APC_Australia_Issue_442_June_2017

howto » mac
Speed up an old Mac
Nick Peers dives into Elementary — a Mac-like operating system
that’s kept up to date — and explains how to install it on an older Mac.
Do you have an old Mac that’s
incapable of running a recent
version of OS X and so doesn’t
receive important security
updates to apps such as Safari? That
Mac may otherwise be functioning
perfectly well, and it’d be a shame to
get rid of it.
Thankfully, there’s an alternative
operating system, called Elementary,
that will keep your old Mac in service,
with a desktop environment that’s
designed with an eye on attracting Mac
users thanks to its similar, friendly
interface. It’s also lightweight, making
it perfect for older Macs that are
showing their age, and it comes with
the essential apps you’ll need.
In this project, you’ll learn how to
install Elementary alongside your
OS X installation (and Boot Camp
installation of Windows too, if you
have one), and how to switch between
78 www.apcmag.com
them as needed. Although light on
resources, Elementary requires a
reasonably fast dual-core processor
with at least 2GB RAM, so you’ll need
a Mac from about 2006 onwards,
running OS X 10.6.8 or later.
Before you go any further, we
suggest you try out Elementary first.
The simplest solution is to install
Elementary in a virtual machine
within VirtualBox (free, virtualbox.org);
when setting up the virtual machine,
select the Ubuntu 64-bit option, which
Elementary is based on. Mount the ISO
file (read on) as a virtual DVD drive
and you’re good to go.
If you decide to then install
Elementary as a startup option for
your Mac in its own right, perhaps to
use as its primary operating system,
it pays to take some precautions.
Start by making a full backup of your
entire hard drive, so you can roll back
if things go awry. Use a tool like Carbon
Copy Cloner (around $55, bombich.com),
and create rescue media that you can
use to restore your Mac to its state
from before you began this tutorial.
CREATE INSTALL MEDIA
First, download Elementary in ISO
format. Go to elementary.io, where you
can enter 0 in the Custom field to avoid
paying for it, then click ‘Download
elementary OS’. Save the ISO file to
your Mac’s hard drive — it’s more than
1GB in size. Once done, download and
install Etcher (etcher.io). You’ll also
need a 2GB or larger flash drive; with
only one USB drive plugged in, open
Etcher, click Select Image and select
the ISO file and Etcher should
automatically select your flash drive.
Click ‘Flash!’, enter an admin account’s
name and password, and wait for
Elementary’s files to be copied to