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Apple Mac users, today's your day. The latest iPhones and Apple Watch may have stolen all the recent Apple headlines. But if you own a Mac, you should be just as jazzed, if not more so, by the arrival of MacOS Mojave. On Monday, Apple formally released the new operating system to the public – it had been available as beta software. I wouldn't categorize Mojave as a major update, but it still brings features and a fresh face to the computer – even machines long in the tooth – that many Mac owners will happily embrace. These include a dark new aesthetic, tools that promise to make it easier to place photos taken on your phone into documents on your computer, even apps that come over from the iPhone.
Server versions of Mac OS X is not supported; Screen Resolution must be 1024 x 768 or higher; Operating system: Mac OS X 10.11 El Capitan; Mac OS X 10.12 Sierra; Mac OS X 10.13 High Sierra; Mac OS X 10.14 Mojave; Hard drive = 1 GB or higher of free disk space; RAM = 2 GB; CPU = Intel processor; Touchbars are supported.
More: iPhone XS and XS Max review: Apple's beautiful big-screen beasts exact a small ransom More: With iOS 12 coming, who needs a new iPhone? More: Apple Watch Series 4 Review: Bigger display, fall detection and ECG may make it the time to upgrade The new operating system is compatible with MacBook Air, MacBook Pro, Mac mini and iMac dating as far back as 2012, as well as more recent models like the MacBook and iMac Pro. Check with Apple if you’re unsure whether your computer meets the requirements. The update is free in the Mac App Store on your computer. Set aside a bit of time; the actual download and install time could exceed an hour or more. As always, back up files on your current computer before upgrading your computer.
You should be fine, but caution is never a bad thing. And with that, here are eight features to look out for. The Mac goes dark Apple’s new dark color scheme is visually striking, boasting darker hues that I think represent a handsome change. But if you’re not feeling this dark thing, rest assured, you can stick to or switch back to the lighter tones that define the status quo. Apple is also opening up Dark Mode to third-party app developers, but it may well take awhile before your chosen apps catch up with this new design scheme.
Meanwhile, if you choose one of the new Dynamic Desktop images – yes, there’s a desert scene to match the Mojave name – the image will automatically morph from light to dark and back to match the time of day in your location. That’s nice, though I’m sticking with the image of my kids that has long been the desktop on my iMac. Reducing clutter Those of us with aging computers have probably accumulated lots of files through the years.
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In other words, your computer interface may have become as messy as your physical desk. The latest Stacks feature is meant to de-clutter an unruly desktop by organizing disparate files into related stacks, in such categories as documents, images, and PDFs. The new Stacks is not to be confused with a feature of the same name (and purpose) on the Mac that placed stacks of files on the Dock at the bottom of the screen. Now Stacks is just doing it on the desktop, too. To take advantage of the feature, start by going to the Finder on the Mac, and under the View menu, select Use Stacks. You can then choose to group Stacks by date, kind or tag. Baig Quick look The Quick Look feature has also been on the Mac through several generations of MacOS software (and, before that, OS X).
The feature lets you peek at files in the Finder, without having to launch an underlying app to open them. Mojave now lets you do more with those files through so-called Quick Actions. For example, you can rotate or mark up images, create PDFs, and trim videos, without having to launch an app. Snap screenshots We journalists love taking screenshots, to show off features on our computers (and phones) to readers and viewers. You were previously able to take screenshots on a Mac through an application called Grab or in some cases through third-party utilities. But now Apple has added easier-to-access controls to make it much simpler to capture and save those screenshots, whether you want to take a picture of the entire screen, a selected window, or a portion of the screen.
You can also record videos of your entire screen or a chosen window. Apple Continuity camera You’re banging away at a document or other file on the Mac and need to add a picture or a scan of something. If you have an iPhone or iPad at hand, this process has just gotten a whole lot easier. You can use your phone or tablet (so long as they're on iOS 12 and share the same Wi-Fi network and Apple ID) to snap a picture or scan a document and have it land where you want inside the file you’ve been working on. For now this handy feature works inside Apple’s own Pages, Keynote, Numbers, Notes, Mail, Messages, Text Edit, Preview or the Finder.
I’d love for Apple to make it available for third-party software, notably Microsoft Office. That’s not the case at the moment. Group FaceTime Apple is going to open up FaceTime video calls so that you can visually chat with up to 32 people at once, though the feature won’t be available until later this fall. Group FaceTime not only comes to Macs with Mojave, but also to iPhones and iPads that have been upgraded to iOS 12. Apple iOS apps on the Mac Though Apple keeps its operating systems distinct – MacOS for the Mac; iOS for iPads and iPhones – there is increasing overlap in the apps that work across all of Apple’s gear.
