Welcome to Mr. Macintosh.com. If you are part of one of the following groups, Mac Admins, Mac Support, Mac Developer, Mac in Education or Mac User, then this is the site for you. Each group is important, yet has different needs.

• Mac Admin = This tag is for anyone in who is in Macintosh Architecture, Engineering, System Administration, or MDM Administrators.
• Mac Support = Someone who supports or fixes Macintosh issues. This group includes anyone who works in a Macintosh Helpdesk role. You could be level 1-3 or even a Subject Matter Expert (SME) or Team Lead or Management.
• Mac in Education = This group is for anyone working in K-12 or Higher Education. You could be a teacher, Helpdesk Analyst, or Administrator.
• Mac Developer = A Mac Developer, covers anyone who develops software on the Mac, including macOS iOS, iPadOS, watchOS, and tvOS.
• Mac User = This could be anyone who uses a Mac. You want to learn more about how the Mac works. You could be an everyday user, enterprise user, student, collector, or even an enthusiast.

I have at one time or another been a part of 4 of 5 groups. I started as a Mac User when I got my first Mac (Blue and White PowerMac G3). Then I got my first job in Mac EDU (Mac Higher Education). After that, I moved on to Mac Support (Mac Enterprise IT Support). Today I am a member of Mac Admins (Macintosh Architecture & Engineering).

Security Update 2020-001 for Catalina & 2020-007 Mojave + Safari 14.0.2 What’s New in the macOS Big Sur 11.1 Update 20C69? What’s New in macOS Big Sur 11.1 RC Release Candidate (20C69)?

If you are just getting started and are thinking of getting into a career supporting Apple devices, knowledge and learning is critical. Read and learn as much as you can along the way.

Be sure to check out my latest blog posts! If you have any comments or questions, feel free to contact me. Thank you for visiting my website.

1. I can't update my browser. If you can't change your browser because of compatibility issues, think about installing a second browser for browsing and keep the old one for compatibility. Ask your admin to update your browser if you cannot install updates yourself. Try to use a 'portable' version of the browser.
2. DisplayLink macOS Software. DisplayLink Manager is a new way to enable your DisplayLink dock, adapter or monitor on macOS platforms. It's an application that combines our latest driver with features that streamline the setup of mutliple displays up to 4K.

Important

If you are using a Python from any current python.orgPython installer for macOS (3.9.0+, 3.8.0+, or 3.7.2+),no further action is needed to use IDLE or tkinter.A built-in version of Tcl/Tk 8.6 will be used.

If you are using macOS 10.6 or later, the Apple-suppliedTcl/Tk 8.5 has serious bugs that can cause application crashes.If you wish to use IDLE or Tkinter, do not use the Apple-suppliedPythons. Instead, install and use a newer version of Pythonfrom python.org or a third-party distributor that supplies orlinks with a newer version of Tcl/Tk.

Python's integrated development environment,IDLE, and thetkinter GUI toolkitit uses, depend on the Tk GUI toolkit which isnot part of Python itself. For best results, it is important that theproper release of Tcl/Tk is installed on your machine.For recent Python installers for macOS downloadable from this website,here is a summary of current recommendations followed by more detailedinformation.

There are currently three major variants of Tk in common use on macOS:

Aqua Cocoa Tk

A newer native implementation availableas a universal 64-bit and 32-bit binary. This variant is the standard nativemacOS variant in Tk 8.6 and as of Tk 8.5.13. Aqua Cocoa support wasbackported to Tk 8.5 (prior to 8.5.13) and released by Apple starting with macOS 10.6and by ActiveState starting with their 8.5.9.1 release.

Aqua Carbon Tk

Because it is implemented with older macOS Carbon interfaces, it isonly available as a 32-bit binary (usually for Intel and PowerPCprocessors). Aqua Carbon Tk 8.4 is included with macOS releases 10.4through 10.14 and is also available from ActiveState. Aqua Carbon variantsof Tk 8.5 had been available as an ActiveState Community Download priorto ActiveTcl 8.5.9. As of 8.5.13, the Tk project no longer supportsCarbon builds of Tk 8.5. 32-bit-only Python installers downloadablefrom this website for older Python releases were linked with Aqua CarbonTk 8.4.

X11 Tk

The traditional platform-independent UNIX Tk implementation whichrequires an X11 server, such as the Apple X11.app available as anoptional component in older macOS releases or from third-partydistributors. 64-bit and32-bit binaries can be built. While the Python installers downloadablefrom this website do not support X11 Tk, other distributors ofPython for macOS may do so.

built-in 8.6.8

As of Python 3.7.0, 3.6.8, and 2.7.16, all current Python installers for macOSdownloadable from python.org supplytheir own private copies of Tcl/Tk 8.6.8. They do not look for or use anythird-party or system copies of Tcl/Tk. This is an Aqua Cocoa Tk.

