Do I need to upgrade from Mavericks ?

Question

MacFan2016 Author

Level 1

8 points

Do I need to upgrade from Mavericks ?

I am very happy with OSX Mavericks. I especially don't want to part with the nice 3D dock. (I hate the flat doc in the newer OS) I also don't want to see changes in the way the OS works now because I am so used to it after 3 years. Are there any security risks with staying with Mavericks? How do I go about patching my current Mavericks to have all the latest fixes without having it upgrade me to El Capitan? The finder reports my OS as 10.9.5.

One more thing, there is a new security alert out today for:

CVE-2016-4654, CVE-2016-4655, and CVE-2016-4656

Does this only affect El Capitan and Yosemite? Do I need to find a patch for Mavericks?

MacBook Pro with Retina display, OS X Mavericks (10.9.5)

Posted on Sep 7, 2016 10:50 AM

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Answer 1

macjack

Level 10

111,242 points

Sep 7, 2016 12:36 PM in response to MacFan2016

Hi MacFan, generally speaking, you should always upgrade to the latest possible system that you meet the specs for, as long as you have no “must have” apps that do not meet the specs. Upgrades and updates contain important security improvements plus additional features.

https://support.apple.com/kb/sp728

If there was a patch for the update you would have been notified by Mac AppStore. I'm not familiar with all the various security updates,

but thatone is only available for El Capitan and Yosemite:

About the security content of Security Update 2016-001 El Capitan and Security Update 2016-005 Yosemite - Apple Support

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Answer 2

MacFan2016 Author

Level 1

8 points

Sep 7, 2016 12:58 PM in response to macjack

Thanks for the reply but that really doesn't address my question. I intend to stay with Mavericks but was asking if there were any specific security risks in doing so.

Specific security risks as in identifying specific security risks that are not fixed in Mavericks. I wasn't looking for a general opinion that "one should always upgrade whenever possible". If there are no outstanding security risks, I will stay with Mavericks and it's nicer 3D Dock and UI.

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Answer 3

macjack

Level 10

111,242 points

Sep 8, 2016 8:31 AM in response to MacFan2016

Yes, there are security updates for El Capitan that are not available for Mavericks. So, if you are asking about security, El Capitan is much more secure:

About System Integrity Protection on your Mac - Apple Support

Here is a good support topic on SIP:

http://arstechnica.com/apple/2015/09/os-x-10-11-el-capitan-the-ars-technica-revi ew/8/

If you plan to stay with Mavericks it's OK. It's not going to turn on you or anything, but you won't have near the protection SIP offers. Patches will be available for Mavericks until support is discontinues.

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Answer 4

Sep 8, 2016 8:36 AM in response to MacFan2016

Personally, I see the security updates as far more important the any 3D Dock is.

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Answer 5

Eric Root

Level 10

685,293 points

Sep 8, 2016 10:13 AM in response to MacFan2016

If you are careful above how you use the Internet and about what applications you install, Mavericks should be fine. Macjack has covered security issues.

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