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I'm not sure whether or not to upgrade to OSX10.4.4 - advice please!

T

thomasp

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Sep 18, 2004
654
1
UK
I've been following the OSX10.4.4 update thread in the news forum closely and have come to the conclusion that this new update is slightly less bad than the 10.4.3 update.

I'm currently running 10.4.2 on my PowerBook 15" 1.5GHz (Penultimate Powerbook revision) - I skipped the 10.4.3 update because I didn't want to run any risk of messing my computer up while I was at uni and away from my restore DVD's (which were at home).

In Software Update, the version available is the 120Mb Combo update (size doesn't matter - 10Mbit connection).


I'm not sure whether to update or not - I'm going home at the weekend, so I can do a re-install if things go pear-shaped, but I'd rather not have to do that :). My PB is solid as a rock on 10.4.2 - in fact, it crashed for the first time - EVER - last Thursday, and I've owned it since August '05. I don't have any hacks or anything like that installed on my Mac. I use Safari, Office, AppleWorks, Mail, Adium, iTunes and iCal quite a bit (and Photoshop 7 occasionally).

Have there been any issues with the Combo update, or are all the problems I've read about just due to the small update (from 10.4.3)? Am I likely to come into any problems having skipped a version?

Also, what are the worst issues in OSX10.4.4 that are likely to affect me?


Any info or advice you have would be much appreciated :D


Also, Software Update also lists iTunes 6.0.2 - apart from the ministore (which to be honest, I don't really care about, as I'd just have it minimised anyway), are there any issues with this?

I have Windows Media Player and VLC installed - am I likely to come across any problems with the QuickTime update?

Is the Java download essential? What benefits does it bring?


Finally, if I do update, and things go horribly pear-shaped, what's the best way to restore my OS to OSX10.4.2 with the restore DVD's - do I choose the 'Archive & Install' option, and then transfer prefs, etc, over, one-by-one? I've found a 10.4.2 updater on the Apple website.


Thanks in advance for the help, and sorry for all the questions :D I just don't want to kill my PB :)


Edit:

I've tried to track the updates and bugs as much as possible on the forum, but having just had a load of exams at uni, I haven't had that much time, so I've probably missed some important bugs :)

Before anyone tells me to search, I have been reading the news threads
 
No bugs or issues with any of that on my iBook, I think it would be a really good idea to update - it's good to keep your Mac as current as possible.
 
Ya I agree, I have an iBook and always upgrade to latest version...no problems. I think its the quicktime update thats causing the browser crashes I'm having though along with the flip4mac thing...other than that, no obvious changes or problems.
 
I've never had any problems with any OS X update, from 10.3.4 (when I switched) to 10.4.4. I say go ahead and update. I've updated both my Power Mac and my PowerBook, with zero problems on either. I've noticed some improvements too, especially in Dashboard.
 
I would upgrade to the latest version. Theses updates sometimes fix problems you aren't aware of and sometimes increase system performance.
For example the 10.4.3 update solved the problem with the new ibooks having 1.5gbs of ram which would cause loss of airport usability and severe jumpiness in the mouse and the only solution was to go into terminal and set the amount of ram to use down to 1gb. Thank goodness this problem was solved. Its best to keep as updated as possible.
 
Thanks for the replies & the reassurance :) I might go ahead with it tomorrow, time permitting...

Should I upgrade everything (10.4.2- 10.4.4, iTunes 5.x to 6.0.2, QT7.0.x to 7.0.4 and Java), or just iTunes and the OS?

Also, what is the best way to restore my OS should things go pearshaped?


Thanks for the help :)
 
thomasp said:
Should I upgrade everything (10.4.2- 10.4.4, iTunes 5.x to 6.0.2, QT7.0.x to 7.0.4 and Java), or just iTunes and the OS?

Also, what is the best way to restore my OS should things go pearshaped?

Thanks for the help :)
Click to expand...

You might as well upgrade everything, I don't see a reason why not to.

Do you have an external hard drive to backup your files to? Using something like SilverKeeper or Carbon Copy Cloner to backup all of your files to an external hard drive is the best way to ensure you still have the files you need if things "go pearshaped". :)
 
atari1356 said:
You might as well upgrade everything, I don't see a reason why not to.

Do you have an external hard drive to backup your files to? Using something like SilverKeeper or Carbon Copy Cloner to backup all of your files to an external hard drive is the best way to ensure you still have the files you need if things "go pearshaped". :)
Click to expand...

Unfortunately, no.

I'm at university and only have 150Mb on the server and a 1Gb pen drive....
 
No problems here (G4 PB). Spoke with a specialist at Apple Care today, and he said the great majority of issues he's dealing with are related to existing problems (file corruption, mainly) that users had hoped .4 would correct, but didn't. He recommended a Disk Utility Install & Archive of .3, before upgrading to .4 to repair those types of issues.
 
