jdm Loc: Cape Cod

Hi all. My MacBook Pro is currently running on Ventura 13.4. Not only do I keep getting messages to upgrade, but I've also had lapses in downloading email lately. The AppleCare tech attributed that to a need to upgrade my OS. My options are the later version of Ventura 13.6.1 or Sonoma 14.1.1, which the AppleCare person described as "next generation," with more significant changes than I'd get with the newer Ventura.

I'm looking to our Hogs for experiences and advice on the best choice. My main priority is choosing one that does not interfere with access to my Lightroom catalog. I'm currently running LR Classic 12.4.

Many thanks in advance for your guidance.

~jdm

fredpnm Loc: Corrales, NM

Go to Sonoma, it and LR work well together on my Macbook

burkphoto Loc: High Point, NC

MacOS 13.4 is old. 13.6.1 is the latest version of Ventura for most Macs. Some will require 13.6.2, which will only install if your Mac requires it.

I assume you are a subscriber to Adobe Photography Plan. The current version of Lightroom Classic is 13.0.1. When installed, it will automatically save a NEW copy of your catalog in the new format, and keep your old version 12 catalog. 13.0.1 runs fine on Ventura 13.6.1.

I'm waiting for MacOS 14.2 before I upgrade to Sonoma. I like the first couple of point revisions to shake out most of the bugs and patch most security holes, before I board the ship.

After the first couple of point upgrades, it is a good idea to install ALL the point upgrades for your current system, as they are released. They usually fix security holes. They often add or refine convenience features. The same goes for all other Apple software.

jdm Loc: Cape Cod

Great to hear, Fred. Thank you for your feedback! ~jdm

jdm Loc: Cape Cod

Thank you for your feedback, Burkphoto! I, too, am gunshy about new OS, which is why I am hesitant to go with Sonoma. I think I'll give the latest Ventura a go and move to Sonoma 14.2 as you suggest later on down the road when any potential issues have been addressed. Thanks for your time and advice! ~jdm

mffox Loc: Avon, CT

Ventura has been one big headache for my MAC Book. After several fixes it's still not working right. Wish I could go back.

jdm Loc: Cape Cod

Sorry, Fox. That's what I was afraid of. I just did the Ventura 13.6.1 and it went fine for lightroom. Email still not coming in consistently but I still have access to my catalogue, thank goodness. I hope you work things out. Thanks for your response. ~jdm

burkphoto Loc: High Point, NC

Things to check:

> Do you have the minimum resources for your applications? Consult the software vendor's website to be sure. The requirements have crept up there for a lot of recent upgrades.

> Is AT LEAST a third, and preferably HALF of your startup drive empty? On Apple Silicon (M-series) Macs, the less memory you have, the more the system relies upon the SSD for swap memory paging. If your drive is more than 2/3 full, the system may not have enough places to put data, and may bog down or crash. I hit the wall on a huge project once, and it wasn't pretty. Offloading hundreds of gigabytes of data to a hard drive helped. Buying a FAST external SSD helped a lot more!

> Are you running an older Intel Mac that is barely capable of running Ventura?

> Do you leave your machine on overnight, in sleep mode, so all the automatic "housecleaning" routines can run? MacOS runs a bunch of UNIX utilities in the wee hours to keep things tidy. If you turn the Mac off, they seldom get run!

> Have you checked the SSD with Disk First Aid, part of Disk Utility?

> Have you tried creating a startup volume on an external SSD, to see if that runs properly?

> Is all of your data properly backed up on a Time Machine external drive, one other drive, and a cloud service?

If you don't know how to do some of these things, Google search is your friend. So is the Apple Support line at 800-275-2273.

I've been running Ventura since version 13.2, with no significant issues, on a 2020 M1 MacBook Air (16 GB memory, 1 TB storage).

Just Fred Loc: Darwin's Waiting Room

My standard response is to upgrade to the latest version your hardware supports. EXCEPT if you have needed software that won't run on it. Usually, software vendors keep pace with OS releases, but sometimes there's a bit of a lag.

