Apple Releases Big Sur for Macs

Archive for the ‘Mac’ Category

Apple Releases Big Sur for Macs

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Apple recently released its newest operating system named macOS Big Sur (version 11) for their laptop and desktop computers.  The Information Technology division still needs to test key applications and University systems before releasing it to campus machines. 

While macOS Big Sur is free, we have a process in place that will keep you from being able to perform the upgrade on your TCU-owned machine until we have completed the testing phase.  This is a standard process and one that applies to all releases of new operating systems (including Windows machines).

Note: If you have not upgraded your computer to macOS Catalina (currently the latest macOS that TCU has approved), click here for the upgrade instructions. If you need help upgrading your computer, please contact the IT Support HelpDesk.

Big Sur Release Process

We already have some common software applications that have reported issues with Big Sur and it is customary for vendors to take 60 to 90 days to fully support the release of a new operating system.

Once the new operating system has been tested for compatibility/security and approved by the macOS Committee, then we will send out a message about how to upgrade your machine.  As long as we don’t find any problems, we expect this upgrade to be available by mid-Spring. 

Warning:  If you decide to upgrade your personal machine at home to Big Sur, you could run into compatibility issues until the campus is ready to support this new operating system.

macOS Catalina is Now Available

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Faculty and Staff, 

Information Technology Division announces the launch of Apple’s newest operating system, macOS Catalina, to the TCU campus. The new version is now available for all on campus Macintosh computers and has been approved by the macOS Committee. Please, see the information below about the upgrade process. 

Why should I upgrade now? 

We encourage you to upgrade at your earliest convenience so you have the opportunity to plan for the transition. Otherwise, the upgrade will be mandatory this summer and will be pushed out to machines that have not yet completed the upgrade and it might not be a convenient time for you.  

Upgrading also presents you with a series of enhancements that will help to improve your overall experience. Check out the latest features on the following website:  https://www.apple.com/macos/Catalina/ 

How do I start the Catalina upgrade? 

The instructions are listed in our knowledge-base here

The process is very simple, but it is important that you understand what needs to be done before you begin.  Please, review the following reminders before opening the attachment.   

Here are a few important reminders: 

  1. This upgrade will take up to 90 minutes to complete so plan accordingly. 
  2. If you use Microsoft Office 2011, you will need to install Office 2019 from the Self Service app in the Applications folder because Office 2011 does not work with Catalina.
  3. Backup any important data in case you run into problems during the upgrade. 
  4. Laptops should be connected to power and a wired network connection before starting the process. 
  5. Your machine must already be running Mac OS 10.9 or later to be eligible for the upgrade and must meet the minimum requirements. 
  6. Be prepared to upgrade any specialized third-party software that you installed on your machine in case the version that you are running is not compatible with Catalina.

**Starting with macOS Catalina, 32-bit apps are no longer compatible with macOS. The attached document explains how to check if you have 32-bit applications on your current computer. 

The IT Support HelpDesk will be more than happy to answer questions about this change, but the process is easy enough that you should be able to complete the upgrade on your own.

Apple Releases Mojave

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Faculty/Staff,

Apple recently released its newest operating system named macOS Mojave for their laptop and desktop computers. While the update to Mojave (10.14) isn’t expected to be dramatic, IT still needs to test key applications and University systems before installing it on campus machines. 

While macOS Mojave is free, we have a process in place that will keep you from being able to perform the upgrade on your TCU machine until we have completed the testing phase.  This is a standard process and one that applies to all releases of new operating systems (including Windows machines).

We already have some common software applications that have reported issues with Mojave and it is customary for vendors to take 60 to 90 days to fully support the release of a new operating system.

Once the new operating system has been tested for compatibility/security and approved by the macOS Committee, then we will send out a message about how to upgrade your machine.  As long as we don’t find any problems, we expect this upgrade to be available by early next year.  Warning:  If you decide to upgrade your personal machine at home to Mojave, you could run into compatibility issues until the campus is ready to support this new operating system. 

Mac OS High Sierra Available to Campus

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Faculty and Staff,

Information Technology division announces the launch of Apple’s newest operating system, macOS High Sierra, to the TCU campus. The new version is now available for all on campus Macintosh computers and has been approved by the Mac OS X Committee.  Please, see the information below for upgrade instructions.

Why should I upgrade now?

We encourage you to upgrade at your earliest convenience so you have the opportunity to plan for the transition. Otherwise, the upgrade will be mandatory this summer and will be pushed out to machines that have not yet completed the upgrade. 

Upgrading also presents you with a series of enhancements that will help to improve your overall experience.  Check out the latest features on the following website (copy and paste the link into your browser):

https://www.apple.com/macos/high-sierra/

How do I start the High Sierra upgrade?

We have attached a document to this email that includes step-by-step instructions on how to complete the process on your own.  The process is very simple, but it is important that you understand what needs to be done before you begin.  Please, review the following reminders before opening the attachment.  

