It's not part of the operating system itself. Firmware is a level of programming that exists directly on top of a hardware layer. One important part of the Mac computer is the firmware. Assuming the programmer has done a good job at building an application without any serious bugs, it should run just fine on the operating system. Program developers build applications for the API. The OS does this through an application program interface (API). An operating system acts as an application interface to the hardware. Without an OS, a programmer would have to design an application to run on the hardware directly. The OS also allows programs to run on a computer. Ideally, the OS will make sure that your computer's hardware is never overtaxed. That can include processing power, memory allocation and computer storage access, among other things. As you run applications on your computer, the OS allocates the resources necessary to complete the task. It's the job of the OS to monitor what software needs and what the hardware can provide.
Operating systems are like the manager for a computer. To do the same with hardware would mean switching out physical chips and circuit boards. Software is more malleable than hardware - you can make changes through software patches and version updates.
That's why operating systems like Mac OS X and Windows are software. But such an operating system would be inflexible. This would require building electrical pathways using millions of logic gates. You could design an operating system by physically programming it into a computer's circuits. Only the hardware's physical properties and our own imaginations can limit what programs can do. The operating system allows complex programs to access the capabilities of the hardware to get results. But personal computers need to be more versatile. Some simple computers have no need of an operating system because they only perform a specific task. We define these rules using things like logic gates, which take input and produce an output in a predictable way.
The hardware behaves according to strict rules. It takes input in the form of zeros and ones - bits - and channels them through various circuits and processors. Without it, your computer would just be a paperweight.Īt its heart, a computer is a number-crunching device. The OS acts as a platform for all other applications on your machine. The operating system interacts with a computer's hardware on a basic level, transmitting your commands into language the hardware can interpret.
The upgrade should leave everything in place, but it’s always better to play it safe just in case.Īpple only supports the most recent three versions of macOS with security updates, so you have to upgrade regularly to ensure you have the latest security patches.What's the big deal about operating systems in the first place? What do they actually do? An operating system is the level of programming that lets you do things with your computer. Note: We highly recommend backing up your Mac with Time Machine (or however you back up) before upgrading your operating system.
Click through it to install Monterey on your Mac. The installer will automatically open after the download is finished. The operating system is 12.1GB in size so it may take a while. You can either open the App Store and look for Monterey or click the following link to open the Monterey page on the Mac App Store.Ĭlick the “Download” or “Get” button on the macOS Monterey page to download Monterey and install it on your Mac.
If you don’t yet have macOS Monterey installed, you can easily update to it from the Mac App Store.
RELATED: How to Check Which Version of macOS You're Using How to Update to the Latest Version They appear as updates in the Software Update pane. These smaller updates contain security patches and other fixes. For example, if it says you have macOS Mojave version “10.14.1” installed, this means you have Mojave with the “.1” update installed. In the screenshot below, we have version 10.14 of macOS Mojave installed. If you see “macOS Monterey” and version “12.0”, you have Monterey, As long as it starts with “12.”, you have Monterey installed. The name and version number of your Mac’s operating system appears on the “Overview” tab in the About This Mac window.