Leaving An Apple Mac Desktop On All The Time.

[Bramleyboy]

Is it alright to leave my Apple Mac desktop switched on all the time or in Sleep mode? I do and wonder if it's doing it any harm? Bramley.

[snags]

I leave my Macs powered on pretty much 24/7, putting them to sleep when not in use and only restarting after software updates.

[jeffreywoodham]

As above, I never turn my iMac off, just leave it in sleep mode.

[Fanriffic]

As with snags and jeff -
I just leave mine on Sleep Mode when not in use - to hell with the environment.

If you are running the new Yosemite OS you can also set the Mac to do all your Updates during the night when you are sleeping, a handy feature.

[Gromit]

It will do no harm.

Mine stays on all the time. Worth checking you have the firewall on. It should be by default.

See system preferences> Security and Privacy > Firewall.

[ladybirder]

How do you do that Fanriffic please? The Updates I mean:-)

[Fanriffic]

Open Systems Preferences then click the App Store button, and put a check alongside all Install OS X Updates - leaving the bottom one unticked.

[ladybirder]

Thank you. Mwah! Mwah!

[Fanriffic]

You are welcome LB - but just to add that it's always best to check and do the updates manually from the App Store updates. Don't just rely on the Auto updates.
I check my updates once a week manually.

[ladybirder]

OK thank you.

[Bramleyboy]

Seems I'm in good company! A real good crop of answers! Many thanks.
Bramley.