ActiveTcl 8.5.18.0

ActiveState provides binary distributions of Tcl/Tk which are upward compatiblewith and generally more up-to-date than those provided by Apple in macOSreleases. This version of Tcl/Tk includes fixes for some critical problemsthat you may encounter using tkinter or IDLE (see Apple 8.5.9 below).You can download an installer for this release fromthe ActiveState web site.Note that ActiveState Community Edition binaries are not open source andare covered by an ActiveState license. You should read the licensebefore downloading to verify that your usage complies with its terms of use.As of Python 3.7.0, 3.6.8, and 2.7.16, no current Python installers for macOSdownloadable from python.org make use of this or any other external versionof Tcl/Tk.

This is an Aqua Cocoa Tk.

Update Os X 10.11 To 10.12

Apple 8.5.9

This release is included in macOS 10.7 through at least macOS 10.14.As of this writing,there are at least two known issues with Tk 8.5.9 thatare present in Apple 8.5.9 Tk but fixed in more recent upstream 8.5 releases.The more serious problem is an immediate crash in Tkwhen entering a composition character, like Option-u on a US keyboard.(This problem is documented asTk bug 2907388.)There is also the more general problem of input manager support for compositecharacters(Tk bug 3205153)which has also been fixed in more recent Tcl/Tk 8.5 releases.You can avoid these problems by using a current python.org installeror by using a third-partydistribution of Python that does not use Apple 8.5.9 Tk.This is an Aqua Cocoa Tk.

Apple 8.5.7

This release is included in macOS 10.6. IDLE is known to hang or crashwhen used with the Apple 8.5.7 included in all versions of macOS 10.6.x.Because of this,we strongly recommend that you do not attempt to use Tkinter or IDLE withthe Apple-supplied Python 2.6.1 in 10.6. Instead, install a newer version ofPython that supports a newer version of Tk.This is an Aqua Cocoa Tk.

Note

While Tcl and Tk areseparate frameworks and libraries, they are closely related and arenormally installed or updated simultaneously. You should notattempt to mix-and-match Tcl and Tk versions. References toa specific version of Tk assume the corresponding version ofTcl is installed as well.

Update Mac Os 10.11 To 10.12

The Python for macOS installers downloaded from this website dynamicallylink at runtime to Tcl/Tk macOS frameworks. The Tcl/Tk major version isdetermined when the installer is created and cannot be overridden.All current python.org installers for Python 3.7.x, 3.6.x,and 2.7.x link to their own built-in Tcl/Tk 8.6 frameworks and do not useexternal Tcl/Tk frameworks so the rest of this section only applies tonon-current releases and, as such, no longer supported.

The Python 64-bit/32-bit macOS installers for Python 3.6.x andand 2.7.x dynamically link to Tcl/Tk 8.5 frameworks.The dynamically linking occurs when tkinter (Python 3)or Tkinter (Python 2) is first imported (specifically, the internal_tkinter C extension module). By default, the macOS dynamic linkerlooks first in /Library/Frameworks for Tcl and Tk frameworks withthe proper major version. This is the standard location for third-partyor built from source frameworks, including the ActiveTcl releases.If frameworks of the proper major version are not found there,the dynamic linker looks for the same version in/System/Library/Frameworks, the location for Apple-suppliedframeworks shipped with macOS. (Note, you should normally not modifyor delete files in /System/Library.)

Update Macos 10.11 To 10.12 Mac

As is common on macOS, the installed Pythons and the Tcl and Tkframeworks are built to run on multiple CPU architectures (universalbinaries) and across multiple macOS levels (minimum deploymenttarget). For Python to be able to dynamically link with a particularTcl and Tk version, the available architectures in the Tcl/Tk frameworksmust include the architecture that Python is running in and theirminimum deployment target should be no greater than that of Python.

