macOS Sierra: The Missing Manual

The Setup Assistant

What you see depends on whether you installed Sierra onto an older macOS drive or an empty drive. Either way, it’s called the Setup Assistant (Figure A-3), and it’s meant to interview you about which features you’d like turned on.

Figure A-3. The Setup Assistant is designed to walk you through Sierra’s features—especially the ones that involve privacy and security—to make sure you’ve set things up the way you like.

After Installing over an Older Version

If you installed onto a drive that already had Mac stuff on it—accounts, files, settings, and so on—then after the Mac restarts, all you have to do is log in as usual.

You’re asked for your Apple (iCloud) name and password, or you can sign up for one now. You’re asked if you want to turn on Find My Mac (Up to Speed: The Price of Free) and if you’d like to use the iCloud Keychain feature (Tip). And you’re invited to turn on the new features in macOS Sierra, like Siri (Note) and iCloud Desktop & Documents (iCloud Desktop & Documents).

Note

It’s possible, at this point, that Sierra will tell you that it found some incompatible software during the installation. This outdated software has been summarily tossed into a folder called Incompatible Software.

You may also be asked if it’s OK for certain programs—non-Apple programs you already own—to access your calendar, reminders, or contacts. Other programs may require that the ...