MacOS Mojave: New features and updates

Apple announced macOS Mojave on June 4, 2018 at its Worldwide Developer Conference (WWDC). Some of macOS Mojave’s features include Dark Mode, iOS app support and Group FaceTime. Data security and privacy are also key; end users will have more power over how the new system and the software that runs on it will use and access personal data stored on their devices and keep their privacy safeguarded.

This cheat sheet will be updated regularly to reflect Apple news and tips about macOS Mojave.

SEE: Software usage policy (TechRepublic Premium)

What is macOS Mojave?

macOS Mojave (officially deemed version 10.14) is the 15th major release of macOS (formerly known as Mac OS X), Apple’s dynamic desktop operating system for its lineup of computer devices. Apple continues to derive its core OS from Unix, while adding many new features to augment the existing framework of services that mac users have come to know and love.

Technical requirements:

• Mac OS X 10.8 or later
• 2 GB of memory
• 15 GB of available storage to perform upgrade
• Some features require an Apple ID
• Some features require internet access

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What are the key features in macOS Mojave?

With each major release of macOS, Apple includes new features, apps and security updates, and macOS Mojave is no different. These are some of the standout features in macOS Mojave.

• Privacy controls: macOS Mojave includes privacy controls whereby the OS will require apps to get user approval before granting access to system components, such as the webcam or microphone, or location data is shared with any app. Safari now includes Intelligent Tracking Prevention, which prevents social media companies, websites and advertisers from tracking your online activity without your explicit consent.
• Strong passwords: The creation, use and storing of strong passwords can occur automatically; this protects users from using weak passwords and checks to verify that passwords are not reused, which prevents multiple compromises stemming from a shared password being leaked. The user-friendly feature allows passwords to be easily updated, simplifying the management of strong passwords.
• iOS app support: This game-changing feature lets developers port their iOS apps to macOS, allowing them to run on your computer as if you were using an iPhone or iPad. This new element will not be available until 2019.
• Group FaceTime: Group FaceTime lets up to 32 users chat at the same time, using video or audio from any of Apple’s supported devices: iPhone and iPad, Mac, and Apple Watch. This enhancement is especially great for mobile professionals.
• Desktop Stacks: The Finder has received a new feature called Desktop Stacks. It aids in organizing files on the Desktop or in any folder by grouping the files based on type with the click of a button. Users can customize the feature and sort by file attributes, such as timestamps or metadata tags.
• Dark Mode: One of the lauded aesthetic changes in macOS Mojave is Dark Mode. This is essentially a color scheme change that opts for darker colors in lieu of lighter ones, affording the user to better focus on the work being performed while the menus and toolbar seemingly melt into the background. According to Apple, “Dark Mode works with built-in apps that come with your Mac, and third-party apps can adopt it, too.” It’s a System Preference that creates a “distraction-free working environment that’s easy on the eyes.”
• New apps: Several new apps have found their way from iOS to macOS: Apple News, Stocks, Home and Voice Memos.
  – Apple News allows users to curate a listing of channels, topics and articles they wish to read all in one place.
  – Stocks monitors the stock market and tracks financial data in a customizable watch list with details and interactive charts only a click away.
  – Home, which serves as the hub that controls and manages your smart home devices and accessories, is now available to macOS and provides integration with Siri for voice control options.
  – Voice Memos makes its debut on the desktop to capture ideas or important notes on the fly and sync them using iCloud to your iPhone.

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Which devices will support macOS Mojave?

macOS Mojave will work well with not only the latest hardware versions in Apple’s desktop and mobile computing line, but it will also perform admirably on older hardware with little to no loss of functionality between the two. These are the hardware requirements by model that will officially support Apple’s latest operating system.

