Which macOS to upgrade to?

[honestone33]

Yes, you can do this. It is the easiest way to update. I have done it from 10.11 to 10.14 and everything worked out just fine. I am not sure of the difference between clean install/migration and updating via .dmg installer. It seems like a migration would carry over all the same config files and settings, the end result being basically the same. I could be wrong, though. Update via .dmg installer deletes files and setting unnecessary for the new OS. You should see more free storage space reclaimed afterward. This leads me to believe they are pretty much the same in the end.

Have you tried overwriting the install of the current OS? You can do this without affecting any of your personal files (document, music, video, etc.). Boot into recovery mode.
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It is not offered, because there would be no need for this. All you are doing in the update prcoess is overwriting the core OS. Personal files and relevant settings are untouched, so migrating is unnecessary.

I ALREADY know that, and I stated it CLEARLY above! I'll repeat it here (bold for emphasis):

"So, in simple terms, for a Clean installation of a newer Mac OS, you are offered the opportunity to migrate/copy items from a backup (makes no difference whether it's a Time Machine, SD, or CCC backup). For just upgrading a current OS to a newer version, you will not be offered that opportunity."

Is that clear enough?

As I mentioned, no matter which way you proceed, one thing you definitely must do is insure that all your third party applications are compatible with the newer Mac OS you are moving to.

And to answer your other question, no, I have never over written a prior Mac OS with a new one. That is certainly the case when I first move to the newer Mac OS. For any further updates to that new Mac OS, I'll use the Combo Updater. For the last update for that Mac OS, I will again do a clean, fresh installation, followed by a migration of files, folders, apps, etc. from a SD backup? I will definitely do that with the last version of Catalina (as I have done with just about every prior OS).

 

[||\||]

For the last update for that Mac OS, I will again do a clean, fresh installation, followed by a migration of files, folders, apps, etc. from a SD backup? I will definitely do that with the last version of Catalina (as I have done with just about every prior OS).

That is totally unnecessary. You can just install updates all the way through. The end result will be no different.

 

[honestone33]

That is totally unnecessary. You can just install updates all the way through. The end result will be no different.

Not always true. I have read about some folks who continually do the update process, without ever doing a clean, fresh installation, and they run into problems.

The reasons why I do a clean, fresh installation of the last version of a Mac OS are 1) too many uses of the Combo Updater could cause issues, and 2) with it being the last update, I want to insure I have a clean, stable system until I move to next version of the Mac OS. And with this COVID-19 issue, such updates could be slow in coming. Example: look how long it's taking for V10.15.5 of Catalina to arrive. And I would not be surprised if OS 10.16 gets initially released later than usual, ie, not in late September like recent versions of the Mac OS.

In any event, I'll continue to do as I have always done, especially given that I rarely, if ever, have issues no matter which stage in the process I am proceeding. If you want to continue via the update process, fine (even from one version of the Mac OS to the next). I know what works for me, and it is the same no matter which Mac OS I "move" to.

 

[||\||]

Not always true. I have read about some folks who continually do the update process, without ever doing a clean, fresh installation, and they run into problems.

A clean install to update within the same version of the OS is silly. It's a waste of time and not necessary unless there is some sort of corruption. It's bad advice.

 

[The Hammer]

I have had 0 problems with High Sierra. But I've head good things about Mojave.

 

[honestone33]

I have had 0 problems with High Sierra. But I've head good things about Mojave.

Again, as I stated above, Mojave would be a good choice. But I am also having 0 problems with Catalina.

 

[Ambrosia7177]

Before you state how that approach would make sense, it's important to understand the CLEAN INSTALLATION process. You do not go "directly" into the SD or CCC clone to select items. When you do a CLEAN, FRESH, VIRGIN installation of the Mac OS, at the end, you are the offered the opportunity to migrate/copy "items" from a backup. You select the backup source, then the process will list the 4 categories of items which will be migrated/copied from the backup.

I have done this numerous times, using a SuperDuper! bootable backup/clone, and it works like a charm.

Now, if you just upgrade from your current OS to a newer one, then yes, you are not offered the opportunity to migrate/copy needed files, apps, settings, etc. from a backup.

So, in simple terms, for a Clean installation of a newer Mac OS, you are offered the opportunity to migrate/copy items from a backup (makes no difference whether it's a Time Machine, SD, or CCC backup). For just upgrading a current OS to a newer version, you will not be offered that opportunity.

You learn something every day!!

Now I presume that would be Mojave, for instance, asking me *if* I want to migrate files, and then apparently it is smart enough to go out to my previous CCC clone of Sierra and migrate over applications, app settings, preferences, email, bookmarks, and all of my data, huh?

That is really hard to believe that it can do that, and that it actually works, but since you say you have done it before, that is good to know!

 

[||\||]

Now I presume that would be Mojave, for instance, asking me *if* I want to migrate files, and then apparently it is smart enough to go out to my previous CCC clone of Sierra and migrate over applications, app settings, preferences, email, bookmarks, and all of my data, huh?

That is really hard to believe that it can do that, and that it actually works, but since you say you have done it before, that is good to know!

The migration software will display all available partitions to migrate from. You will navigate to which ever drive you want to use.

As long as you have a bootable clone to fall back on, you can't really screw this up. If things don't work out, you can always clone the clone back to the orignal boot drive and you will be back where to started from.

 

[Ambrosia7177]

Have you tried overwriting the install of the current OS? You can do this without affecting any of your personal files (document, music, video, etc.). Boot into recovery mode.

To try and tackle my audio issues, I'm just going to install a recent clone of Sierra on my other Retina, and see how things go from there.

Personally, I am old school when I build a machine and I do everything from scratch, and manually.

