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Installing A Preferred Mac OS

This is a question I was researching back in Jan '24. I got two very helpful answers from PRP_53 & BD Aqua. In the interim I have discovered that it was all for naught as I was looking for the oldest of the newer MacOSs that gave me the 3-finger drag capability. I had one "newer" (2014) iMac (Monterrey) that had it on it. So I pursued trying to get that on all my computers specifically for the purpose mentioned. I eventually discovered on a YT video that the 3 Finger Drag is not a choice found in the trackpad Sys Prefs, it was under the Accessibility Prefs, and I already had it available for ALL my Macs!


So I wasted everyone's time because I didn't know what I was doing. For that I'm sorry. But I did learn new stuff about installing OSs of our choice. Thanks.

Posted on Aug 27, 2024 12:28 AM

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Posted on Sep 8, 2024 4:39 PM

Any OS upgrade has the potential to break some existing function or feature. I believe developers do their best to avoid those pitfalls.


But keeping the macOS updated can extend the useful productive life of the hardware, if only by introducing security updates to keep pace with advances and changes in technical standards. For example, a 2012 MacBook running Catalina has a longer useful life than one running Mountain Lion or Sierra.


You may not find newer feature to be desirable, and you don't have to use them if you don't wish to. But the future is a moving target and updates and upgrades are the only way to get there.

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Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Sep 8, 2024 4:39 PM in response to Zorba_le_grec

Any OS upgrade has the potential to break some existing function or feature. I believe developers do their best to avoid those pitfalls.


But keeping the macOS updated can extend the useful productive life of the hardware, if only by introducing security updates to keep pace with advances and changes in technical standards. For example, a 2012 MacBook running Catalina has a longer useful life than one running Mountain Lion or Sierra.


You may not find newer feature to be desirable, and you don't have to use them if you don't wish to. But the future is a moving target and updates and upgrades are the only way to get there.

Sep 5, 2024 1:05 AM in response to Zorba_le_grec

I don't mind upgrading to newer MacOSs if I can get the same one for all the Macs I use. But that's rarely the case. And the mistake was mine for the reason I was looking for the upgrades. And if I'm going to switch to a newer OS then I would like for it to be significant and not for just some different App icons or other miner changes. I would really like to see Cmd + 'Y' & Cmd + '.' brought back for repeating functions and stopping functions in progress.

Sep 8, 2024 3:15 PM in response to IdrisSeabright

@IdrisSeabright: The upgrades @bdphourde did were useless simply because the function ( 3 fingers drag ) already existed, but simply in another

`System Preferences...` bringing him to waste a lot of time ( most probably many hours, perhaps one full day ), perhaps break some other working functions in the process.

This is a huge risk, a huge waste of time, a huge deception.

This is an important lesson all editors of software, as for example a full operating system, should learn

before making sexy or tricky changes which will make their users waste a lot of time in useless upgrades.

Sep 14, 2024 6:35 AM in response to D.I. Johnson

The most significant aspect for me of using the latest version of the MacOS is so the Safari browser is updated. Safari is my internet connector interface and I'm getting way too many notices from online servers that my Catalina browser isn't current enough for their latest whiz-bang coding lines. FB doesn't even tell me that, they just wind up causing my browser to not be able to use all my keyboard functions anymore or just not display properly.

Installing A Preferred Mac OS

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