Rob, I think the overwhelming opinion is that there is no reason to retire your 2014 iMac while it continues to meet your needs. Just make sure you have a good backup plan for the inevitable demise of your hard drive. As one of our members bylines states; "It's not a matter of
if your HD will die but
when."
I share the opinion of all of the previous posts on
most points:
Get rid of Sophos AV, you don't need it. Malwarebytes, which used to be good, is now an unnecessary waste of money
and CPU resources. VirusBarrier Free Edition (free) is a great alternative and DetectX Swift (free) is a good second line of defense.
Clean My Mac is a"one stop shop" for a number of functions available free on other apps but I realise it's easy and convenient. My opinion is, it's unnecessary and it's "helper app" uses up a lot of resources. Generally it's harmless
if used correctly and I still have it myself (with the helper app disabled) but only because I purchased it long ago, before I got smarter
I would not use Google Chrome unless you are unconcerned about Google's invasive collection of personal data, tracking and ad's. Brave Browser is a great alternative using it's Standard protection settings, I've used it for years.
I'm not a fan of using patching techniques to upgrade devices to macOS's not designed by Apple to run on that device. Especially if it's your primary computer. There are usually concessions and like jailbreaking an iPhone, run the risk of "bricking" your device.
Although I agree with what Randy says regarding VPN's today for security I still have one because I live in Indonesia.
"VPNs can be used to bypass geographic restrictions, shield your activity on public Wi-Fi, and hide your real IP address when browsing and using software like BitTorrent." (How-To- Geek)
In the USA in particular your ISP can "see" all of your online activity and are required by law to divulge this data on request by federal agencies.
Personally I use Express VPN to view TV content from "home" and as the plan allows 5 devices I use it on our computers as well.
So, it's a personal choice thing.
**If you do choose to uninstall any of the mentioned "unnecessary" apps do please use the
Uninstaller or advice provided by the developer. eg this article from Sophos;
tps://support.sophos.com/support/s/article/KB-000035097?language=en_US (outdated link removed)
As you will see it can be a complex procedure.
So, look up the appropriate procedure online before attempting any uninstalling and remember major rewriting to an old HD could cause it to fail.
You may choose to simply disable some of these apps and maintain the status quo for as long as the device is working well for you. Our advice may be of more use to you on your next device.
Lastly, what Randy says about Migration of your saved data to a new Mac is very true. I think a current Time Machine backup and iCloud sync is still your best bet but I would be inclined to have a second backup of your most important data (documents, photos, passwords ect) on a seperate external HD, just in case.
Best regards,
Rod
