Apple announced that OS X Mavericks, the latest Mac operating system, is free. The major update of OS X Mavericks became available October 22 at no charge via the App Store. Users with systems dating as far back as six years ago will be able to download and install the operating system.
Mavericks can be used on the 2007 editions of the iMac and MacBook Pro, 2008 models of the Mac Pro, MacBook, and MacBook Air, the 2009 Mac Mini, along with all later versions of the devices.
For FileMaker users, here’s how Mavericks affects you:
- Get the updater for FileMaker 12.0v5 for Mac and update FileMaker BEFORE you update to Mavericks.
- Do NOT install FileMaker Server on Mavericks…yet.
If you’re running FileMaker 11, put a plan in place to upgrade to FileMaker 12 before upgrading to Mavericks. FileMaker reports that there may be compatibility issues.
In general, you want you OS to be the OLDEST software on your system. Our best advice is to wait a while (at minimum 1-2 weeks) before updating so that all the software you depend on is updated to run on Mavericks. This will also allow early adopters to fret out any last minute bugs or issues.
If you’re ready to take the plunge and update to Mavericks, follow these steps:
- Launch Disk Utility from Finder via Go > Utilities, click on the First Aid tab, then click on Verify Disk. After a few minutes, Disk Utility will inform you of the disk’s condition. If there are errors, you should fix them before continuing. (Do this by choosing restart on your Mac. After the reboot begins, hold down Command-R key. Then run the Repair disk permissions in Disk Utility.)
- Backup your entire system as it is now in working order with SuperDuper on an external hard drive.
- Upgrade all your apps for compatibility. Check for compatibility at RoaringApps.com. This article provides some additional preparation steps.
- Go to the App Store and get Mavericks. (It’s about a 5 GB download.) After the download completes, it may take about 30-45 minutes to run and then restart your system.
- Allow for additional updates to Pages, Numbers, Keynote, iPhoto, etc. to complete.
Have fun! If you need any assistance, contact Cimbura.com for help.
Tim Cimbura – CEO, CFO and Software Engineer
Tim is an expert in creating custom business solutions that make businesses more effective, productive, and profitable. He specializes in rapid application development with the Claris platform including FileMaker, Laravel, and WordPress. He also knows Apple macOS technology inside and out.