So coming to Macs with Mojave are apps you may already be familiar with, if not use, on your iPhone, including Apple News, Stocks, Voice Memos, and the Home app for controlling smart light bulbs and connected appliances. Firmer security Security and privacy updates are typically baked into a new operating system. Gotta stay ahead of the bad guys. In Mojave, if an app wants to access the camera and microphone on your computer, it must request your explicit permission. Meanwhile, Apple says the Safari browser won’t trace your steps online via the embedded Share, Like or Comment buttons that you may come across on the Web, even if you don’t actively click on them. Email: [email protected]; Follow USA TODAY Personal Tech Columnist @edbaig on Twitter.
The new OS X El Capitan features a new Split View, features in Safari, Mail, Notes, Maps, and Photos, and more. To get your hands on all this new stuff, you have to install the operating system on your Mac. If you want to perform a typical OS upgrade, it’s easy.
You download it through the App Store. Here, we’ll go through the steps of installing EL Capitan from Yosemite. It’s about preparation Before you install the upgrade, there’s a little bit of prep work you should do.
Our article on how to is what you should read before you proceed. It covers:. Compatible hardware and older versions of OS X. Verifying the health of your Mac.
Installing updates. Backups. Encryption issues Go read that article and come back here when you’re ready to go.
How to download El Capitan Apple provides the El Capitan upgrade through its App Store. The download is a bit over 6GB, so you may want to download it at a time when you have other things to do—how long the download takes depends on your Internet connection and the amount of activity at the App Store. Or you can use your Mac while you wait, but be ready to save your work and quit when the download is done. To download El Capitan, launch the App Store app in your Applications folder (or go to Apple menu App Store). You’ll probably find El Capitan right away, especially if go to the App Store soon after the official release. Apple will probably have a banner at the top promoting El Capitan, but if you don’t see one, you can probably find it in the Free section in the far right column (you might have to scroll down to see it). And you can always do a search on El Capitan.
When you get to the El Capitan page in the App Store, click on the Download button. You may have to enter your Apple ID name and password, and after you do, the installer will download. Apple is heavily promoting El Capitan in the App Store. This special banner appeared in the Updates section. Copy the installer When the download finishes, the installer automatically launches. Don’t click Continue in the installer just yet.
What you may not know is that the installer is downloaded to your Applications folder and then deleted after the installation is done. If you ever need the installer again, you can get it in the App Store. But I like to make a copy of the installer.
I often have to perform OS installations, so I make a bootable flash drive that I can use; it’s a lot faster than waiting for the download. To copy the installer, you need to hold down the Option key as you drag the Install OS X El Capitan app in your Applications folder to the copy destination. If you don’t hold down Option, you’ll create an alias, not a copy. Install El Capitan OK, now you can click that Continue button in the installer window. (If the installer isn’t running, go to your Applications folder and double click the Install OS X El Capitan app.) You’ll be asked to agree and then confirm that you agree to the license agreement. The next screen will ask you to select the disk for the El Capitan installation.
If you have one storage device with one partition, you’ll see it in the installer window. But if you have multiple storage devices and/or multiple partitions, you can select the one you want by clicking the Show All Disks button.
Make your selection and click Install. To continue, you must enter your username and password. The install will prepare to install, restart your Mac, and perform the installation. The Mac may restart again during the installation process.
The install will take several minutes, so you may want to go for a walk, call your mom, take a nap, or catch up on chores while the software does its thing. When the installation is finished, the Mac will restart and you’ll need to log in with your username and password.
You may be asked if you want to send diagnostic data to Apple and that you need to log in with your Apple ID, and then a setting up screen will appear and go away. Want to do a clean install of El Capitan? A clean installation is when you install the operating system on a blank storage device.
You can do this by creating a bootable El Capitan installer, and then use it as the boot drive for your Mac. You run Disk Utility to erase your drive and then proceed with the El Capitan installation. Once the installation is done, you use Migration Assistant to transfer your data from a Time Machine backup. Why should you do a clean install? Maybe you partitioned your storage device and want to change the scheme. Or maybe you’ve installed and removed lots of apps over time and want to get right of any lingering software components—if this is the case, don’t restore your data from a Time Machine backup. Manually copy your files and reinstall your software.
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