Click on the “Apple” icon in the top left corner of your Menu Bar. 

From the drop down menu click “Software Update...”

If updates are available they will appear in the Software Update window. Updates are highly recommended for any end user.

Some updates require a restart (grey circle with white arrow icon) and all updates require you to authenticate to your local Mac as an admin before they will install.

These updates are only for Apple Mac OS X system and applications. This will not update your third party application like Adobe CS or Microsoft Office. 

Also note that Apple updates will only install for your current base OS and will not upgrade you to a new OS. For example if you are running Mac OS X 10.4.11, you can not run Software Update to install Mac OS X 10.5 on your Mac.

If you need a brand new Mac OS installed please submit a Help Desk request.