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Should I attempt to update to Catalina?

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I have a system based on the same board with an i5. Completely usable even though technically a bit long in the tooth, you should have no concerns about running Catalina on it. It won't be the fastest system on earth but for your uses will be fine. I do photo editing on mine - reasonably heavy usage - and I'm happy with it (I don't really do video or gaming though).

I think the suggestion of getting a new/additional SSD and doing a clean install would be the easier way for you to proceed and test things out (you could just unplug your existing system drive). Clover/multiboot will be the easiest way to do it. It may or may not be worth it to you to use OpenCore - it will require some time, but if you don't expect to upgrade to BigSur anytime soon, nothing wrong with that solution.

My one warning is that with a system that out of date, I don't think you want to migrate your existing system folder and all that. Segregate your data/program files and also figure out what programs you won't be able to use (notably 32-bit). Assume you're not using any 'classic' programs.

Good to hear you have a similar system that performs OK!

Yes, I think I need to have a good look at my drives to make sure I have a plan post-install. Thanks for the programs tip. Something I need to look into.
 
Good to hear you have a similar system that performs OK!

Yes, I think I need to have a good look at my drives to make sure I have a plan post-install. Thanks for the programs tip. Something I need to look into.

Good luck. Backup backup backup.

There are programs out there to check which applications etc you have that won't work. Or you can use the about this mac > system report > applications to see what 'kind' of app (64 bit/32 bit/classic or something like that). The programs that do this use the same info, just more convenient.

It's been a long time since I used Mavericks, now that I check the intertubes, I don't think that runs classic apps, so you can ignore that warning. You shouldn't have too many programs that don't have a 64-bit version, and if they don't, they're getting pretty old now.
 
Good luck. Backup backup backup.

There are programs out there to check which applications etc you have that won't work. Or you can use the about this mac > system report > applications to see what 'kind' of app (64 bit/32 bit/classic or something like that). The programs that do this use the same info, just more convenient.

It's been a long time since I used Mavericks, now that I check the intertubes, I don't think that runs classic apps, so you can ignore that warning. You shouldn't have too many programs that don't have a 64-bit version, and if they don't, they're getting pretty old now.
Thanks for the tip. Did a quick check through system report and it doesn't look bad at all.
I am not kidding myself though. Pretty sure this upgrade will be quite the adventure for me :lol:
 
Thanks for the tip. Did a quick check through system report and it doesn't look bad at all.
I am not kidding myself though. Pretty sure this upgrade will be quite the adventure for me :lol:

I'm sure it will be a bit of an adventure but honestly it shouldn't be that hard. The clover/catalina combination using the tools here is not that hard, and now has been out long enough that it's pretty stable. (I had put off upgrading from Mojave for a really long time because of an nvidia card).

The biggest likely challenge is just the 'muscle memory' of messing with stuff you haven't fiddled with for years (obviously). Approach it as just setting up a new mac entirely - with your data on a separate drive - and it should be relatively easy. "Migrating" your current installation instead of starting from scratch and then just moving your data will have more potential pitfalls.

(That said I had more than one computer so minor mistakes were easier to fix)

If you want a real challenge, move to opencore. Which actually isn't that hard but requires more thought and time to grok what's going on / what you're doing. In fact even if you want to move to opencore, I'd start with the clover/unibeast etc tools to start.

Backupbackupbackup
 
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