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Author Topic: why upgrade OS-X?  (Read 6094 times)

W.T. Jones

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why upgrade OS-X?
« on: April 06, 2014, 01:47:45 pm »

I am primarily a windows user and know those systems pretty well, but I have a macbook pro  late 2011 vintage OS-X 10.7.5. that I really like to take out on the road. it is the best laptop I have ever owned and can see why they are so popular. 

I have been bugged by the system to upgrade to the latest OS (whatever that is, Mavericks I think?)  The system runs fine & everything works good. About the only thing that I could  think of I would want would be native support for the Fuji X-T1 that they say is now out there. I also run Parallels on this machine for some windows apps I need. I know I will have to update parallels to make it all work correctly. I also know at some point programs such as Lightroom will require an updated OS.

So not knowing a great deal about macs other than I read stories about how OS upgrades can cause headaches. Do I leave well enough alone or upgrade? I do not feel complied to upgrade, but wonder if there is any advantage.

Mac owners please chime in, thank you
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Warren

Ellis Vener

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Re: why upgrade OS-X?
« Reply #1 on: April 06, 2014, 01:57:45 pm »

I've had no headaches when upgrading, none at all. Very rarely there is a prgram that a software company decides to discontinue  and they want you to update to a new program - Xrite  for example. Just make sure you back everything up first.
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Manoli

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Re: why upgrade OS-X?
« Reply #2 on: April 06, 2014, 02:05:54 pm »

I've had no headaches when upgrading, none at all.

Likewise.

I can't comment on 10.7 but one distinct benefit I've noticed with 10.9 (mavericks) is that the same machines seem much faster, presumably as a result of better memory management, than they did before under lion and mountain lion. Certainly the memory footprint is different.

Can't give you any precise comparisons or timings - just a very distinct impression.
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BobShaw

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Re: why upgrade OS-X?
« Reply #3 on: April 06, 2014, 05:33:34 pm »

Should be no problem. May run better.
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W.T. Jones

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Re: why upgrade OS-X?
« Reply #4 on: April 06, 2014, 08:13:05 pm »

Thanks guys,

performance believe it or not was never a issue, I'll back it up & give it a whirl
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BernardLanguillier

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Re: why upgrade OS-X?
« Reply #5 on: April 06, 2014, 11:58:10 pm »

This being said, there are issues in 10.9.

http://macperformanceguide.com/blog/2014/20140331_1-OSX-Mavericks-hang-bug.html

I have not been affected by this yet, but there are some little annoying bugs here and there. Particularly annoying is the way 10.9 treats multi-screen applications such as C1 Pro... I have to manually move the thunbnail window to my second screen every time I launch C1 Pro or reboot the machine.

Honnestly, I wish I could have stayed in 10.6.8 that was working perfectly fine for me.

Cheers,
Bernard

StoneNYC

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Re: why upgrade OS-X?
« Reply #6 on: April 07, 2014, 12:25:25 am »

If you use the cloud on your iPhone then there are benefits to upgrading because they take advantage of certain cloud benefits like syncing address books, calendars, emails etc, passwords and bookmarks so you don't have to keep track of things on multiple devices...

If you don't have an iPhone... Don't bother upgrading.
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W.T. Jones

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Re: why upgrade OS-X?
« Reply #7 on: April 07, 2014, 06:51:08 am »

no Iphone, But one of the things that I have thought of is having to rebuild the windows side of it. I suppose I could clone the windows sideā€¦.this is starting to sound like work.  >:(
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jjj

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Re: why upgrade OS-X?
« Reply #8 on: April 07, 2014, 09:08:00 am »

With OSX, you are best avoiding the new version until update .3 or .4, just like with Windows and Service Pack 1. That way most of the bugs have been shaken out. And yes, OSX certainly can be buggy.
Maverick 10.9.3 update is in final beta testing at moment and will be out soon.
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StoneNYC

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Re: why upgrade OS-X?
« Reply #9 on: April 07, 2014, 07:20:38 pm »

With OSX, you are best avoiding the new version until update .3 or .4, just like with Windows and Service Pack 1. That way most of the bugs have been shaken out. And yes, OSX certainly can be buggy.
Maverick 10.9.3 update is in final beta testing at moment and will be out soon.

I didn't notice any when I upgraded, my scanner software did not work, but that's not a quirk, that's the scanner company not Apples fault.

And not even close to windows quirks though... ;)
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BobShaw

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Re: why upgrade OS-X?
« Reply #10 on: April 08, 2014, 07:23:16 pm »

No problems with 10.9 and it is far better than 10.8, just go through your libraries and remove any really old files like old print drivers.

If you are still on 10.7 then I didn't like the move from 10.6.8 either and I have a few programs that require 10.6 so I am looking at running them on a VMware.
I used to use that for Windows also but have completely thrown it away now.
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digitaldog

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Re: why upgrade OS-X?
« Reply #11 on: April 08, 2014, 08:07:07 pm »

No problems with 10.9 from day one.
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BernardLanguillier

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Re: why upgrade OS-X?
« Reply #12 on: April 09, 2014, 08:54:32 pm »

If you are still on 10.7 then I didn't like the move from 10.6.8 either and I have a few programs that require 10.6 so I am looking at running them on a VMware.
I used to use that for Windows also but have completely thrown it away now.

