Wednesday, June 17, 2015

June 2015 Edition - Monthly Mini-Bytes


Snow Leopard Folks: The Party is Over
OS X Now Goes to 11

If you are still running OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard, the luxury of avoiding a system upgrade has ended. To check your version, go to the Apple in the upper left hand corner of the screen and choose About This Mac. If it comes up and says you have 10.6, then you have some decisions to make.

At the World Wide Developer Conference last week, Apple announced a new operating system: OS X 10.11 El Capitan. (http://www.apple.com/osx/elcapitan-preview/) It will be released in the Fall, but what this means for those of you running OS X Snow Leopard is that support for that platform will effectively end.

What does it mean exactly? Well, you probably already have had difficulties with mail, accessing websites, and using current software. It's only going to get worse.

What do you need to do? If you are on 10.6, the jump to the current version 10.10 is rather huge. Some software like MS Office 2004 and AppleWorks will not run in OS X 10.10 Yosemite. Also, if you only have 1GB of RAM, you will need to upgrade that before installing a new OS. And if you have an older machine, it may not even run Yosemite.

Bottom line is that if you had delayed upgrading there is a lot to do, which is why we always beat the drum of staying current. It avoids headaches like these. Still, there are solutions: 
  • To start, go to the App Store on your Mac and take a look at the current operating system. Here is a link: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/os-x-yosemite/id915041082?mt=12  It should tell you if your Mac is available for an update.
  • You can also learn more about the requirements for OS X Yosemite here: http://www.apple.com/osx/
  • If you are concerned about running any of your current software in OS X Yosemite, check with the developer's website.


When NOT To Upgrade
Sometimes You Have to Wait

Let me start out by saying that if you are on OS X 10.6 (see above), you have to upgrade. In fact 10.7 folks should start to make some decisions about updating your Mac's operating system. But if you are on 10.8 or 10.9 you may be asking yourself if it makes sense to move. 

First off, if you are a heavy user of iCloud and it's features, you MUST be on the highest system possible, which right now is OS X 10.10 Yosemite. It will allow you to sync seamlessly with all your devices. And if you have an iPad, iPhone, and Mac, it does pay to stay current, as it is necessary so that all three (or two) work together.

BUT... and this is a big but... if you use your Mac for work or extreme hobbying there are cases where delaying a system upgrade may make sense:
  1. Your Business Critical Software Won't Run - If you have an application that you use for business that will not work in a current system, then delaying an update does make sense -- at least in the short term. Keep in contact with your software provider to see when updates will become available.
  2. Software No Longer Developed - If you use an older software platform it may no longer be available. It's okay to delay, but you must look for an alternative and see how to move your data to something that is more future proof.
  3. Need to Purchase New Equipment - Upgrading may mean swapping out older machines for new Macs. This can get expensive, so holding off a little on upgrading can help when figuring out a holistic strategy for the office.


So What About an Anti-Virus?
ClamXav at the App Store

Thanks to the underlying Unix architecture of the OS X Operating System, Macs are very secure devices. But we get asked often about an anti-virus solution for the Mac. There area a lot of choices out there, but the one that we have used is called ClamXav. 

ClamXav is available at the App Store, and it's a freebie, too. You can run the scan when you need to, but otherwise it can sit in your Applications folder for a time when you want to check your machine. It does not actively monitor your machine by default -- just run it when you choose.