Installed 10.4.4 on All my Macs (12" PB, 1.33Ghz 12" iBook, 1.8Ghz DP G5). The only issue is that Apple made a subtle change to NFS which caused my keychain to **** up on the G5.

However its unlikely that you have your laptop mounting any network drives via NFS (specifically your home directory), so I doubt this will affect you.

Go for it. 10.4.3 made my PB run much faster, especially Spotlight.
 
I'm still pretty new to Macs, but was there some horrible update that messed up everyones computer in the past? I've just never seen people so worried about updating the OS.
 
Viewtiful Rich said:
I'm still pretty new to Macs, but was there some horrible update that messed up everyones computer in the past? I've just never seen people so worried about updating the OS.
Click to expand...


Nope, just paranoia...
 
Do it! Do it now!

(Arnold Voice)

Just update everything...I've always updated everything without thinking twice, and haven't had a problem doing that

One side note, just repair permissions (Applications/Ultilities/Disc Utility)BEFORE and AFTER you do all the software updates..that's what I always do and never have had a problem with anything that pops up in Software Update.
 
I was pretty worried about updating to 10.4.4 as well, mainly because I had implemented seperate partitions for swap, applications, the system-files, and the userfiles, and someone on the hints-site told me that an update would ruin that setup (which works really great btw, but was a hassle to set up). But after I plunged into the cold water, best way to do things imo, everything ran fine, with zero bugs that I noticed.
 
thomasp said:
I've been following the OSX10.4.4 update thread in the news forum closely and have come to the conclusion that this new update is slightly less bad than the 10.4.3 update.

I'm currently running 10.4.2 on my PowerBook 15" 1.5GHz (Penultimate Powerbook revision) - I skipped the 10.4.3 update because I didn't want to run any risk of messing my computer up while I was at uni and away from my restore DVD's (which were at home).

In Software Update, the version available is the 120Mb Combo update (size doesn't matter - 10Mbit connection).


I'm not sure whether to update or not - I'm going home at the weekend, so I can do a re-install if things go pear-shaped, but I'd rather not have to do that :). My PB is solid as a rock on 10.4.2 - in fact, it crashed for the first time - EVER - last Thursday, and I've owned it since August '05. I don't have any hacks or anything like that installed on my Mac. I use Safari, Office, AppleWorks, Mail, Adium, iTunes and iCal quite a bit (and Photoshop 7 occasionally).

Have there been any issues with the Combo update, or are all the problems I've read about just due to the small update (from 10.4.3)? Am I likely to come into any problems having skipped a version?

Also, what are the worst issues in OSX10.4.4 that are likely to affect me?


Any info or advice you have would be much appreciated :D


Also, Software Update also lists iTunes 6.0.2 - apart from the ministore (which to be honest, I don't really care about, as I'd just have it minimised anyway), are there any issues with this?

I have Windows Media Player and VLC installed - am I likely to come across any problems with the QuickTime update?

Is the Java download essential? What benefits does it bring?


Finally, if I do update, and things go horribly pear-shaped, what's the best way to restore my OS to OSX10.4.2 with the restore DVD's - do I choose the 'Archive & Install' option, and then transfer prefs, etc, over, one-by-one? I've found a 10.4.2 updater on the Apple website.
Click to expand...

Don't you have better things to worry about then to type out this long rant about Apple updates? You really have no idea what you are talking about anyways, nor have a basis to be afraid. Second, you shouldn't skip updates. The software that updates you computer will check to see what updates are there, and it might actually need an older update to be there before it updates. If you keep worrying this much about, you should just put your mac in a safe and never touch it, because it might stop working because of a software problem. take some risk and go get laid.
 
superbovine said:
Don't you have better things to worry about then to type out this long rant about Apple updates? You really have no idea what you are talking about anyways, nor have a basis to be afraid. Second, you shouldn't skip updates. The software that updates you computer will check to see what updates are there, and it might actually need an older update to be there before it updates. If you keep worrying this much about, you should just put your mac in a safe and never touch it, because it might stop working because of a software problem. take some risk and go get laid.
Click to expand...

After reading the floods of negative feedback from the OSX10.4.3 update, I was a little edgy about upgrading, mainly because I was in the middle of a piece of coursework and couldn't afford to have an unusable mac (and yes, I am well aware that the odds of that happening were pretty slim, despite all the negative complaints). I was also not anywhere near my restore DVD's, so if the worst case scenario had happened, I would have been without a computer for at least 2 days, which was not an option.

Also, I fail to see how my earlier post was a rant (unlike this one...;)). I was simply asking if the update fixed problems, rather than caused them.

