The much anticipated MacOS Catalina launched this week. While you can download it now, it’s probably best to pause first before updating. This update represents a big change…Some have even called it a “new era” for the Mac. SixColors.com reminds users, “Catalina creates incompatibilities, alters workflows and ends what has been a period of relative stability.”
This new direction will ultimately unify apps and make workflows more efficient. However, in the meantime, it may be a rocky road until all the kinks are ironed out and users prepare their systems to function well in this new environment.
Catalina’s release makes a break from macOS’s compatibility with 32-bit apps. In other words, some utilities, tools, games and Apple system software you may use will no longer work after you upgrade. For a list of apps with compatibility issues, visit this site to learn what apps you will need to update before switching to the new OS.
For example, Time.com reports, “Some popular apps, like Adobe Photoshop, appear to be suffering from temporary compatibility issues with Catalina.” Time suggests you follow these steps to determine if you will have compatibility issues:
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On your Mac, hit the Apple menu, select About This Mac
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Click System Report.
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In System Report, scroll down to Legacy Software, and take an inventory of all your 32-bit apps.
If you’re running a lot of older apps, take stock and update them before you make a change to your operating system.
SixColors offered a few other great suggestions to help prevent an unexpected surprise after updating your OS.
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Find out here if you are using software that is about to be obsolete. If you do, put off upgrading and try new software that will work on Catalina. They note, “This will let you fall back to your tried-and-true apps if you need to, while you build a new 64-bit-clean workflow that will survive your eventual transition.”
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If you must upgrade, they suggest you “Consider making a disk image of your existing Mac (even better, make it a fresh install with just your important apps) and using it in an emulator such as VMWare Fusion or Parallels Desktop.”
Creating a disk image involves multiple steps. Follow instructions from Apple Support if you are comfortable following these directions. Otherwise, get in touch with us!
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The final suggestion from SixColors that makes sense if you use more than one Mac: Only update one of your computers and rely on the other if something doesn’t work.
We couldn’t have said it better ourselves!
Bottom line: if you don’t have a compelling reason to upgrade, wait! Finally: always make a backup before you update. Stay tuned for more details about how to create a backup.
Let us know if you have any questions.
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