gig of Ram and a 256 gig SSD, and 2) a mid 2017 13" MacBook Air with 8 gig of Ram and a 252 gig SSD). I have no issues with High Sierra, although I do keep my Macs "lean, mean, and clean".

Also, OS 10.14, Mojave, will be released in the fall. So, you might consider waiting for OS 10.14.

Now, as far as disk cleanup/maintenance/repairs, although Malwarebytes is a good product, it really does not do much disk cleanup. It would be best if you get into the habit of doing disk cleanup/maintenance/repairs on a frequent basis. You can actually do a good amount of disk cleanup on your own. One place to look is your downloads folder.

Here are some excellent free products you can use to these tasks:

Onyx - Available from here: https://www.titanium-software.fr/en/onyx.html

Rock Solid, has been around a long, long time, and has had many positive reviews. I use it religiously (along with a commercial program entitled Tech Tool Pro). I would not be without either of them. In fact, I will not upgrade to a new Mac OS until there are compatible versions of both of them for the new OS (along with 4 other critical programs that I have). Note that there are different versions of Onyx available, for each different Mac OS. You would need to get the correct version for the Mac OS you are using.

AppCleaner - Available from here: https://freemacsoft.net/appcleaner/

Another stellar performer! As you can see via that link, it will get rid of most stuff associated with an application that you wish to delete.

GrandPerspective - Available from here: http://grandperspectiv.sourceforge.net/

Nifty graphical way to see which files are on your drive. Good way to identify large ones that you might not need.

Malwarebytes - Available from here: https://www.malwarebytes.com/mac/

Good to use if you see adware and/or suspect you might have a virus. It also is good to run it every so often, even if nothing is wrong.

ClamXAv - Available from here: https://www.clamxav.com/

More extensive than Malwarebytes in terms of finding viruses. You can use it in demo mode, and it still has just about full functionality.

Then of course you can use Disk Utility to check out your drive and/or do repairs. It's not as extensive as Tech Tool Pro (https://www.micromat.com/products/techtool-pro), Disk Warrior (https://www.alsoft.com/diskwarrior/?gclid=EAIaIQobChMI9qzeqcSF2gIViWp-Ch0NngwsEAAYASAAEgJg7_D_BwE), or Drive Genius (https://www.prosofteng.com/drive-genius-mac-protection-software/), but it gets the job "mostly" done. I use Tech Tool Pro, and in fact it is the only third party one so far that is fully compatible with High Sierra (that's the OS I use on both of my Macs)

However, you need to run Disk Utility in "isolated" mode. For that, you would boot your Mac into the (Hidden) Recovery HD partition. This link explains how to do that, and what is on that partition:

https://support.apple.com/en-gb/ht201314

If you do decide to "upgrade", it would be best if you do a clean, fresh installation of whatever Mac OS you want to get to. It is good that you are backing up, and Time Machine is "OK" in terms to doing the clean, fresh installation of the new Mac OS, and then "migrate"/copy needed "stuff from your backup. But it will take some effort (along with care). I myself use SuperDuper! for my backups, and it make a a bootable backup/clone of my system. That means I can boot my Mac from that backup, and it makes such an installation of a new Mac OS (or even a current one), and also Recovery, much easier to manage/handle.

 

[johneee]

Hi, honestone,

Many thanks for the replies much appreciated. ( Plenty to go at there )
John.

 

[Peter Aretin]

Hi,

I have the option of upgrading from Mac OS Sierra to Mac OS High Sierra, What do you guys recommend is it beneficial to do the upgrade or stay with OS Sierra ?.

John.

Get an outboard hard drive. Create a partition on it. Make a bootable clone of your drive on the outboard hard drive partition. Update the clone using the app store, I don't think a clean install is as important as it once was. This will tell you exactly what your computer will be like upgraded to a new OS. You can play with it as much as you like, and if the upgrade proves problematic, you can always experiment with fixes or wipe that partition and try something else. Eventually, if your updated clone is functioning perfectly to your satisfaction, you can wipe your boot drive and replace it with a clone of the clone.

 

[honestone]

Get an outboard hard drive. Create a partition on it. Make a bootable clone of your drive on the outboard hard drive partition. Update the clone using the app store, I don't think a clean install is as important as it once was. This will tell you exactly what your computer will be like upgraded to a new OS. You can play with it as much as you like, and if the upgrade proves problematic, you can always experiment with fixes or wipe that partition and try something else. Eventually, if your updated clone is functioning perfectly to your satisfaction, you can wipe your boot drive and replace it with a clone of the clone.

If one frequently does disk cleanup/maintenance/repairs, then possibly an update, instead of a clean installation, is OK. But given that the last update for High Sierra came out a year ago, a clean installation is preferred. Also, if one uses SuperDuper! to make the clone (I use it), instead of Carbon Copy Cloner, the (hidden) Recovery HD partition is not backed it. But it does get created on a clean installation of the Mac OS.

No matter what, prior to doing the backup (clone is an excellent idea), disk cleanup/maintenance/repairs needs to be done first (assuming a backup already exists).

