I've been running Snow Leopard for over three years, having resisted Lion and Mountain Lion, but I'm about to download Mavericks. And, yes, I'm nervous.
Anyone else in the same boat?
Anyone else in the same boat?
Got a tip for us?
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Anyone else nervous about Mavericks?
- Thread starter imanidiot
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No. I have been following testers comments and they seem to be very positive about the quality of it.
But let's be real...any software release may have issues that need to be resolved with updates. Snow Leopard was not perfect at release either but got refined to a very nice release over time.
But let's be real...any software release may have issues that need to be resolved with updates. Snow Leopard was not perfect at release either but got refined to a very nice release over time.
I've been wary of Apple OS updates ever since the disaster that was Lion...
Sounds like they've managed to remove functionality from a lot of the updated apps. Seeing lots of threads about missing features but none about new ones!
Sounds like they've managed to remove functionality from a lot of the updated apps. Seeing lots of threads about missing features but none about new ones!
No because I have a cloned copy of Mountain Lion with all my stuff. I can always restore from that if something went wrong. Happy to say nothing did.
Before updating, be absolutely sure you have a bootable clone in case things go seriously wrong. You should never do a release upgrade without backup. Actually you should always have backups, period.
I will second what old-wiz said.
BEFORE you update, use either CarbonCopyCloner or SuperDuper to create a bootable clone on an external drive.
By doing this, you can always "go back" if you need to -- by simply "cloning the backup drive" back over to your internal drive.
If you don't already have an external backup drive, I'd suggest doing this:
1. Get yourself a "bare" hard drive from the vendor of your choice.
2. Get a USB3/SATA "docking station" for $25 (or less). To see what these are, go to amazon and enter "usb3 sata dock" in the search box -- you will get many hits.
Actually, for backup these days, I think a 2.5" form factor drive will be fine. Plugable com has a dual 2.5" docking station that looks to be very nice:
http://plugable.com/products/pss-dd1
BEFORE you update, use either CarbonCopyCloner or SuperDuper to create a bootable clone on an external drive.
By doing this, you can always "go back" if you need to -- by simply "cloning the backup drive" back over to your internal drive.
If you don't already have an external backup drive, I'd suggest doing this:
1. Get yourself a "bare" hard drive from the vendor of your choice.
2. Get a USB3/SATA "docking station" for $25 (or less). To see what these are, go to amazon and enter "usb3 sata dock" in the search box -- you will get many hits.
Actually, for backup these days, I think a 2.5" form factor drive will be fine. Plugable com has a dual 2.5" docking station that looks to be very nice:
http://plugable.com/products/pss-dd1
I survived the upgrade but needed help from Apple to locate my iPhoto library---don't know how that happened, but I was on the phone with a tech for over an hour. I must say that he was great and all is well again.
Yeah, I use Carbon Copy Cloner along with Time Machine on separate drives, so I felt I'd be all right if something went very wrong.
And, no, I don't know anything about USB3/SATA storage, but I'll look into it. Thanks for the tip.
Still getting acquainted with Mavericks, but I think with some tweaking it will be OK.
I agree with Mr McMac too. I was nervous in case the small interface icons were even more blah than Lion & Mountain Lion, but I read John Siracusa's review first and when he said things looked the same as ML (and not worse 
) I hit the download button. Plus, I also made a fresh bootable clone of my drive first so I can go back.
Edit: Oops! You're all set, good going.
) I hit the download button. Plus, I also made a fresh bootable clone of my drive first so I can go back.Edit: Oops! You're all set, good going.
Yes, I am - not 'nervous' but 'cautious' - and won't upgrade for least several weeks. And yes, I do have a complete cloned and bootable backup.
It's not the (admittedly small) chance of a total failure during the upgrade process that concerns me. It's the removal certain features that I count on. Apple always does this... in the interest of moving the OS forward. So I will wait and read the reviews. Sometimes, if a feature is important enough, the 1st or 2nd point update will put a feature back. If not, at least I will be forewarned about needing to adjust my workflow by reading the reviews ahead of time.
And... by waiting I get a chance to hit the servers when they aren't being overwhelmed. I've read some reports here on MR that the 'last minute' can take up to an hour finish. I'll wait and have a more leisurely experience... perhaps in a couple of weeks, or perhaps in a couple or 8 months...
It's not the (admittedly small) chance of a total failure during the upgrade process that concerns me. It's the removal certain features that I count on. Apple always does this... in the interest of moving the OS forward. So I will wait and read the reviews. Sometimes, if a feature is important enough, the 1st or 2nd point update will put a feature back. If not, at least I will be forewarned about needing to adjust my workflow by reading the reviews ahead of time.
