I always thought people had to pay for every update and upgrade, this company being apple, but just yesterday I found out the upgrade from 10 to 11 is free (don’t know about an upgrade from 11 to 12, are upgrades to the newest and still supported macOS version free?)
What other applications do macOS users get for free?
Do macOS users get more free apps if they create an account with apple?
I’ve understood adobe and MS-Office are active at the mac app store. How does apple’s business model work? Do I buy the app, pay once and get free updates and upgrades indefinitely? or do I have to pay them a monthly fee?
Can LibreOffice be used on a macOS?
Is there an emulator to use ubuntu or windows based apps on a mac? Are they free of charge?
Updates to macOS are free; the hardware sales make that possible.
Updates to third-party apps like MS Office and Adobe are entirely at the discretion of that vendor (both of those are likely subscription-only at this point).
LibreOffice is available for macOS, yes.
I think Oracle’s VirtualBox is still free for emulation. You can also use Boot Camp to install Windows natively for dual-booting.
On Intel-based Macs, yes. Apple silicon does not support Boot Camp.
On Apple Silicon Macs, you can set up Asahi(Fedora) Linux to dual boot. Or you can you use something like Parallels as a paid alternative to bootcamp.
Ah, hadn’t thought of that, good call. I buy old Macs and fix them up.
If you don’t do anythithing very specific, iWork is just fine to and has been free for the last 11 Years. And most people probably don’t use Adobe’s Creative Suite (that’s paid on Windows just the same anyway)
VirtualBox still does not support Apple Silicon well. UTM is a great free and open source alternative.