System Preferences> Software Update only came in with macOS Mojave.
Os x el capitan usb installer windows. The App Store Updates page only informs you of updates available for the OS you are currently running.
As you are running an older system then you are probably up to date on that system.
This update is recommended for all macOS Sierra users. The macOS Sierra 10.12.2 Update improves the stability, compatibility, and security of your Mac, and is recommended for all users. This update: Improves setup and reliability of Auto Unlock. Allows addition of a Chinese Trackpad Handwriting button to the Touch Bar Control Strip. Step 1: Download the macOS 10.12 Installer. Download the new macOS 10.12 Sierra from the Mac App Store —but don't install it when it finishes downloading. If you do, it will auto-erase the file when your system gets back up and running, which means you won't have the file for your USB drive. So, close out of the installation screen that pops.
If you want to install a newer OS that is called an Upgrade.
The model and year of your Mac will determine which macOS you can upgrade to,
Please use Safari to access the following links do not use Firefox
Before upgrading make a full back up of your Mac.
Check that third party apps you use have updates available for the new OS.
Check that your printers/ scanners etc have updated drivers and software available for the new OS.
Connect your mac to your router via cable rather than rely on WiFi.
Do not use your mac while it is downloading
and do not use any other devices that share the same internet connection.
If the App Store says Open then it is detecting a previous download of the install app
go to the Applications folder locate Install macOS ******.app.
Move it to the Trash, empty the Trash.
Restart, click on the link again, the App Store should say ‘Get' or 'Download'.
10.12 Sierra Download Dmg
If you are considering upgrading to Catalina be warned that it does not support 32bit apps.
Your Mac is probably running 32bit apps and these will need to be updated to 64bit apps,
some updates may be free, some may be paid. Use this app to discover which apps you have
are 32bit, https://www.stclairsoft.com/Go64/. Once the list has been created you can then
contact the developers of the apps to see if they provide 64bit updates.
Jun 9, 2020 4:20 AM
When Mac OS X (as it was then called) first moved to a yearly release cycle in 2011, Apple had trouble defining its scope for each release. Lion, the first in this cadence and the first release to pull in a significant number of features from iOS, feels like a half-finished version of Mountain Lion in retrospect. Mavericks stripped out some of previous versions' skeuomorphism and superfluous texture, but the Mac didn’t fully match with iOS 7 until Yosemite came out a year later.
10.12 Sierra Dmg
Since Yosemite, things have felt more tightly controlled, more planned. El Capitan and Sierra both designate one or two big 'hero' features for Apple to plan its marketing around (window management in El Capitan, Siri in Sierra), a decent range of medium-sized changes, at least one big under-the-hood addition (System Integrity Protection in 10.11, the Gatekeeper stuff in 10.12, and APFS next year if all goes well), and a smattering of minor improvements to the core apps.
It has been a long time since the Mac was Apple's favorite child, and there are places in Sierra (like the Messages app) where it clearly feels like Mac users are getting a second-tier experience compared to people on iOS. Add in the Mac’s stale, aging hardware lineup and Apple’s total lack of communication about it, and there seem to be real problems for the Mac as a platform.
10.12 Sierra System Requirements
But for all the Mac users already out there, Sierra happily trundles along in the operating system’s quiet and reliable groove. The name has changed, but otherwise it's business as usual for Mac OSMac OS X OS XmacOS.