• MacBook: Early-2015 or newer
• MacBook Pro: Mid-2012 or newer
• MacBook Air: Mid-2012 or newer
• Mac Mini: Late-2012 or newer
• iMac: Late-2012 or newer
• iMac Pro: Late-2017 or newer
• Mac Pro: Late-2013 or newer, mid-2010 and mid-2012 models with recommended Metal-capable GPU

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What are the alternatives to macOS Mojave?

While Apple manufactures its macOS operating system to work hand-in-glove with the Mac lineup of computers and is still the only method for using Apple’s operating system in a legally licensed capacity, there are people who insist on the solid build quality, engineering and aesthetic of Apple’s designs while preferring to use an OS other than macOS.

This is made possible using similar components to those found in modern PC-based laptops, which allow Apple computers to run macOS, alongside or replaced by virtually any operating system available including hypervisors for virtualized environments and labs. Below is just a small sample of some of the more common OSes that may be installed on your Macs in lieu of macOS Mojave.

SEE: How to become an iOS developer: A cheat sheet (TechRepublic)

Microsoft Windows
The Windows client OS is often seen as the direct competitor to Apple’s macOS. Besides holding the largest user base market share, Windows is a common fixture in the business world, as it is used to run the computers and lead productivity for most sectors–from administrative to medical to education and many, many more.

By having the largest market share, it helps that most developers worldwide code their apps to support Windows, providing a rather large swath of available software to choose from, with many notable free-to-use tools and industry-leading commercial options as well.

Windows client OS is also known for its native support of many enterprise-level staples, such as Active Directory services and Group Policy settings for centralizing the management of devices and user accounts on a network, and locking down the security on those devices to simplify the overall management associated with large, enterprise-class networks.

SEE: Windows 10 April 2018 Update: An insider’s guide (free PDF) (TechRepublic)

Kali Linux
Formerly known as BackTrack, Kali Linux is a Debian-derived distribution that is aimed at security professionals and designed for digital forensics and pentesting/penetration testing, which seeks to simulate attacks to find and exploit vulnerabilities in computer devices and networks with the end goal being to correct any issues identified to harden the systems to prevent future attacks from threat actors looking to cause harm.

Kali includes many tools and frameworks to aid IT professionals in their task of detection, exploitation and remediation. And while this distribution focuses on tools relating to computer security, it is a full-fledged Linux desktop operating system that features similar package managers, commandline interface and underlying system core.

VMware ESXi
ESXi is an enterprise-class type-1 hypervisor that installs on bare-metal hardware, or runs directly off the computer and not through the OS-level like type-2 hypervisors, such as the version of Hyper-V included in Windows Server, for example. Developed by VMware and consisting of a proprietary Linux kernel, ESXi is the underlying host system for managing resources utilized by guests, or virtual machines that run off the host.

While ESXi is a hypervisor and technically classified as an operating system, it in and of itself does not run beyond a largely CLI-based screen once loaded. The idea behind the small footprint is that the ESXi host is monitored and managed remotely through vCenter Server or through the locally installed or web-based VMware console. It is through this interface that VMs are created, resources are configured and additional settings area managed, as needed.

VMware has made the core hypervisor ESXi free to use through the GPL license; however, this enables 1:1 use and management of VMs and requires many tasks to be manually executed. For enhanced management capabilities, including High Availability (HA) and live migration of VMs to name a few, additional products are commercially available to augment existing hosts and their virtualized guests, as well as pay-for-support options and licensing fees, if necessary.

SEE: VMware vSphere: Cheat sheet (TechRepublic)

Ubuntu
Referred to often as the most popular Linux distribution, Ubuntu is open source, fully supported and best of all free to use in either client or server versions. The developer, Canonical, keeps it updated with security patches released regularly and pledges continued support of each release for a predetermined period of time, typically 3-5 years. Additionally, Ubuntu boasts an extremely talented and loyal support community that provides help for most user requests through its interactive forums free of charge.

While the OS is largely free, Canonical does offer commercial support and services for a fee to organizations that wish to align themselves with a familiar customer support model as other major developers, such as Microsoft, Apple and VMware.

