macOS users, kindly correct my misconceptions about the OS and the company - eviltoast

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?

  • LWD@lemm.ee
    42·
    8 months ago

    I probably have no business with this question because I don’t use MacOS (much), but I’ve noticed a few things.

    Updates

    Updates are free, but because they only support so many years of hardware, you’ll have to eventually replace your old Mac with a new one.

    Security updates are actually really important.

    “Eventually” probably means a Mac will continue getting 6-7 years of support after it’s produced, not when you buy it. And Apple tends to sell models for a while.

    Example: if you buy a brand new 2021 MacBook Pro, expect 3 years of support.

    Macs introduced between 2009 and 2015 could expect to receive seven or eight years of macOS updates—that is, new major versions with new features, like Ventura or Sonoma—plus another two years of security-only updates that fix vulnerabilities and keep Safari up to date. Macs released in 2016 and 2017 are only receiving about six years’ worth of macOS updates, plus another two years of security updates. That’s about a two-year drop, compared to most Macs released between 2009 and 2013.

    Apps and stores

    MacOS users do get more free first-party (Apple-made) apps with more accolades than typical Windows users do. But the third party landscape has less selection and more price tags than Windows alternatives; a smaller platform means there will be fewer developers, after all.

    The App Store on MacOS works similarly to the Windows (or really any other) one. That means apps can be free, paid, have monthly subscriptions, or be removed by either Apple or the developer at any time, for almost any reason, with probably no recourse for you.

    Apple has been super scummy about their iOS app store, but their desktop app store is totally optional and thus not as scummy.

    Open Source

    The open source community is actually pretty decent about porting their software to MacOS. It’s popular for developers

    LibreOffice does work on Macs.

    As does VirtualBox for emulation. There are probably better emulation solutions for Macs, but I haven’t recently looked… Parallels used to be a big deal, and Windows compatibility has always been important to some extent.