Which is your preferred macOS?

[JustAnExpat]

>modern Mac operating systems

What's that? Where's the cutoff? Are we referring to the OSX era (starting from Mac OS X 10.0?). Is this the MacOS era? Is this the M1 era?

 

[zapmymac]

I was very happy with MOJAVE & Catalina (lesser).

I like security updates on Internet-facing computers I use though

I was amazed at Mac OS 3 and 8.1

 

[dawnrazor]

The version of MacOS that is the one before the current one… one generation behind.

For example I updated to Monterey the day before Ventura was released…

12 months of problem free computing…

 

[ian87w]

Best on my limited short time macOS experience, so far my best experience was probably with High Sierra. On my 2012 mini, it felt the fastest without any glaring annoying bugs.

Mojave was the last macOS with 32bit support. And it brought several great enhancement. But it felt bloated and sluggish compared to High Sierra.

Catalina brought back a bit of zippiness, but it dropped 32bit and brought in some annoying bugs (eg preview and image scanner).

 

[Ambrosia7177]

Windows upgrade cycle is pretty long. For good reason. Businesses are slow too upgrade

Windows XP: 2003
Vista: 07
7: 09
8: 12
10: 15
11: 21

Vista and were not well received, hence the relatively short life

No, what I meeant was... Hasn't Microsoft switched to a perpetual update model where there is no longer the concept of an OS version, but instead it just keeps getting perpetually updated?

If not Windows, then doesn't MS Office do that?

Software-As-A-Service (SAAS)

 

[Ambrosia7177]

OP:

Remember, if it's a brand-new Mac, the ONLY OS you're going to be able to run at this point is (almost certainly) Ventura.

Some Macs (currently) sold new or Apple-refurbished) can run Monterey (such as an Apple-refurbished 2021 MacBook Pro 14" or 16").

@Fishrrman,

Yes, I see that now based on this thread.

And since I am 95% sure to et a new Mac, then it will definitely be Ventura until I can't buy one until this fall when there might be a new OS.

From the little I know, it sounds like Macs - and Apple products in general - are so solid-state and locked down that there is barely anything you can do anymore on your device.

Let's hope that Ventura meets my needs.

 

[Ambrosia7177]

>modern Mac operating systems

What's that? Where's the cutoff? Are we referring to the OSX era (starting from Mac OS X 10.0?). Is this the MacOS era? Is this the M1 era?

I guess I meant like in the last 5 years...

 

[aespana]

I think that Ventura on a M2 should be fast as Big Sur/Monterrey so i think that there should not be problem.

If you have no problem with Ventura, go ahead and enjoy your purchase!

 

[Ambrosia7177]

Is there a way to add a poll to this thread?

 

[MrScratchHook]

Is that because of something Apple did with its hardware, or is it because they won't let you download and install older OS's?




So if I get a new MBP, then it shouldn't be jarring swiching from Big Sur to Ventura?




What is that?

if you want macos options youll probably need to buy an early 2021 mbp, this way you can use big sur, monterey or ventura. my fave is big sur and monterey. i had ventura on my imac for 2 months and really disliked it due to double clicking issues that had to be quadruple clicked for it to open or close things, so much so that i went back to monterey, and things went back to normal. both macos are smooth and steady, i dont have anything bad to say about those 2. mojave was cool for its time but my alltime fave had to be sierra

 

[appltech]

In my experience (across a 2006 17", 2010 13" and 2011 13"), Mavericks ran surprisingly bad on a spinner. Snow Leopard was the last that could comfortably be run on a spinner.

Fusion Drive were still fine enough until APFS came around, that was when an SSD became an unofficial requirement. Crazy that Apple were still selling that god awful 2017 iMac with the 5400rpm drive as late as 2021.

Imagine if someone was upgrading from an older MacBook Air, thinking that this would be a good upgrade, yet when they turn it on, they realise that their older Mac was so much faster.

Thanks for sharing. You're right, I had experience with Lion on my first Mac MBP 13 2010, and can admit, response was nicer, but then...ehehe, after few some time and after ChromiumOS can't install anything lower than 10.9 and that Legacy Internet Recovery didn't work, as boot from DVD using O or Startup Manager, error with globe icon, wit's end.