 

[Peter Aretin]

If one frequently does disk cleanup/maintenance/repairs, then possibly an update, instead of a clean installation, is OK. But given that the last update for High Sierra came out a year ago, a clean installation is preferred. Also, if one uses SuperDuper! to make the clone (I use it), instead of Carbon Copy Cloner, the (hidden) Recovery HD partition is not backed it. But it does get created on a clean installation of the Mac OS.

No matter what, prior to doing the backup (clone is an excellent idea), disk cleanup/maintenance/repairs needs to be done first (assuming a backup already exists).

Yes, I should have said to do routine maintenance first. I think CCC has the provision for creating a recovery disk at the time of cloning. I usually don't, since I always have a number of bootable partitions available.

 

[honestone]

Yes, I know that CCC can also backup/clone the (hidden) Recovery HD partition (I actually stated that above: "Also, if one uses SuperDuper! to make the clone (I use it), instead of Carbon Copy Cloner, the (hidden) Recovery HD partition is not backed it."). Given that I use SuperDuper!, it does not get backed up. But, for me, that is not a detriment, as 1) I have a superior disk maintenance/repair program in Tech Tool Pro, 2) I can get to Disk Utility on my clone, and 3) that Recovery HD Partition does get recreated on a clean installation of the Mac OS.

Additionally, there are other ways to recreate it.

 

[Peter Aretin]

I meant CCC can create a recovery partition where one did not exist on the disk being cloned, I get a prompt for tis, but do not choose the option.

 

[honestone]

I meant CCC can create a recovery partition where one did not exist on the disk being cloned, I get a prompt for tis, but do not choose the option.

But does it still make a copy/clone of that partition? SuperDuper!, of course, does not.

 

[Peter Aretin]

I assume it will create a new one if you clone a partition and choose that option, Whether it clones one on a partition where one already exists or just makes a new one I don't know. I've never used a recovery disk since I don't have a laptop and always have access to various bootable partitions on peripheral hard drives.

 

[honestone]

Understand. From what I understand, the two differences between SuperDuper! and Carbon Copy Cloner are 1) cost (SuperDuper! costs $27.95, while CCC costs $39.99), and 2) CCC backs up the Recovery HD partition also, whereas SuperDuper! does not. Based on what you have stated, it looks like for CCC, that should be "can backup the Recovery HD partition", since apparently one is given a choice. I actually never knew that.

Again, though, for me, it is not an issue, for 1) on a clean installation of the Mac OS, it gets created, 2) I can access Disk Utility via my SuperDuper! clone, and 3) there are other ways of creating it. So far (knock on wood!), I have not needed to do a recovery with SuperDuper!. It comes in handy when I want to do a clean installation of the Mac OS. In fact, for Mojave (OS 10.14), after going through my disk cleanup/maintenance/repair tasks with Onyx and Tech Tool Pro, and then doing a final OS 10.13.6 SuperDuper! backup/clone (I of course will have already downloaded the full OS 10.14.x installation file), I will reboot the respective Mac from that just completed SuperDuper! backup, use Disk Utility there to Erase and Format my internal SSD, then navigate to the "install macOs Mojave" file, launch it and do a clean installation, and then finally use Migration Assistant to "migrate"/copy needed "stuff" from the SuperDuper! backup (of course I would have already insured that my 6 primary third party applications are already compatible with Mojave before installing it). Based on the last 3 installations of the new Mac OS, that will most likely be in December, when the update for Tech Tool Pro will be released, and thus by that time, Mojave will be either V10.14.1, or more likely V10.14.2.

 

[ROBERT H. BAUCOM]

Get an outboard hard drive. Create a partition on it. Make a bootable clone of your drive on the outboard hard drive partition. Update the clone using the app store, I don't think a clean install is as important as it once was. This will tell you exactly what your computer will be like upgraded to a new OS. You can play with it as much as you like, and if the upgrade proves problematic, you can always experiment with fixes or wipe that partition and try something else. Eventually, if your updated clone is functioning perfectly to your satisfaction, you can wipe your boot drive and replace it with a clone of the clone.

Make sure your printer is compatible with High Sierra. I've 2 HP1160s, 2 HP2035's and a HP3050 ALL IN ONE
That ALL HAVE BEEN : made driverless by Apple OS Upgrades. Made me so mad, I bought a $95.00 Brother HL-L2350DW Laser to print from My Early 2009 5.1 Pro Tower.
Think I will Change the 27" iMar back to just plain ole Sierra so it will work with 1 of My HP2035's. HP makes the best printers, but I can't tolerate this. May never buy another HP LaserJet. My #2 Son has always said, "Never Upgrade the OS. Wait a few years, then buy another computer."

 

[Peter Aretin]

Sometimes it takes updated drivers a while to appear. Check for updated drivers on the HP site from time time. I always have bootable partitions with a few iterations of the OS to run certain applications made incompatible that are expensive to replace and that I don't use very often. I even keep a PowerPC running Tiger around for this purpose. I can pass a file to it by ethernet and back when I am done working on it. iTunes doesn't like one of my monitors and balks at playing certain HDCP protected movies if it is connected. Since I prefer to sit on the couch to watch movies, I find if I boot up into a partition with SnowLeopard I can download and play these movies just fine.