• 2020-10-05 - updated for 3.9.0 and 3.8.6, remove 2.7
• 2020-08-17 - updated for 3.7.9
• 2020-07-20 - updated for 3.8.5
• 2020-06-27 - updated for 3.7.8
• 2020-05-14 - updated for 3.8.3
• 2020-03-10 - updated for 3.8.2 and 3.7.7
• 2019-12-19 - updated for 3.8.1, 3.7.6, and 2.7.17
• 2019-10-15 - updated for 3.8.0, 3.7.5, and macOS 10.15
• 2019-07-08 - updated for 3.7.4; 3.6.x is now security-fix-only
• 2019-03-25 - updated for 3.7.3
• 2019-03-03 - updated for 2.7.16
• 2018-12-24 - updated for 3.7.2 and 3.6.8
• 2018-10-20 - updated for 3.7.1, 3.6.7, and macOS 10.14
• 2018-06-27 - updated for 3.7.0 and 3.6.6
• 2018-05-30 - updated for 3.7.0b5
• 2018-05-02 - updated for 3.7.0b4 and 2.7.15; removed 32-bit-only refs
• 2018-03-29 - updated for 3.7.0b3 and 3.6.5
• 2018-02-28 - updated for 3.7.0b2
• 2018-01-31 - updated for 3.7.0b1 and 3.6.4
• 2017-10-03 - updated for 3.6.3 and macOS 10.13
• 2017-09-16 - updated for 2.7.14; removed 3.5.x
• 2017-07-17 - updated for 3.6.2
• 2017-03-21 - updated for 3.6.1 and (belatedly) 3.5.3
• 2016-12-23 - updated for 3.6.0
• 2016-12-17 - updated for 2.7.13
• 2016-09-23 - updated for macOS 10.12
• 2016-07-31 - updated for 3.5.2 and 2.7.12; removed 3.4.x
• 2015-12-20 - updated for 3.4.4
• 2015-12-06 - updated for 3.5.1, 2.7.11, and macOS 10.11
• 2015-09-13 - updated for 3.5.0
• 2015-05-23 - updated for 2.7.10 and ActiveTcl 8.5.18.0
• 2015-02-23 - updated for 3.4.3
• 2014-12-10 - updated for 2.7.9 and ActiveTcl 8.5.17.0
• 2014-10-16 - updated for macOS 10.10
• 2014-10-06 - updated for 3.4.2 and ActiveTcl 8.5.16.0
• 2014-09-22 - updated for 3.4.2rc1
• 2014-07-01 - updated for 2.7.8
• 2014-06-01 - updated for 2.7.7; removed 2.7.6 and 3.3.5
• 2014-05-18 - updated for 3.4.1 and 2.7.7rc1
• 2014-03-16 - updated for 3.4.0 and 3.3.5
• 2014-02-10 - updated for 3.3.4 and 3.4.0rc1
• 2014-01-05 - updated for 3.4.0b2
• 2013-11-24 - clarify that the ActiveState website still refers to 8.5.15.0
• 2013-11-24 - removed built-in for 3.4.0b1, removed 3.3.2 and 2.7.5
• 2013-11-10 - ActiveTcl 8.5.15.1; removed built-in for 3.3.3rc2 and 2.7.6.
• 2013-10-27 - updated for 3.3.3rc1 and 2.7.6rc1 and their built-in 8.5.15.
• 2013-10-24 - updated for macOS 10.9 and ActiveTcl 8.5.15, removed 3.2.5.
• 2013-10-20 - updated for 3.4.0a4 and its built-in 8.5.15.
• 2013-09-29 - updated for 3.4.0a3
• 2013-09-09 - updated for 3.4.0a2 and its built-in 8.5.14.
• 2013-08-03 - updated for 3.4.0a1 and ActiveTcl 8.4.20
• 2013-05-18 - updated for ActiveTcl 8.5.14
• 2013-05-15 - updated for 3.3.2, 2.7.5, and 3.2.5
• 2013-04-06 - updated for 3.3.1, 2.7.4, and 3.2.4
• 2012-12-26 - updated for ActiveTcl 8.5.13 and Issue 15853 patch installer
• 2012-09-29 - updated for 3.3.0 final and reverted to ActiveTcl 8.5.11.1
• 2012-08-02 - updated for ActiveTcl 8.5.12
• 2012-07-28 - updated for macOS 10.8
• 2012-04-11 - updated for 3.2.3 final and 2.7.3 final
• 2012-03-18 - updated for 3.2.3rc2 and 2.7.3rc2
• 2012-03-04 - updated for ActiveTcl 8.5.11.1, 3.2.3rc1, 2.7.3rc1, removed 3.1.4
• 2011-11-12 - updated for ActiveTcl 8.5.11
• 2011-09-04 - updated for 3.2.2 final
• 2011-07-21 - updated for macOS 10.7 and ActiveTcl 8.5.10.1
• 2011-07-09 - updated for 3.2.1 final and ActiveTcl 8.5.10
• 2011-06-12 - updated for 2.7.2 final and 3.1.4 final
• 2011-05-30 - updated for 3.2.1rc, 2.7.2rc, and 3.1.4rc
• 2011-03-08 - add warnings and include details on how Python links with Tcl/Tk releases
• 2011-02-20 - updated for 3.2 final
• 2011-01-31 draft 1 - preliminary info for 3.2rc2
• 2011-01-14 draft 0