Apple Seeds New Beta of OS X Mountain Lion 10.8.1 to Developers

[cms2]

Unfortunately not. But as I said before the only issues I've had are with the BT mouse and left USB port, both occasionally. Battery life seems to be around 6-7hrs with basic Internet/word usage. Aside from some slight GUI lag due to crap hardware drivers the only other outstanding issue is that most of the Internet and programs looks horrendously pixelated due to lack of hidpi support (especially MS office....)

Same here. The lag drives me crazy, not because it's so bad, but because it's so rare. I'm always surprised when I see it.. it's like a toothache that comes and goes. I almost never see it in Safari anymore, and I never see it with launchpad, it's only every once in a while when swiping between desktops. Other than that, this thing's a beast!

 

[cammonro]

Compared to Lion

Hey guys, how is overall stability, memory management and speed in Mountain Lion vs Lion? It's OK if it sucks but what I really want to know does it suck LESS than Lion?

I upgraded to Lion months ago and regret it more every day I use it. It's too late to go back to Snow Leopard for me and I'm in no hurry for Mountain Lion but if it's less of a steaming turd than Lion then it's worth the $20 for me. I don't care about features. I just want my Mac to be fast again.

I'm not doing a clean install because this is my main work Mac and a clean install would set me back weeks probably. Besides junk like that is why I left Windows.

 

[Gene Steinberg]

Hey guys, how is overall stability, memory management and speed in Mountain Lion vs Lion? It's OK if it sucks but what I really want to know does it suck LESS than Lion?

I upgraded to Lion months ago and regret it more every day I use it. It's too late to go back to Snow Leopard for me and I'm in no hurry for Mountain Lion but if it's less of a steaming turd than Lion then it's worth the $20 for me. I don't care about features. I just want my Mac to be fast again.

I'm not doing a clean install because this is my main work Mac and a clean install would set me back weeks probably. Besides junk like that is why I left Windows.

A clean install can take a few hours at most with a clone backup of your stuff on an external drive.

For most, Lion is as fast or faster than Snow Leopard. Improved graphics drivers in Mountain Lion make it snappier. Ars Technica posted a story about this, reporting, as I recall, roughly a 5% to 10% improvement.

I can see the end result, moving an audio track through the timeline in Amadeus Pro used to seem ragged, now it's butter smooth. That's very much because of screen refresh.

Peace,
Gene

 

[cammonro]

A clean install can take a few hours at most with a clone backup of your stuff on an external drive.

Thanks for your thoughts here Gene. Please correct me if I'm wrong but if I restore my old applications etc. from a backup that puts me back where I started does it not?

Also I do a ton of web development and rebuilding my dev environment is time consuming and never fully ports over on a migration. If it's worth it though I might bite the bullet but I just don't have time to fool around.

For most, Lion is as fast or faster than Snow Leopard. Improved graphics drivers in Mountain Lion make it snappier. Ars Technica posted a story about this, reporting, as I recall, roughly a 5% to 10% improvement.

Graphics are not really my thing. I'm more interested in multitasking. I run a ton of apps, services, network connections, VMs etc. concurrently and Snow Leopard did a much better job of utilizing my 8 GB of RAM than Lion ever has. Lion constantly and needlessly pages RAM to disk which makes the spinning beach ball my best new friend.

And for some reason ever since upgrading to Lion my Parallels 7 Windows VM crashes all the time. Haven't figured that one out yet.

 

[Tonewheel]

And people CONTINUE to spout the same nonsense about the purported advantages of a "clean install" - for every five positive reports, I can show you five OTHER reports in these forums from users who have the same if not worse problems AFTER a clean install.

So let's stop with this placebo recipe, shall we?

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No, I haven't installed it - but I have been following the various reports of hard crashes, absurdly short battery life and iOS-like oddities. And it doesn't seem that great to me.

Haven't installed it? Attorney, indeed...

 

[Gene Steinberg]

Thanks for your thoughts here Gene. Please correct me if I'm wrong but if I restore my old applications etc. from a backup that puts me back where I started does it not?

