Outdated MacOS vs OCLP - which is more secure?

[WishyWashyUK]

Hi all - I’m currently running a late 2012 Mac mini on Catalina booting external SSD, which continues to be perfectly usable, though I’m a little nervous as it hasn’t received security updates for some time now so I tend to only use it occasionally as I have newer devices for daily use. I’m toying with the idea of trying to use a newer version of MacOS via OCLP (probably booting from another external SSD as I’m not confident to upgrade the internal HDD!).

I’m interested in any tips for a newbie like myself and particularly whether it would be safer to use the older (supported) Catalina or a newer (unsupported) OS that would be able to receive the security updates? If the latter, any tips on a newer version that runs well with my machine (i5 with 8GB ram)?

Thanks in advance!

 

[gilby101]

newbie

Stick with Catalina.

 

[bogdanw]

Linux.

 

[WishyWashyUK]

Linux.

Fair point - is there a version that’s user friendly and is particularly secure that you would recommend?

 

[bogdanw]

I prefer Xubuntu LTS, but it’s probably best to try Ubuntu LTS first

Xubuntu https://xubuntu.org/download/
Ubuntu https://ubuntu.com/download/desktop
Create a bootable USB stick on macOS https://ubuntu.com/tutorials/create-a-usb-stick-on-macos