The underlying goal of the Ubuntu distribution is to run securely and stably on just about any device it’s installed on; this is ensured by the operating system’s default stance on running programs and commands with low privileges to prevent users from performing catastrophic changes to the system. As for stability, the technical requirements for Ubuntu are relatively low compared to that of other modern OSes–this allows Ubuntu to run on desktops, laptops, servers, cellular phones and IoT devices (new and old).

SEE: Ubuntu Server: A cheat sheet (TechRepublic)

Linux Mint
Linux Mint is similar to Ubuntu and is a community-driven distro that offers full multimedia support and includes open-source apps for a complete desktop environment out-of-the-box. Depending on the version downloaded, Linux Mint supports multiple different environments to choose from by default with additional support extended by way of its CLI or various package managers.

As an added benefit to Linux users, a Windows compatibility layer called WINE is available to emulate the Windows environment, making it possible to run popular Windows-only apps from within the Linux desktop environment.

While Linux is arguably not as refined as some of the competing OS offerings from Microsoft or Apple, Linux Mint has a surprisingly polished GUI that overlays Linux’s command line-based underpinnings to provide a modern desktop experience for the casual, beginner, or intermediate user– while still packing enough power under the hood to allow pros to feel at home while working on tasks.

Microsoft Windows Server/Hyper-V Server
Similar to its desktop-focused sibling, Windows Server offers robust scaling and provides services that are used the world over to establish enterprise-class support for user and device management, network services like DHCP and DNS to configure IP addresses automatically and process internet lookups and serves as the foundation for any number of host-based services, like email, web and failover clustering.

Modern versions of Windows Server also provide support for the virtualization hypervisor, allowing the sharing of hardware resources to run multiple instances of nodes as virtual machines (VMs) without the need for additional physical devices.

In the last few years, virtualization has really come into its own and has grown popular with many organizations seeking viable ways to limit its carbon footprint, while saving money by leveraging the large-scale resources and operating efficiency of larger, more powerful servers to consolidate existing physical devices into encapsulated VMs that can be spun up at a moment’s notice, moved, copied and scaled up or down as needed with simply a few clicks of a mouse. Microsoft has capitalized on this with a stripped-down version of its popular Windows Server OS by including only the necessary hypervisor and management functions to limit resource use and provide easy provisioning of VMs.

SEE: Windows Server 2016: A cheat sheet (TechRepublic)

Citrix XenServer
Citrix XenServer is a popular virtualization hypervisor with a Linux foundation and based on the Xen Project that is free and open-source software. However, the Citrix version of XenServer is released as a commercial distribution with proprietary additions to the core providing additional features and support from a major corporation as opposed to community-based support as is standard with most open-source Linux distros.

XenServer is a popular hypervisor choice due to its rock-solid Linux core, proven stability and impressive, high-level scalability expanding to over 4,000 physical CPUs, 256 vCPUs per guest VM, 16 TB of RAM per host and 1 TB of RAM per guest. It also supports both paravirtualization and hardware-assisted virtualization for modified and unmodified guest OSes, respectively, and the ability to live migrate VMs (i.e., move running virtual machines without the need to stop or power them down).

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Can you install macOS Mojave?

macOS Mojave became available on September 24, 2018. Since its initial release (10.14), Apple has released the following point upgrades to address issues affecting the performance, reliability, and security of macOS and Mac OS X, though no new features have been developed since the first release version:

• 10.14.1: Released on October 30, 2018
• 10.14.2: Released on December 5, 2018
• 10.14.3: Released on February 7, 2019
• 10.14.4: Released on March 25, 2019
• 10.14.5: Released on May 13, 2019

Additional resources

How can I download macOS Mojave?

macOS Mojave can be installed on supported Apple hardware by downloading the installer from the Mac App Store. Apple always maintains the latest version of authorized apps curated in the App Store, which means users downloading macOS Mojave will obtain the most recent code release available at the time of download.

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