Most people rebuild their computer because they start having issues, so why copy over crap to a virgin machine. (I know you Mac types will say, becuse "it just works", but I am skeptical.)

This is another reason I am very slow to upgrade - because it turns out taking days to do.

Fortunately with macs, they just go one and on, so it's a rare occurence.

 

[honestone33]

You learn something every day!!

Now I presume that would be Mojave, for instance, asking me *if* I want to migrate files, and then apparently it is smart enough to go out to my previous CCC clone of Sierra and migrate over applications, app settings, preferences, email, bookmarks, and all of my data, huh?

That is really hard to believe that it can do that, and that it actually works, but since you say you have done it before, that is good to know!

Yes, and that is true for ANY version of the Mac OS that 1) you install, and 2) want to migrate from (via the bootable backup/clone created with SD or CCC). I did exactly that with at least the last 6 versions of the Mac OS. Last year I went from High Sierra to Mojave, and then more recently from Mojave to Catalina.

But again, it is best if you do the following tasks first:

1. Insure all your third party applications are compatible with the OS you are moving to (in your case, that would be Mojave). That might mean you'll need to either download (and can possibly apply) updates for such programs, or in the case of Onyx (there are probably some others), download the version specific to the OS you are moving to.
2. Before you do the SD or CCC backup, do as much disk cleanup/maintenance/repairs as you can. Myself, when I embark on such a project, I first run Onyx and Tech Tool Pro on that last (and soon to be backed up) system I have. I then do my SD backup/clone to a partition on an external SSD.

Now, as I mentioned, the one possible "unknown" is if some (or all) of your issues are caused by a "bad" application (or applications). That is a more difficult problem. If you have been diligently upgrading such applications, that issue should be minimized. And hopefully it is not due to any bad Apple apps. That would be a real bummer!

I will mention one other thing. I have always done such a migration for the just prior version of the Mac OS to the new one. Thus, I did it from High Sierra to Mojave, and then later on, from Mojave to Catalina. I see you will want to do it from Sierra to Mojave. Hopefully, that will be OK, and work fine. One thing to be aware of is that the APFS File System was introduced in High Sierra, then further "refined" in Mojave and Catalina. You should be OK.

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To try and tackle my audio issues, I'm just going to install a recent clone of Sierra on my other Retina, and see how things go from there.

Personally, I am old school when I build a machine and I do everything from scratch, and manually.

Most people rebuild their computer because they start having issues, so why copy over crap to a virgin machine. (I know you Mac types will say, becuse "it just works", but I am skeptical.)

This is another reason I am very slow to upgrade - because it turns out taking days to do.

Fortunately with macs, they just go one and on, so it's a rare occurence.

For the reasons you state, that is why I make a concerted effort to keep my machines "lean, mean, and clean". That involves daily cleanup, and most of it comprises the permanent removal of deleted EMails. I use Thunderbird for my EMail client, and it is easy to do that task. Also, if I download a newer version of a program, I save it to a folder I have called "Useful Software" (it contains folders for each program I use, along with just programs themselves). In most cases, each such program folder contains at least the current version of the program, so after placing the new version there, I get rid of the prior version (some programs I keep both the current and prior versions). I also have another folder called "Upgrades", and there I have folders for the current Mac OS, and the prior one, and for Tech Tool Pro. Again, that is where I keep both original installer files, and updates. And again I don't keep too many prior updates.

Finally, of course, as I already mentioned above, every Saturday I run Onyx and Tech Tool Pro for more disk cleanup, maintenance, and repairs, and then make 2 backups/clones via SuperDuper! to 2 separate, external SSDs.

All of that is second nature to me, and it has consistently resulted in me having no issues with my systems. But if I did not do a lot of that, then like you, if I were to do a clean installation, I would need to do a one by one installation of all my software. Then of course there are all the settings, passwords, etc. Definitely a chore, just like you are indicating. Hence, that is why I will continue to be diligent.

 

[honestone33]

The migration software will display all available partitions to migrate from. You will navigate to which ever drive you want to use.

As long as you have a bootable clone to fall back on, you can't really screw this up. If things don't work out, you can always clone the clone back to the orignal boot drive and you will be back where to started from.

Wow, you do know the clean installation process! Hooray!

And yes (and again as I have already stated), if one first makes a bootable backup/clone of their current system (hopefully as clean as possible), and things go haywire, one can fall back to that clone and be back in business pretty quickly.
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No, it is not a waste of time and effort. I have known of other folks who do the same. For me, it works well, and thus is good advice. Not silly at all!

 

[Madhatter32]

That is totally unnecessary. You can just install updates all the way through. The end result will be no different.

It may be unnecessary for some but it's good practice to do a clean install for long time users just to get you machine lean. If you just istall the updates everything comes over including older programs and other legacy items you may not need and that may be difficult to locate and remove manually.

 

[honestone33]

It may be unnecessary for some but it's good practice to do a clean install for long time users just to get you machine lean. If you just istall the updates everything comes over including older programs and other legacy items you may not need and that may be difficult to locate and remove manually.

Yes, I understand about "within the same OS" updates, and as I stated above, I always use the Combo Updater. But for the last release of a Mac OS (typically the .6 version), after already having applied the Combo Updater a couple of times for prior updates, I prefer to do a clean, fresh installation of that .6 version, along with the subsequent migration/copying of information from a just completed SuperDuper! backup. In that way (along with my continuing cleaning/maintenance/repair/backup tasks), I know I'll be good to go until the release of the next Mac OS. But as I have already stated, typically I do not move to that new version of the OS until the .3 release. See no reason to rush into the new version of the OS (besides some of my apps not being compatible with the new OS right away).