I have a number of macs, ranging from a 2015 11" MacBook Air to a 2022 M2 MacBook Pro. That means I'm running everything from Monterey (12.1) to Ventura (13.4.1) to Sonoma (14.1). I'm not overly impressed with the newest gimmicks... er, "features" Sonoma brings to the table, but as long as everything works, I'm happy.

Jack 13088 Loc: Central NY

Same plan goes for all software period regardless of vendor.

Adobe has an excellent track record with the subscription plans. The Lightroom Queen is a reliable third party thumbs up for when to update releases for all flavors of Lr.

With that said I avoid beta releases because by definition they are use at your risk. Operating systems have a use by date by which they are no longer supported. When they tell you it is no longer supported believe them.

leftj Loc: Texas

Don't understand why you wouldn't upgrade to the latest OS.

Jack 13088 Loc: Central NY

Is there a scientific name for fear of upgrading?

burkphoto Loc: High Point, NC

In two words: BUGS and COMPATIBILITY of third party software and peripheral drivers.

> NO operating system's major release is without problems that could not be found during in-house beta testing and early field beta testing.

While that means problems are usually obscure, they just might affect your situation — your *particular* model and configuration of Mac, its firmware, and the software you choose to use with it. If there's a gaping hole in Internet security, that potentially affects ANY user, so hopefully, they find those holes before malevolent actors do.

> Third party application developers often don't react to a major operating system upgrade the way they should, whether by design or ignorance or incompetence. Ideally, they went to the Apple Developer's Conference (WWDC) back in June, asked their questions, went to work and made their changes, and released an update or upgrade if needed. But sometimes, it takes longer than anticipated to bring the code up to modern standards. Perhaps the coders no longer work for that company, and the new ones want to start fresh because the former ones left a mess.

Perhaps the company wants an ALL NEW version, but it isn't going to be ready for several months. In some cases, despite Apple's best efforts at communicating exactly what the new system will and won't do, and what developers can and cannot do that they once did, developers either don't pay attention, or don't react. Adobe got caught in that position once, with Photoshop 4. They dragged their feet with the transition to Apple Silicon in 2020, as well. It was months before some of their applications were optimized to run natively on Apple Silicon.

The point is, cautious users want to wait for these sorts of issues to be resolved, or at least we want to know the path forward.

Many corporations stay a full revision behind the current Windows release, just to avoid having to buy new computers, new peripherals, and new software, and having to deal with the inevitable fallout from that major sort of upgrade. My former employer ran Win XP SP3 until Win 7 was stable! They had the foresight to recognize that Windows Vista, the OS between XP and 7, was "a dumpster fire with a porta-potty in it," as our IT director described it. (I still have an HP laptop that has Vista on it, just for giggles. I need to pull the hard drive out of it, recycle the rest, and have my neighbor shoot the drive with his .45.)

One corollary of Murphy's Law says, "Any computer software that is ever perfected is immediately abandoned by its maker." THAT's why people use *nearly* abandoned systems until security updates are no longer available.

That reminds me, my wife needs a replacement for our ten year old iMac...

odujim Loc: New Jersey

I have a Mac Mini M2-Pro (16GB RAM) with the latest Ventura OS 13.6.1
I purposely waited for a second release of the Sonoma OS before attempting to upgrade. The Sonoma OS was very problematic; system was slow, most apps unresponsive or crashing, etc. . . Fortunately, I use Time Machine backup every week and keep all photos and documents on external drives, but the Sonoma OS would not let me restore to Ventura. I had wanted to do a clean install anyway (just got the new Mac Mini this past August), so I did that and re-loaded only the software that I use. It's a bit puzzling because I know others on this site have upgraded to Sonoma without any problems. Meanwhile, I did send a report to Apple and will stick with Ventura 13.6.1

leftj Loc: Texas

Lets invent one. How about upgradephobia?