Afraid to upgrade from Sierra to Mojave, am I being silly?

[nmaxcom]

Hi there!

I'm using 10.12.6, Sierra. I have been since I bought my MBP (MacBook Pro (15-inch, 2017)) and I've never updated because I didn't see the point.

However, more and more apps do not support 10.12 so I'm thinking of updating to 10.14 Mojave (I'd rather wait and see how Catalina fairs among users, potential yet hidden bugs...)

Here's my fear though: Apple has the tendency of adding bloatware like iTunes and other apps I don't want or use and also introduce potentially breaking changes.

I'm a programmer and a designer, and I have a huge amount of apps, from big apps like Adobe's and Jetbrains' to dozens of little everyday nifty utilities. I am afraid of having to waste hours reinstalling some of them or maybe even not being able to use a particular tool because the upgrade introduced breaking changes. A friend of mine had issues with already installed apps when upgrading and I don't want to be stranded: this laptop is my everyday workstation.

So, was my friend unlucky or it's not uncommon to have breaking changes that need attention? Can I potentially put myself into more trouble than what is worth?

 

[chown33]

Clone your disk to an external drive. Then boot from that.

Apply the update to the external drive, where you can then test drive it, test apps, etc.

If at any time you decide you don't like something, simply reboot to the internal drive, and erase the external one.

In short, make a complete backup, then upgrade the backup to evaluate.

And there's a High Sierra release between Sierra and Mojave, which you may find preferable.

 

[staggerlee41]

Just before Catalina was released, I updated my Mid 2012 NR MBP from Sierra to Mojave. While I don't have the bevy of programs you have, I do have a few that seem to want updates. Some of which I've updated and some of which I'll update when I use them next. I wanted to be sure I had upgraded to Mojave because I'm not sure how much longer this computer will support new updates to MacOS. With Catalina, they do away with 32 bit applications so that's a bigger jump. I haven't noticed anymore bloatware between Sierra and Mojave and it's the last version so at this point a stable release. I'm not a programmer though so your thoughts on stability/bloatware may differ.

The suggestion above is a great one. Clone the drive and test it out.

 

[nmaxcom]

Yes, I could do that, thanks for the advice. I don't know the specifics of how to do it but I guess it won't be hard to find out. The downside is that it's time-consuming and I don't own a suitable drive so I'd have to buy one just for this.

I didn't mention High Sierra because I thought that since I'd upgrade, it better be a slightly higher version to avoid being in this situation again so soon.

So what I take is that there is cause for concern when upgrading the OS ?

I guess my best option is to wait for the workload tide to get lower and just do it fingers crossed.

 

[staggerlee41]

Honestly, cloning your drive couldn't be easier. All you need to do is have the disk and then use SuperDuper! to clone it. I used that when I upgraded my HD to SSD in this computer. It's good to set that up and run it when you won't be working on the computer. Say before you go to bed. When you clone the drive, it literally makes an exact copy so you won't have to reinstall anything. I didn't. You may be prompted to upgrade some of the apps after Mojave is installed however. My best bud is not a techie at all and I got him to use SuperDuper! to clone his drive and upgrade this HD to SSD as well. If he can do it, there's no doubt you can also

I can't comment on High Sierra vs. Mojave as I skipped High Sierra, I went right from Sierra to Mojave. I wouldn't say there's any concern with upgrading the OS itself, Mojave is a mature product at this point.

In your case, it may take some time to verify all of the apps/utilities you speak of will work with Mojave. That's probably where I'd start if I were you.

 

[Mick84]

I use high Sierra (rolled back to it from Catalina) because Mojave axed one of my favorite features cover flow in Finder. If that matters to you then don't upgrade to Mojave. Other than that most of your apps should work in Mojave because it supports 32 and 64 bit apps not just 64 bit app like Catalina. But I personally would recommend high Sierra over Mojave or you can get Mojave and put the high Sierra finder in it if you love cover flow like I do.

Anyway to answer your question, no you're not being silly.

Edit: Since you don't have an external hard drive you could just partition your existing hard drive if theres enough free space/if its large enough and then install Mojave on the partition to see if it works for you.

 

[Plutonius]

Yes, I could do that, thanks for the advice. I don't know the specifics of how to do it but I guess it won't be hard to find out. The downside is that it's time-consuming and I don't own a suitable drive so I'd have to buy one just for this.

I didn't mention High Sierra because I thought that since I'd upgrade, it better be a slightly higher version to avoid being in this situation again so soon.

So what I take is that there is cause for concern when upgrading the OS ?

I guess my best option is to wait for the workload tide to get lower and just do it fingers crossed.

