The latest Mac operating system has arrived with a general release today. Catalina has been in developer and beta testing since June. It joins iOS 13 and other device operating systems that Apple released last month to bring the entire line of Apple hardware up-to-date.
macOS Catalina replaces the iTunes app with Music, TV and Podcasts apps and moves iOS device syncing to the Finder. It also includes a new Find My app, Screen Time in System Preferences, and many security and accessibility improvements. Major updates to existing apps include Photos, Reminders and Notes.
You can get Catalina by going to the Mac App Store on your compatible Mac. A list of compatible devices can be found at https://www.apple.com/macos/catalina/.
Knowing the recommendation has been to avoid updating to IOS13 for the iPhone, do you have any concerns about updating to Catalina? Thanks.
Leigh: Every update has bugs. But so does the existing software. I've already been running Catalina beta, and haven't had any issues in the last few versions.
Hi Gary
could you please explain what to do with the folder "Relocated items" Catalina placed on the desktop? Should I delete it?
Thanks a ton
Claude
Claude: It has been a while since I updated. I believe that is just an alias to the actual location of the folder in your Users/Shared directory. So you can just get rid of the alias.
Prior to this update I had created a shortcut in my finder window for the original "Masters" photos. That shortcut is now gone. I do see a Masters.legacy, however that is only showing photo files through 2017. The photos after that aren't in that location, so do you know where they moved the Masters folder that contains the photos after 2017? Has that been renamed ...again? Thanks.
In Finder there is no preview available anymore of .eml documents which I have stored from Outlook. When I store the same document (e-mail) from Apple mail, I can see the preview in Finder. Does anybody know whether this is a bug or a further intentional limitation from Apple to use Microsoft apps?
Janis: What do you mean by "Masters" photos? What is it, exactly that the shortcut used to point to? A folder you created of some sort?
Klaas: It sounds like whatever was giving you the preview, probably part of Outlook. isn't compatible anymore or needs to be adjusted. Try contacting Microsoft support as it is probably a component of Outlook that does it.
Masters was the folder of the actual location of the photos themselves that are saved to the MacBook. I'd located it in MacID user folder by opening the contents of the Photo Library. Mactintosh HD, Users, Janis, Pictures, Show Package Contents (by right clicking to get that option). There you would see a "Masters" folder that contains the actual photo locations on the Mac. I'd had created a shortcut under favorites so I could easily access. With this update location apparently changed.
Janis: Ah, I see. So inside the package. It probably changed. If you do find the new location I would be very careful how you access it. Any modifications to those files could corrupt your entire photo library. Things inside there are only meant to be accessed via the Photos app, not directly.
Yes, I am aware to be careful :). There are times I've found access to the photo files I need are much easier than using Photo app. Years ago in iPhoto we could right click and go directly to the file location. Wish they'd kept that feature. I'd assume some people corrupted theirs hence Apple hiding it. If you happen to discover its exact folder name/location, please let me know! I'm now on a mission #petpeeve
Gary, I found it moments after my last reply! They've inserted into numerous folders (labeled numerically 0-9 and Alphabetically A-F) into the "originals" folder. Note: there's no real organization as to why they were inserted into various folders with it so hunting for a particular photo would take a few minutes. Anyway... mission accomplished.
Thanks as always for your great and very informative videos and newsletters! I have a unibody (late 2011) MacBook Pro so have been unable to update since High Sierra. Q: Now that iTunes is gone, how do we, unibody gens :-)), access the individual APPs now replaced by iTunes, as well as sync devices? Thanks!
Robbie: If you are still using High Sierra, then you still have iTunes. You'll just have to keep using iTunes as before. No changes.
Because I don’t have access to my MBP right now and can’t check I was envisioning a “no longer valid” message when trying to open iTunes 😅. Thank you Mr R for your response and thank you Apple for thinking of us ol’ unis 😁
" Remove Download" I saw this feature in your video about Catalina... however, this seems to work only on desktop items for me.. I do not see this option when I go to a file on my home folder :(
can u help me understand... I really need to create space on my laptop
NARENDRA: This would only work on iCloud files. Local files in your Home folder are not in iCloud and so are cannot be downloaded or removed as they are just on your local drive.
If you have iCloud Desktop & Documents turned on, move files from your Home folder (what folder are they in inside that?) into your iCloud Drive/Documents folder to put them on iCloud Drive..
I updated to Catalina this morning, it has slowed my whole computer down, like I don't have enough memory, any tips? Also Music locked up and I had to force quit... restarted computer. I'm not sure I'm liking this new version
Janice: Just this morning? It probably hasn't finished re-indexing your drive, doing the initial backup and other system maintenance. You get a notification about that right after you install. Just let it sleep at least overnight before judging performance.
Question on MAIL: I view mails in column mode. Previously you could re-order these columns, e.g. move the date closer to the left of the message title. I don't seem to be able to do this now?
I bought your Catalina update but did not find anything on this subject in your email section.
Christian: The old column view is still there, but it sounds like you are saying it had more functionality before -- adjustable columns? I guess that's gone now. I'm surprised they still have it at all and wouldn't be surprised if this is the last version that has it.
I cannot upgrade to Catalina because my drive is not formatted "APFS". I use a TarDisk to extend my storage capacity.
Any suggestions?
Freddy: Not sure. You may have to reformat and install from scratch.
Janis, I had the same issue with Masters being changed to masters.legacy and my master files being moved to "Originals" in a numerical structure (rather than by year)... but, it also renamed all the files, i.e. previously they may be DCN00567.jpeg but now the file names are huge and dont even remotely resemble the old file names... have you seen this?
Robert and Janis, this "Originals" naming is awful and you have extra work picking up your newest photos from the different folders, and naming those again -.- . I don't get why names are changed from regular names (I have Canon, and I would like to use its naming system) and files seperated from each other with unclear locations. I hope that "Masters" comes back because it was logically named and easy to use.
I have the same question as Robert and Elina. The Originals folder contain all my photos over the years. They are not grouped any longer according to dates uploaded. How can I gain easy access to photos I took this week, or for any date for that matter, when there seems to be no logic in the way my photos were placed in folders labeled 0-F. This is so confusing.
Lloyd: If you want to see the photos you took this week, just look in the Photos app. Many ways to do it there.