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I'm reading this on a late-2013 MBP retina running 10.9.5 and not only does it do everything I need it to do, "upgrading" from here would actually cause me to lose essential functionality (which is why I haven't done it). I have a stash of replacement MBPs to replace this one with when it finally does die, but I don't know what I'm going to do when they're all gone because AFAICT everything Apple is producing nowadays is shit and everything else on the market is vastly worse. Sometimes contemplating the future (or even the present) causes me to sink into deep existential despair because I remember what the world was like when there was a company that made computers that Just Worked.

Although older software usually does what we need it to do, I question the wisdom of running an Internet-connected machine with software that no longer receives security fixes. If the various Linuxes might give you what you need, I encourage you to check them out. Debian with XFCE and Xubuntu's LTS are both very good options that stay stable and secure.

Out of curiosity, what would you lose functionality-wise by upgrading? What's your mission-critical workflow?

> If the various Linuxes might give you what you need

Oh, how I wish! The problem is it's not just me. I'm the IT department for my wife as well, and there is no way she's going to switch to Linux. For on thing, she's a writer, and she uses MS Word. That is not going to change. :-(

Also, what to do for a mobile device? They all suck big fat honking weenies AFAICT. We both have iPhone SE's which, AFAICT, are the least bad of all the available options. We both tried Android once and it was a disaster.

> she uses MS Word

I've always wondered about people that are able to switch platforms. I've always thought that you pick the operating system that best runs the software you want to use. So it makes sense that a Word user wouldn't switch to Linux.

> We both tried Android once and it was a disaster.

Why was it a disaster? Were the apps you needed not there? I use iOS (on an iPad) and Android (on a Pixel phone) and they both seem good enough.

> Why was it a disaster?

It was a long time ago so I don't remember the details, but it was just a slow, buggy mess. Maybe things have gotten better since then but the experience left such a bad taste in my mouth that I've not gone back to re-evaluate the situation. It's an expensive experiment to conduct in terms of both money and time. Also, the fact that Android is so intimately intertwined with Google gives me serious pause. At least with Apple there's a chance that my data is somewhat secure. With Google I know with certainty that it isn't because their entire business model is to surveil me and sell the data to third parties.

Well I got my mother to switch to Ubuntu with LibreOffice, I just installed it on my old Macbook Air (that I previously had running a heavily riced Xubuntu), handed it to her and showed her how to get online and how to open LibreOffice Writer. Sometimes people just need a nudge.

I actually really like 10.14 - I'm kind of shocked you're still on Mavericks. My 2010 MBP (with upgraded SSD) still rocks 10.13 fine.

What are you worried about losing with Yosemite+?

iPhoto mainly. But also, in general, Mavericks Just Works for me so any change involves risk with very little potential payoff. I have a ton of apps that I rarely use, but I know they work. If I "upgrade" and next year I discover that this broke something that I only use once in a blue moon, now I'm totally hosed.

Also, I just can't stand the new "flat look". It's just ugly and lazy. It feels like Windows. And the fact that I can't change it offends my sensibilities.

I use a bootable full-disk backup like CarbonCopyCloner and test rigorously for a few months.

My only issue with older OS versions are security updates, as Apple for justifiable reasons doesn't provide security updates for 6 year old versions.

> I have a stash of replacement MBPs

You make it sound like they're t-shirts or something haha

More like vintage cars. (My wife and I both drive old cars because it's nearly impossible to find a new car that doesn't spy on you or allow itself to be remotely disabled.)

Really? I drive a base-level 2015 RAV4 and there's no network connection to anything (except, I guess, my iPhone when I play music over Bluetooth).

Maybe where I am cars are still behind the times.

I may have given the wrong impression by using the words "vintage" and "old". We're driving 2012 models.

I was more referring to how the comment made it sound so easy to just stock up on a bunch of new Macbooks. In other words, it's not something anyone could do, especially from a financial standpoint.

Ah. Well, I consider them an investment. It's either buy old computers now or new computers later (or do without, but that's not really a viable option in today's world).

How long have you been storing them and do you take any precautions? I ask because those batteries have a shelf life and storage condition can change things dramatically. See:

https://www.runpcrun.com/laptop-battery-use-and-storage-guid...

Different ones for different lengths of time. I just go on Craigslist every now and then and when I find a good one nearby I snarf it up. I don't take any particular precautions other than storing them in a climate-controlled part of the house. I'm kinda figuring on having to replace the battery anyway when I bring one from storage into service.

I thought it was just me. I've ended up with a stash of mid-2015 MBP in my office too.

Same here!

