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which Operating systems to install

P

pdham

macrumors member
Original poster
I am getting my first mac in the mail this week and it will be coming with OS 9.2, OS 10.1 (both come with the comp) and I bought OS 10.2 becuae I got it very cheap through my university. The question is should I install any of these besides 10.2 due to the fact that I will have no older mac apps that will need 9.2 to run. Thanks

Paul
 
You definitely only need to have 1 version of OS X on there, so don't have 10.1 on your computer. Definitely use 10.2 (since it's hella cool 😎 ), and as for OS 9...if you're sure that you won't be using any Classic programs (programs that won't run natively in OS X), then you don't really need 9 installed. The only reason I could think of for you to put 9 on there is so that, in case your OS X system gets screwed somehow, you can always boot up in OS 9 to move files around and stuff. Then again, you wouldn't have to have 9 installed, as long as you have the 9 CD to boot from. Hope all of that made sense.
 
Re: which Operating systems to install

Originally posted by pdham
I am getting my first mac in the mail this week and it will be coming with OS 9.2, OS 10.1 (both come with the comp) and I bought OS 10.2 becuae I got it very cheap through my university. The question is should I install any of these besides 10.2 due to the fact that I will have no older mac apps that will need 9.2 to run. Thanks

Paul
Click to expand...

The computer will come with both 9.2 and 10.1 installed on the hard drive. Put the 10.2 Cd in your drive, select the drive. Then go to options, and choose archive and install. This gives you a frest version of 10.2 on your computer, while allowing you to save documents from 10.1.x I'd keep 9.2 on the computer for backup purposes.
 
Re: Re: which Operating systems to install

Originally posted by Billicus


The computer will come with both 9.2 and 10.1 installed on the hard drive. Put the 10.2 Cd in your drive, select the drive. Then go to options, and choose archive and install. This gives you a frest version of 10.2 on your computer, while allowing you to save documents from 10.1.x I'd keep 9.2 on the computer for backup purposes.
Click to expand...

So if I do it this way, is it a clean install of 10.2 or am I just installing 10.2 over 10.1 (like when you update windows to a new version without reformatting) . So I guess I am asking is this method the same (or as good) as doing a complete reformat with 10.2 when I get my computer?

I ask becuase I know that on a windows machine it is always better to do clean installs of new operating systems rather then just doing update installs over the existing os.

I hope this makes sense

Paul
 
the archive and install does a clean install (but not an hd erase) and then takes all of the files from the origional install of osx (like preferences, apps, user documents, etc.) and puts them back where they belong. if you are sure that you don't need 9 for anything (if it's your first mac, you probably will not, i've been using them for about 8 years and don't need 9 anymore) just go ahead and do a format and install from the 10.2 disk (but if the computer came with any apps on it, make sure to burn them to a cd before you reformat). a format and install is the best option since you don't have any of your own work on the machine. it will be a much cleaner installation and you will not have to worry about compatability problems between 10.1 and 10.2 and you will not have classic to bog it down.
 
Unless you want to use Quark, don't bother with OS 9, it will just eat up a some MBs of disk space. You want to install the latest 10.2.3

Make sure you install the BSD subsystem
 
so what apps are not included in osx that i may have on my comp? Are things like itunes, i photo, imovie, etc included in the 10.2 install? Any more info would be helpful. I know PC's inside and out but this is my first MAc and i want to make sure i do everything right. Thanks again
Paul
 
Depending on which kind of computer you're getting, there is some software included which isn't on the OS X install CD. Apple also includes a system restore Cd that has these applications on it. I think what we are reccomending though is that you do the archive and install version of installing OS X 10.2. This way, you have a fresh version of 10.2 without deleting any of the files on your hard drive. You may have to update some applications on your hard drive to their latest versions in order to run them on 10.2. (www.versiontracker.com/macosx/ , www.macupdate.com/ , www.apple.com/downloads/macosx/ , www.apple.com/swupdates/ )

Welcome to the Mac! 😀
 
Personally, if I bought a used computer (even when I buy new computers), I reformat the harddisk and install from scratch, not with a system restore, but a system install. That is me though. I like custom installs. Any app on the the install disks can also be downloaded and installed from the apple web site (just about, not iDVD)
 
Originally posted by peterjhill
Personally, if I bought a used computer (even when I buy new computers), I reformat the harddisk and install from scratch, not with a system restore, but a system install. That is me though. I like custom installs. Any app on the the install disks can also be downloaded and installed from the apple web site (just about, not iDVD)
Click to expand...
A lot of the Apps can, not all of them. For instance the iMac/iBook comes with Appleworks, the PowerBook/Mac don't. You need the CDs that came with the machine for the extra Apps (if you want them.)

However, downloading the latest version of the iApps and anything else that can be is a good way to go.

And then there are directions in Apple's Knowledge Base on how to install applications from the restore disc set for any that aren't on the Application CD that some models come with, or with the OS X discs or downloadable.
 
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