Maschine 2.1.2 alongside 2.2.1?

I've got a Mac Pro & Macbook Pro. For reasons that pertain to my workflow in other software I run 10.7.5 on my Mac Pro desktop. My laptop however has no issues being current (10.10.x). Since 2.2.x won't install on Lion, I've not yet bothered to update the laptop nor have I updated my Maschine firmware. So my questions:

Can I run 2.2.1 on my laptop without hampering my desktop workflow?

Does updating the firmware actually update the hardware or does it just replace drivers on the updated machine (laptop in this case)? And if it does affect the hardware, will updated firmware still work ok with 2.1.2?

Searched about 15 pages back without finding an answer, hopefully this isn't redundant. Thanks!

 

There is no issue of running two different versions on two different computers except one thing. Projects made on the newer version will not open on an older version. So if you make a project on the rig with the latest it will not open on the other computer.

The firmware update will update the hardware itself. I am not sure if the newer firmware will be an issue with 2.1.2 or not. I don't think so but you may want to ask someone else.