Still in service, on original HDD (surprisingly after many years, still in service without problems), on another apart. as network access machine because parents prefer to use that one instead of iPad or another Windows laptop

 

[Pecka]

Anyone know why there isn't an official download link from Apple for Mavericks?

 

[JustAnExpat]

Anyone know why there isn't an official download link from Apple for Mavericks?

There should be. I know there are official download links for the following operating systems (or at least there were)

System 1 - 7.0
System 7.5.5. (I think they made that version free)

Mac OS X 10.9 is free, but Apple is no longer offering it as a download (see https://discussions.apple.com/thread/8027444)

Mac OS 10.10 is free and has the same requirements as Mac OS X 10.9

 

[lepidotós]

If the cutoff for "modern" is Intel (~2006), then Tiger and Snow Leopard. I've tried Monterey and it's... fine, but I generally agree with the old article about the UI downgrade since SL. If the cutoff is "10+", I'm a sucker for Jaguar. It's my favorite Mac OS... probably of all of them, besides 9.2.2 which is decidedly not modern. If it's AS... I guess Monterey wins by default since it's the only one I've used.​

 

[JustAnExpat]

If the cutoff for "modern" is Intel (~2006), then Tiger and Snow Leopard. I've tried Monterey and it's... fine, but I generally agree with the old article about the UI downgrade since SL. If the cutoff is "10+", I'm a sucker for Jaguar. It's my favorite Mac OS... probably of all of them, besides 9.2.2 which is decidedly not modern. If it's AS... I guess Monterey wins by default since it's the only one I've used.​

Jaguar is the only version of MacOS X 10 I never used. I refused to pay $119 to upgrade from Puma. What made it nicer compared to Puma?

 

[lepidotós]

What made it nicer compared to Puma?

It was better polished and optimized. It introduced Quartz Extreme desktop GPU acceleration, automatically finding networked PCs, mp4 files in QuickTime, CUPS, and compared to Panther and later, has a more accurate Classic that performs far better than later versions and with fewer visual issues. I've also never encountered any of the infamous Cheetah/Puma general instability with Jaguar.​

 

[JustAnExpat]

It was better polished and optimized. It introduced Quartz Extreme desktop GPU acceleration, automatically finding networked PCs, mp4 files in QuickTime, CUPS, and compared to Panther and later, has a more accurate Classic that performs far better than later versions and with fewer visual issues. I've also never encountered any of the infamous Cheetah/Puma general instability with Jaguar.​

Thanks for letting me know. Cheetah wasn't usable (No DVD Playback? No CD Burning??). It was a fun toy to play with, but I ran back to OS 9.1 whenever I could. Puma was just barely functional, but much faster than Cheetah (but not as fast as OS 9.1). Panther was the first version that was almost as fast as 9.1, and I wanted to try out some of the new features too.

 

[Ambrosia7177]

Just added a POLL because this has turned out to be an interesting conversation on different versions of MacOS.

Please be sure to vote!

 

[haakondahl]

I answered Jaguar, because it came on my G3 (EDIT: G4) iMac (sunflower) and was simply STUNNING. I wish I could get the Aqua look back.
That said, I remember Snow Leopard being an awesome upgrade for my late 2008 MBP 15. That was the XP SP3 of MacOSX for me. Then after that it topped out at El Cap. JUST DIED (mobo crack or similar) not six months ago. Had Monterey via OCLP for a while.
I STILL want the aqua look back.

 

[Ambrosia7177]

I answered Jaguar, because it came on my G3 iMac (sunflower) and was simply STUNNING. I wish I could get the Aqua look back.
That said, I remember Snow Leopard being an awesome upgrade for my late 2008 MBP 15. That was the XP SP3 of MacOSX for me. Then after that it topped out at El Cap. JUST DIED (mobo crack or similar) not six months ago. Had Monterey via OCLP for a while.
I STILL want the aqua look back.

Can you post a screenshot of the aqua look?

 

[haakondahl]

Can you post a screenshot of the aqua look?

Correction, that was the G4 iMac I had, and the OS looked like it does in this YT vid. Hit '8' to see a window with the scrollbars etc.