Also I do a ton of web development and rebuilding my dev environment is time consuming and never fully ports over on a migration. If it's worth it though I might bite the bullet but I just don't have time to fool around.



Graphics are not really my thing. I'm more interested in multitasking. I run a ton of apps, services, network connections, VMs etc. concurrently and Snow Leopard did a much better job of utilizing my 8 GB of RAM than Lion ever has. Lion constantly and needlessly pages RAM to disk which makes the spinning beach ball my best new friend.

And for some reason ever since upgrading to Lion my Parallels 7 Windows VM crashes all the time. Haven't figured that one out yet.

I suppose, depending on how many apps you have, you can install them anew. You just keep your data intact. But you may also want to take the occasion to make sure your apps are fully compatible with Lion or Mountain Lion. I saw no system slowdowns in my migration from Snow Leopard (the one loaded on my computer when it was new) to Lion and Mountain Lion. I've done two backup/erase/restores over the years as precautionary measures, but I can't say it was otherwise necessary.

I did run into one minor issue with Mountain Lion, a runaway Contacts/iCloud process that I cured by removing Address Book prefs, and logging out of iCloud and logging in again.

Peace,
Gene

 

[macpeach55]

Hey guys, how is overall stability, memory management and speed in Mountain Lion vs Lion? It's OK if it sucks but what I really want to know does it suck LESS than Lion?

I upgraded to Lion months ago and regret it more every day I use it. It's too late to go back to Snow Leopard for me and I'm in no hurry for Mountain Lion but if it's less of a steaming turd than Lion then it's worth the $20 for me. I don't care about features. I just want my Mac to be fast again.

I'm not doing a clean install because this is my main work Mac and a clean install would set me back weeks probably. Besides junk like that is why I left Windows.

For me, upgrading to ML from Lion was great for both my MBP & iMac. I feel like I have the performance of Snow Leopard back.

Upgrade versus Clean Install is the great debate - lots of proponents for each, and more than a few horror stories for both scenarios. So I can only speak for myself that I upgraded both my machines and everything is great!

Parallels 7 is running fine for me on ML

Hope that helps.

 

[cammonro]

For me, upgrading to ML from Lion was great for both my MBP & iMac. I feel like I have the performance of Snow Leopard back.

Upgrade versus Clean Install is the great debate - lots of proponents for each, and more than a few horror stories for both scenarios. So I can only speak for myself that I upgraded both my machines and everything is great!

Parallels 7 is running fine for me on ML

Hope that helps.

This is very encouraging news. It sounds like I have little to nothing to lose by trying the upgrade first. If it's still slow I can create a DVD from the download image, format the drive and start fresh. I keep waiting for some down time to do this but that hasn't happened yet. At the very least I may wait until the first round of bugs are fixed with ML 10.8.1. (I'm annoyed though that there are bugs in Lion that still have not been fixed as of 10.7.4)

I'm curious - You say you have the performance of SL back so did you also experience a notable performance loss from SL to Lion?

 

[ArmCortexA8]

Hi all

I not long joined the developer programme primarily to get access to these newer builds because to my knowledge Apple don't run a public beta programme. AppleSeed is only available with an invite. I am currently running 10.8.1 and upgraded from Lion, no major issues. I have noticed the following interesting scenario on a MacBook Air 2011 / 13" / 256GB SSD / i7 Processor / 4GB RAM.

1. Restart takes 3 seconds
2. Full shutdown takes about 20 seconds
3. I originally ran the ML install to an external hard disk (blank / formatted) - this took 13 minutes (platter based).
4. I then installed the same image to the internal drive and it too over 30 minutes.
5. I was running LittleSnitch 2.xx but a folder was created saying it was not compatible, so upgraded to version 3.
5. I am also using the Facebook plugin and use Notifications for Twitter / Facebook, but have yet to receive a single notification even with it turned on.
6. I have noticed everything looks a lot clearer and sharper on the system as well probably due to HiDPI
7. Installed the new Java 7 (no issue)

 

[GaresTaylan]

Is the delta update not working for anyone else? It keeps telling me it cant be installed because my system doesnt meet the requirements. 2011 MBA here on 10.8.0.

