macOS Monterey and Connected Accounting and ERP

Modified on Mon, Nov 14, 2022 at 12:38 PM

We recently wrote about Windows 11 and how it relates to our Connected Accounting and ERP application. With many internal “Apple Fanatics” on our Tech and Dev teams, we are excited to follow up with our comments and review on macOS Monterey.

What is macOS Monterey?

macOS Monterey, aka macOS 12.x, is the 2021 annual operating system update. Unlike Microsoft, Apple moves at quite a clip with a major update once every year. This release frequency is often welcome by individuals but a little more troubling for businesses. Thankfully, most of the “major” changes were done in last year’s macOS BigSur, making Monterey more of the beloved “Snow Leopard” type release – a few new features and lots of subtle under the hood improvements.

The Apple Insider Review of macOS Monterey really summarized the key points of the update.

For those that don’t follow macOS, Apple is releasing a new version of its operating system. Starting last year, Apple moved from OS X on to macOS 11 (BigSur) and now macOS 12 (Monterey). All Apple’s releases for the past 20 years have been also named after a landmark in the state of California so sometimes it can be a test of name/version match to understand exactly what you are looking at. Although this can be confusing, it does make it a bit more interesting than just a straight version number (sorry Microsoft).

macOS 10.15 Catalina (2019) started a shift towards more stringent requirements for applications by only allowing 64-bit apps, which Connected Accounting and ERP Version 10 was and is.
macOS 11 Big Sur (2020) continued that path and added even more refinements, along with a Rosetta 2 emulator as Apple transitions from Intel to their fantastically speedy homegrown M1 chips.
macOS 12 Monterey (2021) has continued this move and started to present application warnings about compatibility if the application does not support native M1 architecture.

How does this affect Connected Accounting and ERP?

Before we dive into the specific features on macOS Monterey, here are some ways Apple’s transition to M1 (or M2 in the future) chips affects the Connected Accounting and ERP application:

1: Connected 10.3 (Nov 2021) – runs in the Rosetta 2 emulator. The application works very well and by all accounts users haven’t experienced any issues except (see #2)

2: Periodically, when Connected is started it will receive and app compatibility message (see below screen and #3)

Graphical user interface, text, application

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3: Connected is on track for its M1 native release (aka universal binary), Connected 11 (no Microsoft, we are not copying your versions), in June 2022. Update - Connected 11 will be released in February 2023.

What are the changes that Connected users might like?

Now that we understand how this affects our beloved Connected Accounting & ERP application, let’s look at the some of the changes in macOS Monterey that business users will notice:

Focus Mode

We feel this is the best of the bunch. Business users need ways to block the constant notifications. Focus mode allows a fine tuning of the typical “do not disturb” settings to reflect what is needed only by user defined filters.

Quick Notes

Full disclosure – Connected 10.3 is introducing a new Quick Note feature, like macOS Monterey. The new Connected feature Quick Notes for Adding Files and Short Notes was started even before WWDC 2021 in June. We had no idea Apple was planning this type of feature and wish we could take credit (and royalties). However, great minds think alike, and we now have a similar feature to the Quick Notes in macOS, even if mostly be name only. We will let our users be the judge.

Intel Macs and Monterey

We are noting that some features are no longer supported on Intel based Macs. Thankfully, new limitations really have nothing to do with what a business user would focus on but rather more of the personal computing aspect of macOS. This is like older iPhones, not supporting some of the new features in iOS.

Privacy

Ever felt Deja-vu? Looking at a website and then for the next week you are constantly being pushed adds on every page you visit. Look out invasive marketing, macOS is stepping up its game with Private Relay. This new feature still termed as beta allows IP Addresses to be blocked in Safari so that no one, including Apple, will know who you are and what sites you visited. Business users will love this sort of feature.

Final Verdict on Connected Compatibility with macOS Monterey

As far as the Connected Accounting and ERP software application is concerned, it is full steam ahead with macOS Monterey. Users can enjoy a Desktop software that serves an entire Mac based business with a fully supported desktop application. On the other hand, we aren’t thrilled at the infrequent but annoying compatibility messages. However, Connected already has a path forward and will be “universal” for M1 or greater Mac’s in June 2022.

If keeping up with Apple’s cutting-edge improvements is proving difficult for your business, our Connected Desktop or Connected on Demand Cloud may be right to replace legacy applications that are no longer supported or moving forward.