hj Loc: Florida

I have a late 2013 27" iMac and about 10 months ago upgraded rom Sierra to Catalina so I could use Turbo tax. No problems with catalina. Like it fine. Only problem I had was loss of use on my Epson scanner until I purchased Vuescan. Now everything is fine.

burkphoto Loc: High Point, NC

Catalina started out rough, but now it’s very smoothly refined. (All software that is FINISHED is ABANDONED! )

elliott937 Loc: St. Louis

Jay, consider the possibility that you don't need to upgrade. I'm an iMac user, true and true. But once I have my 'newest iMac' going, I never upgrade. Why? My experience (particularly in the pc world) even in the Apple world has been that an upgrade means that I lose a piece of hardware, or two. Then I might also lose some software. I've given too many printers and scanners away because of upgrades. And should you be a PSCC customer, worried about be 'locked out' because your OS is not current enough, let me know. I'll have a perfect solution for you.
Bill

Rick Garside

No one has mentioned that Apple does have excellent customer service, and I think if you explain to them that you cannot upgrade past Catalina, you'll get someone who can help you upgrade to that OS. I have found them to be very helpful that way.

burkphoto Loc: High Point, NC

They have the best customer service in the business according to Consumer Reports. I agree. They have installers for ALL previous operating systems.

BrianFlaherty Loc: Wilseyville, CA

I had all those same problems with my "old" iMac. . .And, the switch to Catalina caused extraordinary problems with the "old" 32 bit Office, etc. However, I "discovered" Libre Office which handled virtually ALL word processors (Mac or Windows or whatever else. But, I had OTHER big-time problems with my 2019 21 inch iMac; and, finally, Apple threw up its hands in despair and REALLY "bit the bullet" big-time.

Apple conceded (after 2 years; 500 hours on the phone with Tech Support; and, NINE (9) visits to the Apple Store) that there was Something Wrong with the software AND the hardware that defied their best efforts to repair or "FIX" any or all of the Problems. . .And, they gave me a brand-spanking NEW 2021 computer (a 27 incher loaded with Big Sur, etc). . .

I am now in the process of learning what all this Baby will do. . .And, sticking my two-cents into THIS conversation, I will say that I just tried OPEN-OFFICE with no special effort; and, it worked just fine! Including opening up files that I had created on my old 2005 Dell using Windows #?(whatever it was back then. . .I think it was the "threat" of Libre Office lurking in the background that caused the computer to "just do its job properly" with no fuss! <smile> )

Now, I am going to attempt to resurrect Picasa from that old Dell; and, MAKE it run on the New iMac! [I KNOW that I can run photos that were edited in Picasa from waaaay back. . .because I am using a photo of the Deschutes River rapids that I shot with my "old" F100 on 35 mm film as my current desktop background!

BrianFlaherty Loc: Wilseyville, CA

Please read my current post (in this thread) for SUPER-positive feedback re: Apple Support . . .I cannot say naught but Five Stars in support of what Bill has said!

jims203 Loc: Connecticut

I didn’t go above High Sierra because Photoshop Elements and LR 6 will not run with newer updates.

vanderhala Loc: Los Angeles, CA

My favorite software was FormulatePro to fill in PDF file forms without changing the original PDF. My M1 withBig Sur does not run this anymore and I have found no replacement : the newer ones edit PDFs but change the pdf itself which is annoying .

WAstinkbug Loc: Silverdale, WA, U.S.A.

I'd stopped at High Sierra because going farther would negate my ability to use several crucial programs. Be sure to check compatibility issues before you make any upgrades. I finally upgraded my computer but still have the High Sierra computer in the back ... and do certain tasks on it! :-P Sometimes our favorite programs don't have a ready upgrade or it costs a ton of money.

burkphoto Loc: High Point, NC

Yep. I keep a 2010 Mac Mini around just to run old versions of FileMaker Pro and Epson Scan with Digital ICE.

elliott937 Loc: St. Louis

And I'm stopping at High Sierra also. Although I don't envision any upgrade concerns with Affinity Photo, I don't want to lose a printer(s) or scanner. High Sierra is serving all my needs, and I'm happy with that.
Bill

WAstinkbug Loc: Silverdale, WA, U.S.A.

Aww... I remember Filemaker Pro. <3

One of our sons just told me about a free program that allowed him to open old Mac word processing files the current system doesn't even recognize (get labeled with "Exec"). I had done a lot of journals with MacWrite Pro back in the day and couldn't open the originals anymore (I had backed them up with RTF files). The program he mentioned is LibreOffice. Pretty slick! Once you open old files you can export them in a few formats that can be handy in bringing them forward to the most recent Pages program, etc. Just sharing for what it's worth.

https://www.libreoffice.org/discover/libreoffice/

burkphoto Loc: High Point, NC

Yeah, Libreoffice is a great tool! It's a decent alternative to Word.