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Has anyone ever scientifically tested the significance of a "clean install"?

Fzang

Fzang

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Jun 15, 2013
1,315
1,081
With iOS 8 and Yosemite releases and bugs being pushed to users non-stop these days, I see the words "clean install" in pretty much every second comment.

Has anyone ever attempted to scientifically quantify this supposedly "fresh" feeling of removing all your programs and then spend hours to download and set them up again?
 
iBlazed

iBlazed

macrumors 68000
Feb 27, 2014
1,594
1,249
New Jersey, United States
Good question. I haven't done a clean install since 2009. I've been through 4 iPhones since then and have been restoring from backups all these years. Now I'm on iOS 8 on an iPhone 6 and don't have any issues. I'm a skeptic of clean install, I doubt there is any benefit over restoring from a backup.
 
R

Roller

macrumors 68030
Jun 25, 2003
2,881
2,012
It would be hard to test in a rigorous manner, especially given the essentially infinite range of third-party software that's available. I believe that a clean install is a good way to get rid of old junk, though it's time-consuming. I do it about every second major OS update.
 
Melrose

Melrose

Suspended
Dec 12, 2007
7,806
399
In my experience, it's a noticeable difference in machines going from much older OSs - e.g., Snow Leopard to Mavericks, for example, in my case.

I've done both, and from now on will do only clean installs just for peace of mind later. it does make a difference.
 
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