upgrading from High Sierra to...

[Eggtastic]

I have a 2016 M5 rMB. I still run high sierra and its been lagging here and there so was looking to upgrade the macOS. To be honest, I have no clue why I never bothered to keep up with the latest macOS (I have light tasks).

So, with that model, should I:

1. Upgrade in steps (mojave, catalina, big sur, and then monterey).
2. Upgrade right to monterey.
3. Upgrade to any previous macOS but not monterey.

Thanks.

 

[GGJstudios]

You can update directly to Monterey. There is no need to update to interim versions.

 

[Fishrrman]

My main OS (on this 2018 Mini) is Mojave, but I also keep an external USB3 SSD that has the latest copy of Monterey on it.

I've found that Monterey (even though it's running on a drive slower than the internal SSD) is snappy and stable (running the latest developer beta, too).

My only complaint is that "it looks different" than Mojave. Particularly with the dock icons, they've given it a "flatter" look, more like an iPad. But this DOES NOT detract from its functionality, which seems to be good.

One other thing:
Realize that moving up "beyond Mojave" BREAKS all your 32-bit software (if you have any).
It won't run on Catalina and later.

EXCEPTION:
There's a very nifty 3rd party utility called "Retroactive" that will enable iTunes, iPhoto, and Aperture to run on the latest OS's, just as they did before. Very nice.

 

[Eggtastic]

My main OS (on this 2018 Mini) is Mojave, but I also keep an external USB3 SSD that has the latest copy of Monterey on it.

I've found that Monterey (even though it's running on a drive slower than the internal SSD) is snappy and stable (running the latest developer beta, too).

My only complaint is that "it looks different" than Mojave. Particularly with the dock icons, they've given it a "flatter" look, more like an iPad. But this DOES NOT detract from its functionality, which seems to be good.

One other thing:
Realize that moving up "beyond Mojave" BREAKS all your 32-bit software (if you have any).
It won't run on Catalina and later.

EXCEPTION:
There's a very nifty 3rd party utility called "Retroactive" that will enable iTunes, iPhoto, and Aperture to run on the latest OS's, just as they did before. Very nice.

Thanks for the details. So you got me worried about needing a third party app for iphoto / photos? I currently use "photos" to store all my pictures. It is a mess right now and looking to clean it up for look for a better app to manage all of my photos from my phone, camera, etc.

Anyway, any concern with this third party suggestion you made? I do have iTunes also that i never use but I have music stored on there which I assume I will have limited / no access to?

 

[MBAir2010]

Thanks for the details. So you got me worried about needing a third party app for iphoto / photos? I currently use "photos" to store all my pictures. It is a mess right now and looking to clean it up for look for a better app to manage all of my photos from my phone, camera, etc.

Anyway, any concern with this third party suggestion you made? I do have iTunes also that i never use but I have music stored on there which I assume I will have limited / no access to?

What Fishrman is say is that are other programs to run  apps just like High Sierra does.
so you don't lose those apps, as iPhoto might have features that Photo does not.

personally I would rather use iTunes because that is
more expandable than Music, which i could not get used to.

when i upgraded to Catalina from High Sierra this Monday, i did not lose any data.
Everything sync well and after logging into iCloud, i did not have to move any files.

Im hearing great things about Monterey, the interface is flat, but many have gotten used to that with BigSur.
for me i'm staying with Mojave due to the adobe Creative suit,
but might run a separate drive for Monterey and use newer Design software.