And... by waiting I get a chance to hit the servers when they aren't being overwhelmed. I've read some reports here on MR that the 'last minute' can take up to an hour finish. I'll wait and have a more leisurely experience... perhaps in a couple of weeks, or perhaps in a couple or 8 months...
If your computer is 2010 or older you don't have usb3, so don't worry about that. If you have a lonely looking slot in the side of your computer (assuming it's a laptop) you can get an Express64 card that will fit in it and give you a connection for eSATA, which is as fast as your computer's system bus but external.
I have a dock like was mentioned for backup on my '08 MBP. It's just a box with two slots for bare drives and takes usb, firewire or eSATA connections. Great for backup. Look them up at MacSales.com (OtherWorld computing)
Dale
Can you advise where to go to learn about eSATA/USB backup? (And what sort of drive is compatible)? This is all new to me. BTW, I have a mid-2010 iMac, and just below the Superdrive (which of course doesn't exist any more) is an SD card slot. Is that the slot you are referring to? And, yes, I have only USB 2.0.
Of course I'm also considering getting a new machine (iMac).
Thanks for the help.
You can also use a USB external hard drive. Works fine. Of course, the first backup will be slower than using eSATA. But it's tolerable.
I'm currently using an external drive from OWC as my Time Machine drive, via Firewire 800, and a Netgear drive which is probably 5 years old as my Carbon Copy Cloner drive. Would eSATA be an improvement over either/both? Is eSATA even feasible in my case?
Sorry to pester you.
The Express64 slot that provided access to the SATA bus was just on laptops on the Mac side and isn't offered anymore. It was nice because it allowed more expansion for a laptop than is available now, with the exception of Thunderbolt.
Firewire 800 is the fastest you will get for storage with your iMac. You can still use the kind of drive dock I mentioned. I'll go find a link and edit this post.
Dale
EDIT: Dual Drive Dock at OWC
It's a bit pricy, but this eSATA to Thunderbolt Adapter would let you continue using the above dock with a T-Bolt Mac.
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If the amount of time to backup with CCC is acceptable to you, why bother? Of course eSATA would be faster, but is backup speed a problem you need to fix (and spend more money on)? Doesn't seem like it from your posts.
did a clean install, spent the day re-installing software, hit a few minor "annoyances"
the biggest being a weird "rubber-banding" of apps, they won't seem to stay on a desktop ,
i run 7 Desktops for various things, and i always previously had them in order for my process, so desktop one was web browser, email, desktop two Parallels VM Coherence apps, desktop 3 Productivity app 1 etc..
now when i move from desktop to desktop the apps are randomly rearranging themselves, even if i select stay on this desktop, I've change the desktop backgrounds and that has proven that not only do the apps move themselves, but the desktops are also re-arrange their order.
its very annoying when i want to drag from an email to a VM windows to unpack an attachment, then move that attachment from the VM to the next screen to work on, and I'm suddenly having to search back and forth amongst the screens for the app i need..
also, whilst typing this, with nothing else open except iTunes and iBooks, the screen jumped to an empty desktop, for no apparent reason..
my next step is to restore Mountain Lion from backup image, and try an upgrade to see if i get the same issues
will be interesting to see i think
is anyone else seeing anything "odd" ?
the biggest being a weird "rubber-banding" of apps, they won't seem to stay on a desktop ,
i run 7 Desktops for various things, and i always previously had them in order for my process, so desktop one was web browser, email, desktop two Parallels VM Coherence apps, desktop 3 Productivity app 1 etc..
now when i move from desktop to desktop the apps are randomly rearranging themselves, even if i select stay on this desktop, I've change the desktop backgrounds and that has proven that not only do the apps move themselves, but the desktops are also re-arrange their order.
its very annoying when i want to drag from an email to a VM windows to unpack an attachment, then move that attachment from the VM to the next screen to work on, and I'm suddenly having to search back and forth amongst the screens for the app i need..
also, whilst typing this, with nothing else open except iTunes and iBooks, the screen jumped to an empty desktop, for no apparent reason..
my next step is to restore Mountain Lion from backup image, and try an upgrade to see if i get the same issues
will be interesting to see i think
is anyone else seeing anything "odd" ?
So far, I haven't found any missing features, just additional ones that have made many of the third party tools that I use obsolete. I love that they are no longer needed, as it means less RAM and processing power is used by these tools, which means the system runs even faster.
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I have not had any of these issues, my guess is that the installation may be corrupt?
Just reading this thread alone, there's been just enough weird issues to make me hesitate... even if the number is far fewer than some of the earlier initial OS releases.
Like I said... I always wait out the first version of a new OS... I have more than enough RAM, and I'm fussed about the system needing to run faster. I will lose more time trying to figure out if an issue is a new "feature" or a 'corrupt installation' than I will save with Mavericks. If it is truly a rock solid release then I will merely wait weeks and not months...