{"id":4985,"date":"2014-03-06T12:30:56","date_gmt":"2014-03-06T17:30:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.nccomputertech.com\/?p=4985"},"modified":"2014-03-06T12:30:56","modified_gmt":"2014-03-06T17:30:56","slug":"snow-leopard-updates-are-probably-done-here-are-your-os-x-upgrade-options","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nccomputertech.com\/techtalk\/2014\/03\/06\/snow-leopard-updates-are-probably-done-here-are-your-os-x-upgrade-options\/","title":{"rendered":"Snow Leopard updates are probably done\u2014here are your OS X upgrade options"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Apple offers no end-of-life roadmaps for its operating systems, and it doesn’t officially comment on whether support has dried up for this or that version of OS X. The best you can do is look at historical data. Since switching to a yearly release cadence with Lion back in 2011, Apple seems to be willing to support whatever the latest version is plus the two preceding versions. When OS X 10.9.2 was released earlier this week, it was accompanied by security updates for OS X 10.8 and 10.7 but not for 2009’s OS X 10.6.<\/p>\n

It’s the first major security update that Snow Leopard has missed\u2014the OS is still getting iTunes updates, but its last major security patch happened back in September. This has prompted a flurry of posts from various outlets. All point out the same Net Applications data that says 10.6 still powers around 19 percent of Macs. Most compare the OS X support cycle to the much-longer Windows cycle. Some make a bigger deal about it than others. None really tell anyone in that 19 percent what to do next.<\/p>\n

You’ll need to know the exact kind of Mac you’re using before proceeding\u2014typing your serial number into this Service and Support page should give you the information you need if you’re not sure. Launching the System Profiler application from the Utilities folder will show you your serial number and your Mac’s specific model identifier (something like MacBook4,1 or iMac11,2), the latter of which can be used with this EveryMac lookup page to find what you’re looking for.<\/p>\n

Newer Macs: Upgrade to Mavericks (or at least Mountain Lion)<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Macs this applies to: Anything that can run Mavericks. See this post for more details.<\/p>\n

If you’re still running Snow Leopard because it came with your Mac and you just never got around to upgrading, the good news is that basically any Mac that came with Snow Leopard can update to the latest version at absolutely no cost. Just grab it from the Mac App Store and do an in-place upgrade\u2014you shouldn’t run into problems, though it is probably a good idea to run a Time Machine backup (or something similar) before doing it.<\/p>\n

New OS X versions usually have teething issues when they first come out, but the 10.9.2 update is a big one that fixes much more than the “goto fail” SSL bug. If you were holding out because you didn’t want to deal with those early-upgrader blues, most of 10.9’s largest bugs should be squashed at this point.<\/p>\n

Supposing your hardware can handle the upgrade but you don’t care to move to Mavericks, you can still purchase copies of Mountain Lion for $20 through Apple’s online store. The company will send you a code that you can redeem in the Mac App Store, and you can use that version of the software until you’re comfortable moving to Mavericks or until software support for OS X 10.8 dries up.<\/p>\n

Full Story: Snow Leopard updates are probably done\u2014here are your OS X upgrade options | Ars Technica<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Apple offers no end-of-life roadmaps for its operating systems, and it doesn’t officially comment on whether support has dried up […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[2,3,9],"tags":[640],"class_list":["post-4985","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-apple","category-hardware","category-software","tag-mac-os-x"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/papNkV-1ip","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":6106,"url":"https:\/\/nccomputertech.com\/techtalk\/2014\/07\/30\/13-things-os-x-yosemite-beta-testers-need-to-know\/","url_meta":{"origin":4985,"position":0},"title":"13 things OS X Yosemite beta testers need to know","author":"NCCT","date":"July 30, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"For the first time since the OS X beta test of 2000, Apple is allowing Mac users to test and provide feedback on a prerelease version of OS X. 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The vulnerability is being called a \"hidden backdoor\" by Emil Kvarnhammar, the security researcher who discovered the bug and privately reported it\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Apple"","block_context":{"text":"Apple","link":"https:\/\/nccomputertech.com\/techtalk\/category\/apple\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/nccomputertech.com\/techtalk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/backdoor-640x425.png?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/nccomputertech.com\/techtalk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/backdoor-640x425.png?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/nccomputertech.com\/techtalk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/backdoor-640x425.png?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":8744,"url":"https:\/\/nccomputertech.com\/techtalk\/2015\/11\/11\/8744\/","url_meta":{"origin":4985,"position":2},"title":"Chrome to drop support for Windows XP, Windows Vista, and older Mac OS X versions in 2016","author":"NCCT","date":"November 11, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"By Ian Ginos | Neowin Google Chrome, by some estimates the world's third most popular desktop web browser, will cease to support older versions of Microsoft's Windows and Apple's OS X operating systems. In a recent blog post, Google announced that it intends to discontinue support for Chrome on Windows\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Apple"","block_context":{"text":"Apple","link":"https:\/\/nccomputertech.com\/techtalk\/category\/apple\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":5757,"url":"https:\/\/nccomputertech.com\/techtalk\/2014\/06\/13\/dailytech-apple-reveals-os-x-yosemite-gives-it-a-fresh-coat-of-paint\/","url_meta":{"origin":4985,"position":3},"title":"DailyTech – Apple Reveals OS X “Yosemite”, Gives it a Fresh Coat of Paint","author":"NCCT","date":"June 13, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Apple's PC operating system gets an iOS 7-style makeover OS X is Apple\u2019s premiere desktop operating system, and it\u2019s getting a big update with OS X 10.10 \u201cYosemite\u201d. The \u201cflat\u201d user interface that was first introduced with iOS 7 has been deftly transferred to OS X. 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So what's a crypto fan to do now for their encryption needs? Well, you could continue to use older versions of TrueCrypt if you already have it installed. 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