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Mac OS X v10.9 (Mavericks) at Stanford

Security Notice

In late February 2014, Apple announced a major security flaw affecting Macintosh computers running OS X 10.7, 10.8, and 10.9. Left unpatched, email, web site traffic, banking transactions, passwords, and other data transmitted to and from these devices are susceptible to being intercepted. Stanford University's Information Security Office strongly urges you to update your system immediately.

For Mac users on OS X 10.9.0 or 10.9.1 , go to the Apple menu and click Software Update. Install 10.9.2. A restart will be required.

Obtaining Mavericks

OS X version 10.9, nicknamed Mavericks, was released on October 22, 2013. As with previous releases the software will be available for download at the Mac App Store. The update to 10.9 is free.

For more information on the new OS, please visit Apple's new OS X Mavericks page.

Software compatibility

Users are encouraged to read this section in full to make sure the software they need to use is compatible with Mavericks before upgrading. This section will be updated frequently, so please check back often in the first few weeks following Mavericks' release.  See this external site for a longer list of applications.

Essential Stanford Software (ESS)

  • Stanford Desktop Tools: SDT 3.2.4 is available and is compatible with Mavericks.  Users should upgrade to this version prior to upgrading to Mavericks.
  • Sophos Anti-Virus: Sophos 9 provides offiical support for Mavericks..  An installer for this version was posted to ESS on 11/6/13.
  • Kerberos Configuration Tool:  Version 4.1 is available and is compatible with Mavericks.
  • Tivoli Endpoint Manager/Bigfix:  The version currently available appears to work with 10.9.  Official support is still being determined.
  • Fetch:  The latest version of Fetch is compatible with Mavericks.

Administrative Systems applications

See Browser Recommendations for Administrative Applications for the latest information on browser compatibility with administrative applications in use at Stanford.

Other applications

  • OpenAFS: A Mavericks-compatible build of OpenAFS 1.6.5 is available on the OpenAFS for Mac page.
  • SNRT: The Stanford Network Registration Tool which is used during the Stanford Network Self-Registration process is compatible with Mavericks.
  • Microsoft Office 2011 and 2008: Office for Mac 2011 and 2008 appear to work with Mavericks.
  • SSL VPN: Does not work with Mavericks. Not officially supported by the vendor at this point.  Users should use the native VPN client built into 10.9.
  • Box Sync Client: TBD
  • Google Drive Sync Client: TBD
  • VMware Fusion:  According to the vendor, the most recent version of VMware Fusion 6 (version 4.1.3) works with Mavericks.
  • CrashPlan: TBD
Last modified August 8, 2014