 

[atMac]

The update worked just fine for me, and I was already using the previous 10.8.1 beta.

I have noticed that .1 has made the Instant On for my air more instant. Throughout the 10.8.0 builds Instant on was much better than 10.7, then the GM seemed to slow it down a bit, though still better than 10.7. 10.8.1 seems to have made it a bit better.

 

[proshots4you]

Exchange email update

Hi.....has anyone noticed if any of the exchange email bugs are fixed with this developer 10.8.1 update?
In Mail, I lose my inbox, folder content, etc with my exchange account especially if I switch between inbox, sent or deleted folders, presto all emails are gone......
I'm hoping this beta build fixes this issue
Please let me know
TY!!

 

[50548]

Hi.....has anyone noticed if any of the exchange email bugs are fixed with this developer 10.8.1 update?
In Mail, I lose my inbox, folder content, etc with my exchange account especially if I switch between inbox, sent or deleted folders, presto all emails are gone......
I'm hoping this beta build fixes this issue
Please let me know
TY!!

As hinted above, it seems like 10.8.1 fixes absolutely NOTHING apart perhaps from Thunderbolt and battery issues...usability/UI fixes are nowhere to be seen.

 

[Gene Steinberg]

Is the delta update not working for anyone else? It keeps telling me it cant be installed because my system doesnt meet the requirements. 2011 MBA here on 10.8.0.

Are you running a developer preview rather than GM?

Peace,
Gene

 

[proshots4you]

I understand but also hoping someone out here has tested with new developer build
Keeping fingers crossed, rather use Mail vs Outlook if possible

As hinted above, it seems like 10.8.1 fixes absolutely NOTHING apart perhaps from Thunderbolt and battery issues...usability/UI fixes are nowhere to be seen.

 

[Gene Steinberg]

As hinted above, it seems like 10.8.1 fixes absolutely NOTHING apart perhaps from Thunderbolt and battery issues...usability/UI fixes are nowhere to be seen.

The first maintenance update for an Apple OS is almost always devoted to fixing the most serious bugs. Also bear in mind that, if you are evaluating a prerelease, that it is beta and thus may not be feature complete.

If you signed up with Apple's developer program, your NDA wouldn't allow you to discuss specifics in public.

Just FYI.

Peace,
Gene

 

[proshots4you]

Alrighty then.....exchange mail not working in core Mail app I would think would be a pretty darn serious bug but maybe I'm only one using exchange email
Regardless, I didn't realize such harm would come from asking if the issue is fixed with new build.....guess ill sign up, test out, report back and hopefully help others who care

The first maintenance update for an Apple OS is almost always devoted to fixing the most serious bugs. Also bear in mind that, if you are evaluating a prerelease, that it is beta and thus may not be feature complete.

If you signed up with Apple's developer program, your NDA wouldn't allow you to discuss specifics in public.

Just FYI.

Peace,
Gene

 

[Gene Steinberg]

Alrighty then.....exchange mail not working in core Mail app I would think would be a pretty darn serious bug but maybe I'm only one using exchange email
Regardless, I didn't realize such harm would come from asking if the issue is fixed with new build.....guess ill sign up, test out, report back and hopefully help others who care

The point being that someone who subscribes to Apple's developer program cannot really tell you whether any bug is fixed or not unless you are a fellow developer, or Apple. Yes, that doesn't stop bloggers from posting information about a new beta seed and what it contains. I suppose Apple doesn't mind having attention constantly drawn to the platform, although I expect severe violations of their NDAs will be addressed.

But just notice that I have written nothing in public that would potentially violate any developer agreements.

Peace,
Gene

 

[50548]

The first maintenance update for an Apple OS is almost always devoted to fixing the most serious bugs. Also bear in mind that, if you are evaluating a prerelease, that it is beta and thus may not be feature complete.

If you signed up with Apple's developer program, your NDA wouldn't allow you to discuss specifics in public.

