Kosher downloading

Is your Mac up to date with the latest version of the Mac operating system? Is it using the version required by a product that you want to use with your Mac? Which versions are earlier (older) or later (newer, more recent)? To find out, learn which version is installed now.

1. MacOS Big Sur
2. How To Install MacOS On A Windows PC (with Pictures) - WikiHow

From the Apple menu  in the corner of your screen, choose About This Mac. You should see the macOS name, such as macOS Big Sur, followed by its version number. If you need to know the build number as well, click the version number to see it. Which macOS version is the latest? For Mac OS X 10.11 or later. I want to update Chrome This computer will no longer receive Google Chrome updates because Mac OS X 10.6 - 10.10 are no longer supported.

If your macOS isn't up to date, you may be able to update to a later version.

Which macOS version is installed?

From the Apple menu  in the corner of your screen, choose About This Mac. You should see the macOS name, such as macOS Big Sur, followed by its version number. If you need to know the build number as well, click the version number to see it.

Which macOS version is the latest?

These are all Mac operating systems, starting with the most recent. When a major new macOS is released, it gets a new name, such as macOS Big Sur. As updates that change the macOS version number become available, this article is updated to show the latest version of that macOS.

If your Mac is using an earlier version of any Mac operating system, you should install the latest Apple software updates, which can include important security updates and updates for the apps that are installed by macOS, such as Safari, Books, Messages, Mail, Music, Calendar, and Photos.

Pricing and distribution

The first two bits of good stuff are the price and the way you get it. Lion Server will sell for $50; that’s on top of the price of Lion itself (which you have to buy, too), but the total will still be less than $100. That’s a huge discount from Mac Snow Leopard Server, which cost $499, making this great way for small companies to start using Mac OS X Server.

Ironically, that pricing is causing some consternation among larger companies who had paid for the Apple Maintenance Program. AMP gets you three years of free upgrades for $449 per license. When Mac OS X Server cost $499, that was a great deal. When it costs less then $100? Not so great. (It will be interesting to see how Apple deals with this.)

The second good bit is the new distribution model. The only real difference between Mac OS X Lion and Mac OS X Lion Server—other than the extra $50—is that the latter includes administrative tools. For example, if you wanted to directly connect a Mac to Xsan prior to Mac OS X Lion, you had to pay $999 per Mac. With Mac OS X Lion, the Xsan file system is built into the client. All you use Mac OS X Lion Server for is configuration and management of Xsan volumes and the SAN itself.

Obviously, in-place upgrades aren’t always the best solution, and there are still some unanswered questions about both price and distribution. But an 80 percent price cut? That’s not bad.

Device management at last

MacOS Big Sur

With Mac OS X Lion Server, Apple finally deals with an embarassing problem: There was no Apple-provided way to manage large numbers of iOS devices. Oh sure, it was doable from a Mac, but you had to pay for third-party software. It was as if Microsoft made you buy an IBM product to manage Exchange. Apple is fixing that in Mac OS X Lion Server, by including a new management tool: Profile Manager.

Based on what little information I’ve been able to find, Profile Manager is an Apple implementation of its Mobile Device Management APIs that will allow you to enroll and manage iOS devices without connecting them to iTunes or the iPhone Configuration Utility. Much as iOS 5 will make it easier to manage your own iOS devices, Profile Manager will radically simplify the management iOS devices for IT departments. Even better, from my experience working with Mobile Device Management products, I’d bet that a Mac mini will be a good choice as server for PM; the computing requirements should actually be quite small. Even better-er: You’ll get PM—along with the rest of Lion Server—for $49.

But wait, there’s more: Profile Manager isn’t just for iOS. It will also help you manage your Macs and your users. I have no idea whether Profile Manager will replace Apple’s MCX system for managing Macs and users. But, given how twitchy MCX can be and how well Mobile Device Management works, I certainly wouldn’t shed a tear if that were the case. If all my clients have to be on Lion to remove MCX from my toolset, I could live with that, too. Profile Manager alone would be a great reason to upgrade to Lion Server. And, again: $49.

There are a bunch of other improvements and new features coming in Mac OS X Lion Server. Among those I’m really looking forward to: File Sharing for iPads, via the WebDAV protocol (please let this work better than the Finder’s WebDAV implementation); integration of Mac OS X Lion Server’s e-mail and calendar servers into Apple’s Push Notification infrastructure (meaning Apple clients connected to Apple servers will get push notification of e-mail and calendar data); easier shared calendar setups in iCal Server; and an update to the Mail server’s Webmail.

The bottom line

There’s more to OS X Lion Server than just pricing and features. Apple is saying that a server OS does not have to cost thousands—or even hundreds—of dollars more than a client OS. It’s even saying that we might not even need a special, separate “server” OS. Maybe, instead, everyone buys the same OS; if you want it to work as a server, you spend a small amount of money for a few utilities that help you manage the features that are already there.

True, IT will no longer get its server OS on a DVD—but hey, nobody else will, either, and is that really all that important? As long as the features I need are there, I don’t need to get my knickers in a twist just because the distinction between server and client is blurrier than before.

John Welch is IT Director for The Zimmerman Agency, and a long-time Mac IT pundit.

How To Install MacOS On A Windows PC (with Pictures) - WikiHow

Have a question about managing networked Macs, at work or at home? Write us at macitguy (at) macworld.com.