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Does OS X require reboots?

F

fryday444

macrumors member
Original poster
I'm an avid Linux user and occasionally use Windows. I just bought my first Mac 😀 It's pretty common knowledge that Windows needs to be rebooted periodically to keep it running like...as okay as Windows can run. My Linux boxes, however, can stay on indefinitely assuming I do not replace the kernel.

So my question is, does OS X act more like Linux in this regard, or like Windows?
 
You don't have to reboot it, after a couple months it may start running a little slow, but as long as you regularly install updates and restart when the updates require you to you can probably leave it on as long as you want.
 
List of machines in my house

Macbook Pro - reboots during updates I also reboot when running slow
Macbook pro 13in reboots during updates
Mac mini as HTPC ONLY reboots during updates

iMac same as Mini
 
On my iMacs (I've owned two in the past) I hardly ever rebooted them. Only if an install required it or if for some reason it froze up, but that was very rare. With my MBP, I reboot more often, but that's because I tend to shut it down if I'm traveling a long distance with it, etc. But still...sometimes I reboot a couple times in a week, sometimes much less often. Eventually it slows down a bit, but it takes quite a while.
 
fryday444 said:
So my question is, does OS X act more like Linux in this regard, or like Windows?
Click to expand...

Of course its closer to Linux because OS X is real UNIX! 🙂
Well..darwing/bsd systems and stuff like that, it has stuff from NextStep etc..
 
Every OS requires reboots at some point, the question is how frequently.

I go months on end without rebooting my Macbook Pro, same thing with my Windows desktop.
 
OS X is definitely more like linux in this regard. I won't say that the system never slows down and needs a restart, but it's much less frequently than Windows.

On my current iMac, I tend to only restart it when a system update requires me to (or if I decide to boot into Windows to play some games). Never have had an issue with slowdown.
 
Sorry for the silly question, if you don't reboot then you just put it to sleep.

Doesn't that waste electricity if you don't use it for a day or so?
 
tootall said:
Sorry for the silly question, if you don't reboot then you just put it to sleep.

Doesn't that waste electricity if you don't use it for a day or so?
Click to expand...

Yes. But only about 0.024kWh (minus the energy it would take for the machine to boot up) at ~1W – equivalent to using a 60W light bulb for less than half an hour.
 
Last edited:
Though I don't have to reboot like I do my Windows machines, I do have to exit and restart Safari every so often. It seems to have a memory leak.
 
I've had my new air running lion for 2 months now and have only rebooted with certain updates.

I can't even remember if i've rebooted due to slowdowns, i dont think i have yet.
 
fryday444 said:
I guess that is what I was referring to. Technically, Windows can stay on for a LONG time, but the slow down would be horrible...
Click to expand...

The slow down isn't bad, if I don't have an update that makes me have to restart it, I regularly have the computer on for 100 or so days at a time before I start to notice it at all.
 
I only restart if there's a software install that requires it (rare these days). I put it to sleep all the time, but never shut down or restart except in very rare cases where I don't plan to use it again for a while (more than a day).

jW
 
fryday444 said:
I'm an avid Linux user and occasionally use Windows. I just bought my first Mac 😀 It's pretty common knowledge that Windows needs to be rebooted periodically to keep it running like...as okay as Windows can run. My Linux boxes, however, can stay on indefinitely assuming I do not replace the kernel.

So my question is, does OS X act more like Linux in this regard, or like Windows?
Click to expand...

It acts more like Linux/Unix/BSD.

Fewer reboots.

Fewer memory leaks.

Fewer problems.

And no wretched registry. 😀

I've been able to put my Mac Pro in sleep mode, come back to it, work, put it in sleep mode, repeat SEVERAL times without so much as a hiccup. Without a drop in performance.

Another story: For a while I used Windows 7 exclusively (separate HDD, no boot camp). (For 9 months). When I came back to OS X, it performed just as snappy as day 1. When I booted into my bootcamp Win7 session that I installed but abandoned, it booted up much faster than the standalone Win7 HDD.

I do have to restart Firefox at times, but never the OS due to problems.
 
I reboot only for updates that require it or if there is some problem. I don't really have much of an issue with slow performance but occasionally I do get corrupt files that cause a program to no longer run properly and a reboot usually fixes that. And by occasionally I mean that I have had to do this probably less than 10 times in the almost 4 years I've owned my iMac.
 
You only need to reboot about once a month. But updates will probably force you to restart before that happens.
 
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