> Running older Android versions reminds me of how fast and slick they were

Those are some rose-tinted glasses for sure. Android lacked basic performance and stability for years after release.

I apologize for not being clear; I was referring primarily to 4.4 "KitKat". Still have a tablet that I run with that on it (offline) to read ebooks. Quite nice. You are correct though - pre-4.0 was pretty rough.

Yeah agreed. I am torn presently between the feature creep and the fact that new phones are so physically faster computationally that Android can finally scroll smoothly.

Even my 2017 KeyOne with 2GB RAM and a slower class SoC runs fine; the only caveat is I've disabled GApps. I realize this is a large ask for some, but I think it's important to point out that Android itself isn't terribly heavy, Google's tracking is.

I'm quite partial to 4.2.2 Jelly Bean, the last release with the "Phablet" UI layouts meant for the Nexus 7. I had a Galaxy Note Ⅱ at the time, and it was easy to get that UI by changing the screen DPI setting or using a custom build like Paranoid Android: https://i.imgur.com/O8lSsXn.png

Android hasn't gotten slower. Android apps have had feature creep and the lack of native code makes them slow. A good example is the Google Maps app which has consistently gotten slower every year because the devs clearly only test it on flagship phones with gobs of RAM.

Android has been getting slower because of security enhancement like disk encryption and aslr, and probably mitigation for Spectre/meltdown.

You'd be amazed at home much time and how many resources useless UI animations take up. Go turn "Animation Scale" to 0 in the android developer settings page, and it will feel like your phone is 10x faster.

This really is incredible, it totally fixes my frustration at waiting for animations to finish and occasionally stuttering as it tries to uselessly slide things off the screen.

Btw, I also have an option under Accessibility that says "Remove animations" that doesn't require having Developer Mode enabled. Seems like an easier shortcut if you only want to turn off these animations.

Holy shitballs. This is amazing. Why isn't this the default?

Maybe I can wait till the pixel 5... oh.

Great point and it makes me think of software that hasn’t changed because it does exactly what it’s supposed to and no more. Like right now I am learning awk and sed using a book that was published in the late 80s and every single command and program listed in that book still run today. Other than old Unix command line tools I can’t think of any other programs that fit your description

macOS' problem ironically enough I think is that it is not a cash cow. Apple stopped charging for it with 10.9, but of course more importantly, the Mac itself does not generate a ton of cash for Apple (which was always the true source of revenue). Not a day goes by that I don't imagine features I wish macOS did for me. The desktop OS is not "mature" or "complete", its just not a big enough piece of the pie with comparison to iPhone for Apple to invest time in it. If you were to gift the Mac/macOS business to some random startup, there is a good chance it would see huge stability and evolution. Unfortunately, the business is coupled to a company that happens to make a different product that makes it way more money. If anything, Apple has been removing "features" from macOS at great pain to its users -- and I don't mean 32 bit or this security stuff, I mean the fact that they don't focus almost at all on the surrounding ecosystem. Apple used to continue investing in software for macOS like Final Cut Pro and Aperture, things that kept them invested in the OS itself. They very clearly do not want to be in that space anymore, so its weird to think that the OS is somehow "done" and just "spinning its wheels".

For a good non-open source example, look at Photoshop: it's been around for almost 30 years and people still think its worth paying for and are generally happy with the updates they get. Perhaps some are unhappy with the pricing model, but I actually see lots of people that are very happy with that too (myself included).

macOS only seems stale because it hasn't changed meaningfully in so many years, not because it can't.

With regard to the bugginess: yes, I think it has everything to do with the fact that they are now trying to ship a new version of iOS, iPadOS, tvOS, watchOS, AND macOS every year on the dot.

Quite insightful - thanks for writing this.

I'd love to see evidence otherwise, but I do think that desktop interfaces are pretty "done" at this point - you can have a couple different paradigms and layouts, but usually it's the same thing - either a Windows 7-style taskbar/start menu layout, or a macOS dock/statusbar layout. There's not been much change in the desktop space in a long time. Features here, animations there, but desktops are relatively stagnant. The cool thing is that you can extend them with other programs if you want, but mostly they're just a way to launch programs. Not a lot of messing around is needed if you ask me.

Is this a product of Apple's functional structure? Most companies are divisional, so you'd have a certain number of engineers dedicated to MacOS, who have to come up with new features to ship every year, but Apple's divisional structure makes it easier for those engineers to get pulled over to work on the new iOS feature?

Is it possible to do both? To improve our software over time while not letting the quality slip?

Windows XP reach a good state.

Windows 7 was the pinnacle.

XP is still one of my favourite operating systems of all time.

How would they not touch macOS?