You will need a 10.6 OSX server license.

I have one virtualised in VM Ware Fusion 6, no problems so far except that it cannot access Firewire devices (VM Ware limitation).

Cheers,
Bernard

W.T. Jones

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Re: why upgrade OS-X?
« Reply #13 on: April 09, 2014, 09:15:40 pm »

I went ahead with the process. I researched the parallels issue and updated that first as the suggested. The upgrade went fine & every thing worked as it should. Thank you all for the help
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knweiss

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Re: why upgrade OS-X?
« Reply #14 on: April 10, 2014, 04:04:43 pm »

So not knowing a great deal about macs other than I read stories about how OS upgrades can cause headaches. Do I leave well enough alone or upgrade? I do not feel complied to upgrade, but wonder if there is any advantage.

Security updates and battery life improvements should be reasons enough to upgrade.
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jjj

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Re: why upgrade OS-X?
« Reply #15 on: April 10, 2014, 07:15:36 pm »

I didn't notice any when I upgraded, my scanner software did not work, but that's not a quirk, that's the scanner company not Apples fault.

And not evern close to windows quirks though... ;)
I was given that advice (to avoid OSX until update 3/4) by an Apple Genius, whose job is to fix Macs. There are always bugs and issues with early versions of OSX. Just because you haven't noticed any doesn't mean they are not there. Besides there wouldn't even be any updates if things didn't need fixing.
As for the obligatory Windows put down by a Mac user, I never had as much hassle as with Win as I did with Leopard. It wasn't until update .5 that it my Macpro finally worked properly. Updates .4 & .5 fixed graphics card and memory issues that I was having.
iOS 7 also was not properly functional until the 7.1 update, which is about par for the course. I also avoid buying the first few hardware iterations of any Apple product too as usually they aren't good enough for me until after they've had a few revisions.
« Last Edit: May 15, 2014, 10:47:16 am by jjj »
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BobShaw

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Re: why upgrade OS-X?
« Reply #16 on: May 11, 2014, 07:40:23 pm »

You will need a 10.6 OSX server license.

For those interested in doing 10.6 on VMware you can now buy the 10.6 server disk for $19.99 ($24.99 posted in Australia)
https://discussions.apple.com/message/25738127#25738127

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bcooter

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Re: why upgrade OS-X?
« Reply #17 on: June 04, 2014, 06:31:42 am »

The system runs fine & everything works good. About the only thing that I could  think of I would want would be native support for the Fuji X-T1 that they say is now out there.

This is an issue with any mac system, as you add a camera, you add a software suite that sometimes requires a system upgrade.

I have macs in every system from 10.68 snow leopard to maverick.

I believe 10.68 is the most stable of all mac systems, though not the fastest.

10.75 is ok, though not a huge leap to maverick, but not all programs run effortlessly in maverick as many have mentioned.

Personally, the very best way to decide on a new system is to buy a 1 or 1.5 terabyte lacie rugged or similar pocket drive, format it in disk utilities in mac extended journaled.

Then buy carbon copy cloner, syncro x and do a bootable clone of the disk.   You can also do this in disk utilities (read the mac forums).

Then once done, change your selection of boot drive to the external drive, and run every application to make sure they operate properly and you clone is working.

One this is to keep all your program serial numbers on a simple text style document so if the cloned programs won't operate you can copy and paste the serial number.  

Also it is good to use your 10.75 install disk or folder to add all separate extras (utilities).

Then and only after using the clone as a boot drive for a period, upgrade the boot drive to see if it operates for you.

Actually, this is not a bad way to upgrade your computer and use the newer software only when needed on a higher os.

Please take what I say with a grain of salt because every system is slightly different on every machine, every machine has different programs and user preferences along with uses.

My rule of thumb though is don't change unless you have to, never because you feel you might be missing something.

I've been a mac user for a long time and they tend to beta test though their users.   I've seen important computers go down from apple upgrades, from java, to itunes to full os changes.

Anyway, once the upgrade works on your cloned drive and you feel the upgrade was worth the effort then you can upgrade you installed boot drive.

Though as most people say, give it at least two point upgrade cycles before even thinking about changing your complete system.

Always err on the side of safety.

IMO

BC
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kers

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Re: why upgrade OS-X?
« Reply #18 on: June 04, 2014, 08:32:22 am »

I have installed Mavericks but still like 10.6.8 best. It was flawless, lichtweight and very responsive.
Mavericks has given some very basic problems; even in the finder. In 10.9.3 most problems seem to be solved.
That said there are some reasons to stay with Mavericks...
Going back gives new problems- some software does not work on 10.6 - Apple stops on making security updates for 10.6 etc.
All in all it is a more safe system.


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Chairman Bill

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Re: why upgrade OS-X?
« Reply #19 on: June 05, 2014, 12:24:31 pm »

A friend is beta testing OSX Yosemite, and is rather taken with it. Certainly less buggy than Mavericks, apparently.
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