Here are a few important reminders:

  1. This upgrade will take approximately two hours to complete so plan accordingly.
  2. Backup any important data in case you run into problems during the upgrade.
  3. Laptops should be connected to power and a wired network connection before starting the process.
  4. Your machine must already be running Mac OS 10.8 or later to be eligible for the upgrade and must meet the minimum requirements.
  5. Be prepared to upgrade any specialized third party software that you installed on your machine in case the version that you are running is not compatible with High Sierra.  

The IT Support HelpDesk will be more than happy to answer questions about this change, but the process is easy enough that you should be able to complete the upgrade on your own.  

macOS Sierra Is Now Available

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Faculty and Staff, the Information Technology division announces the launch of Apple’s newest operating system, macOS Sierra, to the TCU campus. The new version is available to all Macintosh computers on campus and has been approved by the Mac OS X Committee.  Please, see the information below for upgrade instructions.

Why should I upgrade now?

We encourage you to upgrade at your earliest convenience so you have the opportunity to plan accordingly. Otherwise, the upgrade will be mandatory at the end of the semester and will be pushed out to machines that have not completed the upgrade.

Upgrading also presents you with a series of enhancements that will help to improve your overall experience.  Check out the latest features on the following website (copy and paste the link into your browser): http://www.apple.com/macos/sierra

How do I start the Sierra upgrade?

The process is very simple.  We have attached a document to this message that includes step-by-step instructions on how to complete the process on your own.  Please, review the following reminders before opening the attachment.

Here are a few important reminders:

  1. This upgrade will take approximately two hours to complete so plan accordingly.
  2. We recommend that laptops be connected to power and a wired network connection before starting the upgrade.
  3. Your machine must already be running Mac OS 10.7.5 or later to be eligible for the upgrade and must meet the minimum requirements.
  4. Be prepared to upgrade any specialized third party software that you installed on your machine in case the version that you are running is not compatible with Sierra.
  5. If you use the VPN, you will need to download the F5 VPN client since Sierra will not work with our old VPN solution. Our new tool is easy to use and installation instructions are available in the knowledgebase.

The IT Support HelpDesk will be more than happy to answer questions about this change, but the process is easy enough that you should be able to complete the upgrade on your own.

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Apple Releases macOS Sierra

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Faculty/Staff, Apple recently released its newest operating system named macOS Sierra for their laptop and desktop computers. While the update to Sierra (10.12) isn’t expected to be dramatic, IT still needs to test key applications and University systems before installing it on campus machines.

While macOS Sierra is free, we have a process in place that will keep you from being able to perform the upgrade on your TCU machine until we have completed the testing phase. This is a standard process and one that applies to all releases of new operating systems (including Windows machines).

 We already have some common software applications that have reported issues with Sierra and it is customary for vendors to take 60 to 90 days to fully support the release of a new operating system.

Once the new operating system has been tested and approved by the macOS Committee, then we will send out a message about how to upgrade your machine. As long as we don’t find any problems, we expect this upgrade to be available in the spring semester.

Warning: If you decide to upgrade your personal machine at home to this new version, you could run into compatibility issues until the campus is ready to support this new operating system.

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Mac OS X El Capitan

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Faculty/Staff,  Apple recently released its newest operating system named Mac OS X El Capitan for their laptop and desktop computers. While the update to El Capitan (10.11) isn’t expected to be dramatic, IT still needs to test key applications and University systems before installing it on campus machines.

While Mac OS X El Capitan is free, we have a process in place that will keep you from being able to perform the upgrade on your TCU machine until we have completed the testing phase.  This is a standard process and one that applies to all releases of new operating systems (including Windows machines).

Some common software applications have already reported issues with El Capitan and it is customary for vendors to take 60 to 90 days to fully support the release of a new operating system.

Once the new operating system has been tested for compatibility with University technology, then we will send out a message about how to upgrade your Mac.  As long as we don’t find any problems, we expect this upgrade to be available by the Spring semester.  If you have any questions, please contact the IT Support HelpDesk at (817) 257-6855.

Mac OS X Yosemite

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Faculty/Staff, Apple recently released its newest operating system named Mac OS X Yosemite for their laptop and desktop computers. While the update from Mavericks (10.9) to Yosemite isn’t expected to be dramatic, IT still needs to test key applications and University systems before installing it on campus machines.  This is a standard process and one that applies to all releases of new operating systems.

Some common software applications have already been reported to have issues with Yosemite and it is customary for vendors to have 60 to 90 days to fully support the release of a new operating system.

Once the new operating system has been tested for compatibility with University technology, then we will send out a message about how to upgrade your Apple computer.  We expect to complete this process and begin support for Yosemite in January of 2015, if not earlier.

While Mac OS X Yosemite is free, we have a process in place that will keep you from being able to perform the upgrade on your own until we have completed the testing phase.  We will reach out with information about how to upgrade your Mac once the Yosemite committee has approved the launch.  If you have any questions, please contact the IT Support HelpDesk at (817) 257-6855.

