37
Most non-App Store software applications are delivered as a DMG file. A DMG file (with the file extension .dmg) is a file whose content looks just like a small disk.
The DMG is downloaded to your Downloads folder and is opened (automatically or by double clicking). Since the content looks like a small disk, Finder mounts it as if it were a real disk.
You ...
15
This is the conventional way for installing software on macOS.
The software is provided on an Apple Disk Image (the .dmg file), the purpose of which is to emulate a physical disk (CD, floppy, etc.) and provide compression if needed (like a ZIP archive). This is functionally very similar to an ISO file (used a lot on Windows) but very different in nature (...
3
Apps that are not distributed via the AppStore now require Notarization on top of being signed by a paid Apple Developer ID which means the developer must submit their application to Apple for review so that Apple can issue a notarization signature the developer can "staple" apply to the App. Otherwise you will see that warning and the App will not ...
2
The Mac Pro 3,1 is a difficult Mac to boot without a system disk in. Many people claim they will boot from USB - 13 years of contradictory evidence is on my side ;)
I'd say you need a ready-made bootable system disk, & Windows is not going to provide one of those, I'm afraid.
If you have a friend with a Mac that will still run El Capitan, take your drive ...
1
I can't say for certain with Big Sur, having never run it from scratch or indeed as an upgrade, but traditionally the app is stored in Applications, as "Install macOS [name]" & is deleted on successful run.
It doesn't delete it if you install to a different drive than the one the computer is currently booted from.
Otherwise, the trick has ...
1
Just tacking on a few points to the existing answers:
E-mail, web-forms, etc. typically don't let you transmit folders. Mac apps are actually bundles, not files. Bundles are like folders, except that they have a pretty icon, a fancy double-click action (which launches the app, versus opening the folder), extra metadata, and so on.
So this is a problem, you ...
1
Yes, you can trust it. Only Apple can upload files to support.apple.com. Most of the software there is Apple-authored, although in a few cases I think there may be some third-party software that Apple has decided to supply via their server (but in those cases, I'm pretty sure Apple has checked them thoroughly). The kb page can also be found via https://...
1
If you are updating the OS to a newer version, either a point upgrade or 'major version' (e.g. from Catalina to Big Sur), then yes, files in /Users/Shared are left untouched.
I have lots of files in /Users/Shared and have never had them wiped by an OS upgrade.
I haven't use Recovery on a working system, but suspect the results would be the same. An OS ...
1
Just to further clarify, understand what is happening conceptually when you download and install a program in modern day macOS:
In the "old days", you would buy a program from a physical store which would consist of a box containing a DVD, CD, or floppy disk/diskette (in order from newest to oldest). We call these memory devices "physical ...
1
I want to install a Ruby Gem to my computer, but since I don't have an administrator account I can't use sudo. How do I install a Gem without sudo, and what (if any) privileges do I loose?
Yes, use the --user-install flag, which will install gems into your local directory.
gem install jekyll --user-install
This will make them only accessible to you, not to ...
Only top voted, non community-wiki answers of a minimum length are eligible