Some people can't afford to take a few hours out of their day to restore an operating system when an update goes wrong. These things do happen, which is why I wanted to make sure I wasn't going to cripple my computer. I do now have free time to fix any faults, but I'd rather not have the hassle in the first place :)


Anyway, I'm off to download all the upgrades...
 
thomasp said:
After reading the floods of negative feedback from the OSX10.4.3 update
Click to expand...
Unfortunately, what you have here is a vocal minority making it look like 10.4.3 was a terrible upgrade. Everyone Mac I use/maintain had an utterly smooth transition to 10.4.3 and was noticably better for it, and all the Mac owners I know had the same experience.

Sadly people who have success with an update don't tend to carry as much weight as the people who moan about something breaking. 9 times out of 10 breakage caused by Apple upgrades is caused by people loading their machines with hacks such as Shapeshifter, which tend to get broken when Apple changes OS level stuff.

IMHO, its a good idea to always upgrade to Apple's latest version, as long as nobody reports it causing major hardware failures!
 
dr_lha said:
Unfortunately, what you have here is a vocal minority making it look like 10.4.3 was a terrible upgrade. Everyone Mac I use/maintain had an utterly smooth transition to 10.4.3 and was noticably better for it, and all the Mac owners I know had the same experience.

Sadly people who have success with an update don't tend to carry as much weight as the people who moan about something breaking. 9 times out of 10 breakage caused by Apple upgrades is caused by people loading their machines with hacks such as Shapeshifter, which tend to get broken when Apple changes OS level stuff.

IMHO, its a good idea to always upgrade to Apple's latest version, as long as nobody reports it causing major hardware failures!
Click to expand...

Yeah. I also realise that this place is primarily a tech support forum, so people are likely to complain about an update, rather than praise it.

I also like leaving it a little while before updating, because as you said, in case the update causes a major hardware failure. Anyone remember that update where Apple accidentally removed 64-bit compatibility from OSX? :rolleyes:
 
Well, I've done the update, repaired permissions, and rebooted again, and everything seems sort of fine.

My computer now seems to take 1min 10s to start up, as opposed to the 50s it did on OSX 10.4.2

I'm also going to go against the grain and say that generally, it doesn't feel much snappier. However, there is a big improvement in how well Google Earth runs - it's a lot smoother. No real difference in Safari - I was hoping the update would have cured the beachballing I get on some sites like www.seatguru.com However, Safari does seem quicker at quitting - when I hit Command+q before, it used to take a few seconds to actually quit.

On the plus side, it's nice to see Temperature Monitor finally working :D At least it's updating rather than just giving me startup temperatures.


Edit:

One thing that is annoying me at the moment:

In Safari, I used to press tab to go between the text boxes on the web page and the address bar/Google bar. Now, it seems to go via all the popup menus as well, thus meaning more "tabs" to get to the address bar. Is there any way to get this back to what it was?


Thanks :)
 
The backup / cloning program 'super duper' has a pretty nice feature called 'sandboxing'. You can read more about it on his site, but basically what it does is allow you to make system changes, software updates, etc, in a non-permanent way, all by using a clever set of symbolic links. It's totally transparent to the user. At whatever point you decide the update went fine, you go ahead and accept it and it becomes permanent. If you had problems with it, you basically just delete the update and continue working as you were before. This only applies to your system files, your user files (home directories, etc) just are always up to date, so if you roll back a change, you're only rolling back your system changes, not what you've done to your personal files.

To just make a clone superduper is free, to enable the sandbox features requires that you register it -- $27.95 or some such. Well worth it, for someone with your level of concern and care.
 
thomasp said:
In Safari, I used to press tab to go between the text boxes on the web page and the address bar/Google bar. Now, it seems to go via all the popup menus as well, thus meaning more "tabs" to get to the address bar. Is there any way to get this back to what it was?Thanks :)
Click to expand...
Easy fix! Place your mouse over the field you want to "tab" to, and simply left click. BINGO - your cursor is now exactly where you wanted it, without having to tab-tab-tab-tab-tab. :) :)
 
kwajaln said:
Easy fix! Place your mouse over the field you want to "tab" to, and simply left click. BINGO - your cursor is now exactly where you wanted it, without having to tab-tab-tab-tab-tab. :) :)
Click to expand...

I don't know why, but (before, anyway), I found it quicker to hit tab once or twice to get to the address bar, than to find out where the pointer is on the screen, move it across the screen to the tab bar, then go to all that extreme effort of clicking the mouse :D

Plus, I don't wear my trackpad out using the tab key ;) And keys seem to be harder wearing than trackpads.
 
i have the same (i think*) computer as u. 1.5 GHz PB, i always keep it updated. I do not have any problems with it, and have never had to use the restore cd.

* I don't think apple updated the powerbook g4 from december 04-august 05.

EDIT: I see that you have already upgraded, but this can be reassurance that if u ever have questions about updates on a 1.5 PB, i always upgrade first.
 
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