Updating to newer OS from Mavericks

[mikebatho]

I have a 2007 imac.

I've been kinda stuck on Mavericks because I only have an old version of Photoshop.

However the client I do most of my work with now has signed up to the Adobe suite and got me a login, so I can finally ditch my old CS6 & update my Operating system.

Also, I have a lot of problems because the company insits on using Google Chrome exclusively as their browser (because they use all the other Google functions) , but with Mavericks, Google has long since past the point it was ever supported, and I have to sneakily use firefox for some things.... not ideal.

So basically what I need to know, how new can I go with an OS from Mavericks where Google Chrome can catchup & be supported, but the OS doesn't kill my little computer?

I've found the apple page where you can download legacy versions of the operating systems, I just need to know which one to go for.

Specs below. Thanks.

Processor 2 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
Memory 4 GB 667 MHz DDR2 SDRAM
Graphics ATI Radeon HD 2400 XT 128 MB
Software OS X 10.9.5 (13F1911)
250 GB SATA Disk (approx 100GB free)

 

[BrianBaughn]

That model's (iMac 7,1) maximum version of macOS is El Capitan.

iMac "Core 2 Duo" 2.0 20" (Al) Specs (Mid-2007, MA876LL, iMac7,1, A1224, 2133): EveryMac.com

Technical specifications for the iMac "Core 2 Duo" 2.0 20" (Al). Dates sold, processor type, memory info, hard drive details, price and more.

everymac.com

Some older model Macs can install versions beyond their official maximum using patches from a developer, dosdude1. As it is, yours cannot. It would take a CPU change…and you'd definitely need to have an SSD as your system disk as well as upgrade the RAM to 6GB. Not really worth thinking about.

It may be time to consider a new Mac.

 

[mikebatho]

That model's (iMac 7,1) maximum version of macOS is El Capitan.

iMac "Core 2 Duo" 2.0 20" (Al) Specs (Mid-2007, MA876LL, iMac7,1, A1224, 2133): EveryMac.com

Technical specifications for the iMac "Core 2 Duo" 2.0 20" (Al). Dates sold, processor type, memory info, hard drive details, price and more.

everymac.com

Some older model Macs can install versions beyond their official maximum using patches from a developer, dosdude1. As it is, yours cannot. It would take a CPU change…and you'd definitely need to have an SSD as your system disk as well as upgrade the RAM to 6GB. Not really worth thinking about.

It may be time to consider a new Mac.

Hi.

Thanks for that. I'll try to upgrade to El Capitan and see how I get on.

While I have the ear of someone who knows what's what, do you know what would be the optimum OS for a mid 2011 imac (2.5GH QC Intel i5, 7gb ram, 1tb storage) ?

Thanks.

 

[davigarma]

I have good news for you. Here you can see the latest version of ( 106) Chromium working on the wonderful Mavericks maintained by Bluebox on Giturb. Chromium is the open source base that Google's Chrome is built on. And you can also see that Photoshop for Mavericks did not end in version 6. The modern CC of 2015 works. They are determined that we change our machines every year, starting with Apple, and I am still determined to prevent it 😆

 

[BrianBaughn]

Hi.

Thanks for that. I'll try to upgrade to El Capitan and see how I get on.

While I have the ear of someone who knows what's what, do you know what would be the optimum OS for a mid 2011 imac (2.5GH QC Intel i5, 7gb ram, 1tb storage) ?

Thanks.

I can't really make a call on "optimum OS". A few years ago I would have upgraded RAM, put in an SSD (if it doesn't already have one) and perhaps put a different video card in there so that I would be able to run Catalina via dosdude1's patch. I don't think I'd go to the expense or trouble now.

How did it come to have 7GB of RAM?

 

[mikebatho]

I can't really make a call on "optimum OS". A few years ago I would have upgraded RAM, put in an SSD (if it doesn't already have one) and perhaps put a different video card in there so that I would be able to run Catalina via dosdude1's patch. I don't think I'd go to the expense or trouble now.

How did it come to have 7GB of RAM?

God knows haha. Ok, I think I have a plan now, so thanks 👍

 

[f54da]

@davigarma Can you share the chrome theme you are using?

 

[davigarma]

@davigarma Can you share the chrome theme you are using?

i think its mac classic not sure i change it often

 

[mikebatho]

That model's (iMac 7,1) maximum version of macOS is El Capitan.

iMac "Core 2 Duo" 2.0 20" (Al) Specs (Mid-2007, MA876LL, iMac7,1, A1224, 2133): EveryMac.com

Technical specifications for the iMac "Core 2 Duo" 2.0 20" (Al). Dates sold, processor type, memory info, hard drive details, price and more.

everymac.com

Some older model Macs can install versions beyond their official maximum using patches from a developer, dosdude1. As it is, yours cannot. It would take a CPU change…and you'd definitely need to have an SSD as your system disk as well as upgrade the RAM to 6GB. Not really worth thinking about.

It may be time to consider a new Mac.

OK I now have a second question (eye roll)

i have the use of another machine, which wasn't working well, which

i discovered is because it wasn't suitable for the catalina os it had jammed into it.

So I've gone back to High Sierra and it seems happier.

Although now I seem to have two HDs sitting on my desktop: MAC HDD and MAC HDD Data

Is this standard now? I like having my HD on the desktop, but I keep clicking into the wrong one. i don't suppose there's a way to hide the data drive?

Thanks.

 

[BrianBaughn]

The data drive was created when Catalina was installed and the drive was converted to APFS file format.

If you're sticking with High Sierra then you should start over by booting from a High Sierra installation USB and erasing the entire drive…formatting it HFS+ (Mac OS Extended). Then install High Sierra to that.

 

[mikebatho]

The data drive was created when Catalina was installed and the drive was converted to APFS file format.

If you're sticking with High Sierra then you should start over by booting from a High Sierra installation USB and erasing the entire drive…formatting it HFS+ (Mac OS Extended). Then install High Sierra to that.

Hi. Thanks for the reply.

I did that, doewloaded the High Sierra, made a boot disc on a USB stick, started up in recovery or whatever - according to instructions online - and installed High Sierra from the HS boot drive as the OS... 🤔

 

[BrianBaughn]

You reformatted the system partition and installed High Sierra. You needed to select the entire disk and erase that.

Perhaps in Disk Utility the menu item View>Show All Devices was not selected.

 

[mikebatho]

You reformatted the system partition and installed High Sierra. You needed to select the entire disk and erase that.

Perhaps in Disk Utility the menu item View>Show All Devices was not selected.

Aww hell. I spent two days wrestling with Adobe support trying to get older versions of Illustrator and Photoshop, which I did, and get them running. Not sure I can face installing them again & screwing around with the preference permissions 😭😭😭

 

[BrianBaughn]

If you have an external drive large enough you could use Carbon Copy Cloner to clone your current installation to the external, boot from the external, then format the internal properly and clone back to it. I don't know if that will affect Illustrator or Photoshop licensing but I think you'd be OK. CCC is free to use for 30 days and you won't need it that long.