Just FYI.

Peace,
Gene

I am not signed up, Gene...am just relaying information I've read elsewhere.

 

[Gene Steinberg]

I am not signed up, Gene...am just relaying information I've read elsewhere.

Well, that lets you off the hook. But don't forget that if something is still in the beta stage, you will have reason to expect there may be changes or improvements before final release.

Once 10.8.1 is actually available to the public, it'll be the right time to look at the announced and unannounced changes and fixes and see what's left for Apple to address in 10.8.2 and beyond.

Peace,
Gene

 

[wankey]

As hinted above, it seems like 10.8.1 fixes absolutely NOTHING apart perhaps from Thunderbolt and battery issues...usability/UI fixes are nowhere to be seen.

Usability and UI fixes are much harder than quick hardware fixes.

UI and Usability additions are usually aimed for bigger releases, ie 10.9

 

[cms2]

Graphics are not really my thing. I'm more interested in multitasking. I run a ton of apps, services, network connections, VMs etc. concurrently and Snow Leopard did a much better job of utilizing my 8 GB of RAM than Lion ever has. Lion constantly and needlessly pages RAM to disk which makes the spinning beach ball my best new friend.

I think what they're talking about, and what the Ars Technica article was describing, is that the improvements in the graphics drivers are behind the generally "snappier" feeling that ML has over Lion. Even if you don't do "graphics" work per se, you'll still notice the improvements in system performance.

My '07 MBP seemed like it was dying under Lion. I went ahead and upgraded it to ML even though I was switching to a new laptop, and I must say, Mountain Lion breathed new life into it. It's much, much more responsive than it was with Lion. I've been able to repurpose it as a machine for an administrative assistant at my office, whereas a month ago I was planning to just sell it or otherwise decommission it.

I'd recommend the upgrade to 10.8.

 

[cjmillsnun]

As hinted above, it seems like 10.8.1 fixes absolutely NOTHING apart perhaps from Thunderbolt and battery issues...usability/UI fixes are nowhere to be seen.

As already indicated above. YOU'VE NEVER INSTALLED ML. So you have no first hand experience. Also this seed of 10.8.1 is a BETA and liable to change, so more may be fixed before it is released to the public. I'm getting really frustrated with you calling something you've never even used a "train wreck". ML 10.8.0 is superior to Lion in most respects. There are a few MINOR bugs.

Indeed it is one of the most stable 10.x.0 releases I've ever seen.

Also from a UI point of view, Exposé is back (via an option in system preferences). Thus restoring workflows that people had used from Panther, but lost in Lion.

----------

Alrighty then.....exchange mail not working in core Mail app I would think would be a pretty darn serious bug but maybe I'm only one using exchange email
Regardless, I didn't realize such harm would come from asking if the issue is fixed with new build.....guess ill sign up, test out, report back and hopefully help others who care

Nowhere near as serious as using a guest account and erasing all data for all accounts. And yes Apple did ship a release of OS X that did exactly that.

 

[macpeach55]

This is very encouraging news. It sounds like I have little to nothing to lose by trying the upgrade first. If it's still slow I can create a DVD from the download image, format the drive and start fresh. I keep waiting for some down time to do this but that hasn't happened yet. At the very least I may wait until the first round of bugs are fixed with ML 10.8.1. (I'm annoyed though that there are bugs in Lion that still have not been fixed as of 10.7.4)

I'm curious - You say you have the performance of SL back so did you also experience a notable performance loss from SL to Lion?

At first, Lion felt OK, but very soon on both machines I was seeing the spinning ball at times when I did not with Snow Leopard. With ML everything feels like it should from the beginning and no degradation.

 

[antipioneer]

Does this update allow you to tie your phone number into messages like the iPad running iOS 6 beta? I have iOS 6 on my phone and iPad and would love to be able to use my laptop and desktop for texting also.

Nope, you can still only input e-mail addresses in the Messages client; although if you tie the e-mail address on your iOS device, it should still be delivered to the Messages client; it seems a bit temperamental with my setup, some come through, some don't.