How to Update Your Apple Computer Software

Maintenance on computers is important. One way to make sure your Apple Computer stays running smoothly is to make sure your Apple Computer software is up to date. By using Apple's Software Update application, updating your software is easy to do.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Apple Computer
• Desire to update your Apple system applications
• Internet connection
• Mac OS 10.4

1. 
   software update

   Go to the top of your Macintosh desktop on the left-hand side of the desktop, and select Software Update under the Apple logo.

2. 
   checking software updates

   Once that command is selected, you will see a "Checking for New Software" progress bar. This is where your Software Update application will check your Apple computer settings against the latest Apple computer updates for your Mac, and compare what may need to be updated.

3. 
   software updates

   If there is any new Apple computer updates to be applied, they will show up in this window. Information in this box includes the software, the version of software that is available and what the size of the update will be for download to your Apple computer. If you click on an update, it will tell you what the update entails and problems that may be fixed by updating your Mac with this software. This box will also tell you if your Mac will need a restart once you update the software. This is important to know if you do the update in the background while working in another program. If this update may interfere with your important deadline, perhaps waiting to do the update on another less stressful day would be a help.

4. 
   software update

   You can also reach the Software Update program through your System Preferences folder, also located on the top left-hand side of your desktop under the Apple logo on your desktop.

5. 
   software update system preference pan

   If you select Apple computer's Software Update through the System Preference pane, you can set up the preference settings for Software Update's automated processing. This box includes the option for your Software Update application to check for updates on a daily, weekly or monthly basis. You can also automate the downloads to work in the background. This box will also tell you when your last update was completed.

6. 
   software update list

   If you click on the Installed Updates tab in the Software Update preference box, you can see what updates have been performed on this computer over time.

Tips & Warnings

• You will be prompted to put in your username and password whenever you wish to apply an Apple computer Software Update to your computer.
• I would suggest putting your Software Update preference to check for updates at least weekly. Checking updates Daily could cause problems, on the rare occasion that a Software Update was released prematurely and needs to be re-released later that day.
• If you wish to install the updates to your Apple computer for all users, make sure you use the admin account name and password for you Mac. If you do not use the admin account name and password, then the other users will have to do the same updates to their sides of the Apple computer themselves.

Resources

• Apple Computer