There is always a concern on any update of an operating system. That's why most people recommend a recent backup before updating.

I don't believe that many people have issues with updating but, when it goes wrong, it can sometimes be catastrophic if you don't have a backup to recover from.

Mojave has been out for over a year and is very stable now. I would definitely install Mojave instead of High Sierra.

 

[Fishrrman]

1. Get an external drive (preferably an SSD)
2. Install Mojave onto the EXTERNAL drive
3. During setup, use setup assistant to "migrate" your personal stuff from the internal to the external

Now you have a way to boot and test Mojave WHILE LEAVING YOUR INTERNAL DRIVE UNTOUCHED.

You can experiment freely.
If you're satisfied, you can now either upgrade the internal to Mojave, or even "clone over" the external to the internal. Use either CarbonCopyCloner or SuperDuper (both are FREE to use for the first 30 days).

 

[dwig]

I recently did this with the iMac at work. I took the approach chown33 suggested except that being a regular user of SuperDuper! and cloned backup drives I did it this way:

1. Cloned the internal to one of 4 partitions on a 4Tb external drive.
2. Booted from the clone and ran it for a while, testing to see that it was completely functional.
3. Re-booted from the internal and upgraded it to Mojave
4. Cloned the internal again on a different external partition on the external
5. Tested the Mojave clone
6. Put the external on the shelf as a backup for possible future use.

I use that external monthly to backup the internal by cloning. I generally rotate between the 4 partitions so that I always have several of the monthlies available should something happen to the internal data. I'll keep the Sierra partition out of the rotation and just use the other 3 partitions for monthlies over the next 6 months or so.

 

[nmaxcom]

I use high Sierra (rolled back to it from Catalina) because Mojave axed one of my favorite features cover flow in Finder. If that matters to you then don't upgrade to Mojave. Other than that most of your apps should work in Mojave because it supports 32 and 64 bit apps not just 64 bit app like Catalina. But I personally would recommend high Sierra over Mojave or you can get Mojave and put the high Sierra finder in it if you love cover flow like I do.

This gave me peace of mind! I didn't know about this. In the System Report, I can see about two dozen 32bit apps, although most seem to be OS' and app's auxiliary tools (like the Adobe sync tools, etc.). So I guess if it came to that, I would reinstall those without much trouble.
(I hate cover flow BTW )

There is always a concern on any update of an operating system. That's why most people recommend a recent backup before updating.

I don't believe that many people have issues with updating but, when it goes wrong, it can sometimes be catastrophic if you don't have a backup to recover from.

Mojave has been out for over a year and is very stable now. I would definitely install Mojave instead of High Sierra.

I'm not sure I've heard those kinds of catastrophy-like stories with Windows upgrades. IIRC you could always de-upgrade.

So, I'll upgrade to Mojave soon enough when I catch a bit of a work break. My personal stuff, projects and so on are always synced to the cloud. I've never seen the point to back applications I can always reinstall if needed.

Thank you all!

 

[sgtaylor5]

I'm not sure I've heard those kinds of catastrophy-like stories with Windows upgrades. IIRC you could always de-upgrade.

Oh. My. God. The number of times I've had to rebuild UEFI/GPT Windows 10 systems that wouldn't boot from just one Windows Update borking them... Most people don't backup nor image their systems.

Just be happy you're on a Mac. The above is one of the reasons I switched to a Mac.

 

[nmaxcom]

Oh. My. God. The number of times I've had to rebuild UEFI/GPT Windows 10 systems that wouldn't boot from just one Windows Update borking them... Most people don't backup nor image their systems.

Just be happy you're on a Mac. The above is one of the reasons I switched to a Mac.

I used Debian and Windows forever until Windows 7 was about to be replaced by the next edition, that's when I switched to Mac. I am indeed happier using an Apple computer, but I don't recall having any issue that couldn't be quickly solved.
However, upgrading Windows versions didn't render useless some apps unexpectedly. And Windows is at a disadvantage since it has to work well in any computer, contrary to macOS, which is tailor-made for their known hardware.
The sectarianism, superiority complex and the outrageous prices make me sick. So there are different ways to pay for using macOS...

 

[sgtaylor5]

What my customers use - I cannot have an opinion on, for the most part. If their operating system is too old, I will say something, but I'm OK to receive their rejection of my opinion. It is their system, after all.

I've used Windows, Mac and Linux. If I could get a good business accounting system on Linux that is fairly easy to use, I'd switch to Linux. But, there isn't one: GNUcash is too hard to use. So, I'm on a Mac.

I prefer macOS, because it's simpler to use and I don't have to manage it. I can use Windows and Linux, because I'm fairly flexible. I'm trending towards simpler as I get older.