Is Catalina better than Mojave?

I believe Catalina is a better OS than Mojave. I've been using it without any real incident since it was released.

Important to know that Catalina drops all support for old 32-bit software. You may have to update/replace some of your apps and drivers.

How to Upgrade to  macOS 10.15 Catalina:

🖥 – Check compatibility of your Mac with newer versions of macOS.

macOS Catalina is compatible with these computers:

• MacBook (Early 2015 or newer)

• MacBook Air (Mid 2012 or newer)

• MacBook Pro (Mid 2012 or newer)

• Mac mini (Late 2012 or newer)

• iMac (Late 2012 or newer)

• iMac Pro (2017)

• Mac Pro (Late 2013 or newer)

To find the details about your Mac model, click the Apple menu () at the top of your screen and choose About This Mac. 

❗️– IMPORTANT  – Backup your data before proceeding. (You’ve been warned.)

Learn How to Back up your Mac with Time Machine:

Back up your Mac with Time Machine - Apple Support

❗️ – IMPORTANT  Your 32-bit apps won’t work in Catalina.

Get this free utility to check the compatibility of your apps:

St. Claire Software – Go64: https://www.stclairsoft.com/Go64/

✅ - Download the macOS 10.15 Catalina installer here:

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/macos-catalina/id1466841314

The download will place the "Install macOS Catalina" app in the Applications folder. Double-click the installer to begin the upgrade process. 

FWIW, a reasonable rule of thumb is, if your Mac is doing everything you need it to, there's no need to change. Normally it is recommended to upgrade to the latest version of macOS. However, in your case, a 2012 Mac is considered obsolete. There are no parts and it can no longer be repaired by Apple or an AASP. Neither Mojave or Catalina are supported. Many modern versions of apps will not run on either.

Personally I would think about obtaining a newer Mac. My better half was using a hand-me-down 2012 iMac until a month ago, when it died.

Not so much Performance, for me it just broke the ability to run 32 bit Apps along with 64 bit Apps, without any good trade offs for me.

I also read that it had vulnerabilities that could not be patched... didn't bookmark that though... Apple needs to buy me a 42 Exobyte drive to store links to every problem Macs & MacOSes have! ;)

You do need a better browser than Safari, which Apple doesn't update for older OSes.

Mostly you just need a more modern Browser than Safari on Mojave, or High Sierra like Firefox or Brave.

https://brave.com/

https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/83.0/system-requirements/

Firefox 83.0 System Requirements (mozilla.org)

Opera…

https://www.opera.com/download/requirements

Opera system requirements | Opera

Not in my book. :)

I'm running Mojave right now.