Haven't updated since Snow Leopard

Question

Haven't updated since Snow Leopard

I'm several updates behind. I believe Snow Leopard is the latest update I did on my MacBook Pro.

OS X

Version 10.9.5

Processor 2.66 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo

Memory 4GB 1067 MHz DDR3

Now there is Maverick, Yosemite, and El Capitan.

When I've read reviews in the App Store, people talk about problems, and I've been nervous to update. The one thing that really stays in my mind was a comment that iPhoto got all messed up and jumbled the photos. I don't remember what else made me nervous; I just know the reviews were what kept me from upgrading.

I haven't loaded my Mac up with a lot of 3rd party stuff. I have some 3rd party, but not tons. Mostly it's what I can get from the App Store.

I'm open to suggestions. Should I update? To what operating system? Do I need to work my way through the older ones first?

I love my Mac, but I'm not a techie. I also don't have any Mac users who can help me.

Thanks.

MacBook Pro

Posted on May 3, 2016 10:03 PM

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Answer 1

May 3, 2016 10:15 PM in response to carolyn_from_oregon

If you are running OS X 10.9.5, then you are currently running Mavericks. You can only upgrade to El Capitan at this point. With El Capitan, Photos replaced iPhoto, but as a part of the upgrade process, all of your iPhoto Library is migrated to Photos.

If you are running a 9.x version of iPhoto, you can upgrade it to 10.10.3 before you upgrade to El Cap, and you will have the option to use either the Photos app or the iPhoto app. I used the iPhoto app for a couple of months after I upgraded, but now, I use Photos most of the time. When my iPhoto Library was migrated, all of my Albums, Photo Streams, Projects, etc. migrated exactly as they were in iPhoto.

I have a Macbook Air 2012, and have had no issues running El Cap. I wanted to upgrade because I was running Mountain Lion, and I didn't want to get behind by three releases.

What you want to avoid is jumping in to using iCloud Photo Library, which uploads all of your photos to iCloud and that is where your library lives. Any deletions you make on a device or your Mac is deleted from iCloud, which means it is deleted from all devices and computers using iCloud Photo Library. You may want to use it later, but I would recommend sticking with just iPhoto and Photos until you get used to using the new app. Personally, I do not use iCloud photo library, because I don't want my personal photos sitting in any cloud service. If you do want to use it, just make sure you have read the support articles so that you understand how it works and whether it is something that will work for you.

Best of luck,

GB

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Answer 2

Eric Root

Level 10

684,027 points

May 4, 2016 7:47 AM in response to carolyn_from_oregon

One option is to create a new partition (~30- 50 GB), install the new OS, and ‘test drive’ it. If you like/don’t like it it, you can then remove the partition. Do a backup before you do anything. By doing this, if you don’t like it you won’t have to go though the revert process.

Check to make sure your applications are compatible.

Application Compatibility

Applications Compatibility (2)

El Capitan 10.11 Compatibility information

Open Disk Utility, select your hard drive (step 1), then the Partition tab (step 2), and select the partition. Using the /// at the bottom move it up (step 3) until the size box decrease by about 50 GB. Select the newly created space and hit the + button (step 4). Name it something and select Mac OS Extended (Journaled) as the format (step 5). Then hit the Apply button(step 6). Download the installer from the App Store and when it starts, point it at the new partition. You might want to make a copy of the installer outside the Applications folder to avoid having to re-download it in the future. Once installed, go to System Preferences/Startup Disk, select the new partition and reboot. Test away.

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