Mac Users – Don’t Forget to Upgrade

Faculty/Staff,

In March, we announced the release of Mavericks (Mac OS 10.9) to the campus community and since then hundreds of faculty/staff have taken the opportunity to update their TCU Mac to Apple’s newest operating system.

We also warned everyone that in late May we would begin pushing this upgrade out to all Macintosh computers to help reduce the support associated with managing multiple operating systems.

The next few weeks are your last opportunity to do this when it is most convenient for you and gives you the chance to plan for the process.  We will send out more details about the forced upgrade later in the month so you are aware of what will happen if you have not completed the following process before May 31st.

How do I start the Mavericks upgrade?
The process is simple, and this document includes step-by-step instructions on how to complete the process on your own.  Please, review the following reminders before opening the attachment.

Here are a few important reminders:

  • This upgrade will take approximately two hours to complete so plan accordingly.
  • We recommend that laptops be connected to power and a wired network connection before starting the upgrade.
  • You will need to have an Apple ID to start the process.  This is the same account that you use for the iTunes Store so you may already have one created.
  • Your machine must already be running Mac OS 10.6.8 or later to be eligible for the upgrade and must meet the minimum requirements.
  • Be prepared to upgrade any specialized third party software that you installed on your machine in case the version that you are running is not compatible with Mavericks.
  • If you currently use iWork and download the free version of the program after you upgrade to Mavericks, then you will find that some of the regular features have been removed by Apple.  We recommend that you continue to use the older versions of iWork until these features are added back to the product.

The IT Support HelpDesk will be more than happy to help answer questions about this change, but the process is easy enough that you should be able to complete the upgrade on your own.

Mavericks Launched to Campus

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Faculty/Staff, the TCU Information Technology division, along with the Mac Committee, have tested and approved the launch of Apple’s newest operating system (Mavericks) to the campus.  You will be able to do the upgrade on your own, and it will be launched to a handful of departments each week until it is available to everyone on campus.

Why should I upgrade now?
In May we will begin pushing this upgrade out to all Macintosh users to help reduce the support associated with having multiple operating systems on campus machines.  This is your opportunity to do this when it is most convenient for you and gives you the chance to plan accordingly.

Upgrading also presents you with a series of enhancements that will help to improve your overall experience.  Check out the latest features on the following website:

http://www.apple.com/osx/whats-new/

How do I upgrade?
We plan to open up the ability to install the upgrade on your own to a handful of departments each week and will have it available to everyone by the end of February.  Your department chair or supervisor will be emailed when Mavericks has been released to your group, and they will be provided with step-by-step instructions about what to do.

The IT Support HelpDesk will be more than happy to help answer questions about this change, but the process is easy enough that you should be able to complete the upgrade on your own.  Keep in mind that the installation takes two hours to complete.

If you have a business reason to upgrade to Mavericks before it is launched to your department, then you can create a request with the IT Support HelpDesk, but you are encouraged to wait until it is launched to your group.

Identity Finder at TCU

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Faculty/Staff, in the summer of 2012, Information Technology pushed Identity Finder out to all TCU owned computers, and we began a two part plan to utilize the tool to locate and remove Sensitive Personal Information (SPI) stored locally on campus machines.

We have now moved to the second part of this implementation which includes having Identity Finder run a scan of your machine in the background and then send a report back to our centralized server.  This will help to ensure that our campus users are keeping their computers free of SPI and doing their part to help protect the university.

What does this mean for me?
Since the Information Technology division has started the second part of this rollout, we have identified a select list of individuals across campus who have an unacceptable quantity of SPI stored on their machines.

If you are part of this group, then an email will be sent to you tomorrow and you will have thirty days to remove/clean the content off of your device as per the TCU SPI policy (https://it.tcu.edu/policies/spi).

How do I keep myself off of this list?
The easy way to clean your machine is to run Identity Finder and address the items that it finds.  Take a few moments and watch the following instructional videos to learn more about how this process works. Please, copy and paste the links into your web browser.

Video for Mac Users


www.youtube.com/watch?v=M7RH1lgctZ8

Video for Windows Users


www.youtube.com/watch?v=paifPxUur6o

Identity Finder FAQ

Apple Releases New OS

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Faculty/Staff, Apple recently released its newest operating system named Mavericks (OS X 10.9). While the update from Mountain Lion (10.8) to Mavericks isn’t expected to be dramatic, IT still needs to test key applications and University systems before installing it on campus machines.  This is a standard process and one that applies to all future releases of new operating systems.

Some common software applications have already been reported to have issues with Mavericks and it is customary for vendors to have 60 to 90 days to fully support the release of a new operating system.

Once the new operating system has been tested and is compatible with University technology then we will be able to upgrade machines based on a business need.  We expect to complete this process and begin support for OS X 10.9 in December of 2013, if not earlier.

While OS X 10.9 is free, we ask that upgrades to University owned systems be coordinated through the HelpDesk.  Please, do not perform this upgrade on your own.  If you have any questions, contact the IT Support HelpDesk at (817) 257-6855.

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