Is High Sierra bug free?

[jas5279]

Just bought my first ever Apple computer - MBP 2017. It came with Sierra. I'm wondering, since High Sierra is out too, should I update and go through the learning curve on the latest possible OS? Having a bit of a tough time understanding how things work on a Mac (never used it before) so I thought it would be best if I do all the learning on the latest possible OS. But I don't want to rush into it and get a buggy version. So is High Sierra completely bug free to install?

P.S. I'm the type of person who is last to update iOS just so I don't have to face any bugs.

 

[dianeoforegon]

Wait! High Sierra just released v1. It's not bug free. Since you are new to Mac, wait until .4, .5 or .6 is released. You'll have fewer problems to contend with at this stage of development.

Start with a good backup strategy. Just like a seat belt and an air bag protect you in different ways when driving, you need both Time Machine and a clone for full protection. Buy a 4T drive and partition it for both clone and Time Machine.

Software used to Clone:

CarbonCopyCloner http://www.bombich.com/download.html (All options are available free for 30 days)

SuperDuper! http://www.shirt-pocket.com/ (Free forever to do an erase and install. Purchased version allows for smart updates and schedules)

 

[jas5279]

Wait! High Sierra just released v1. It's not bug free. Since you are new to Mac, wait until .4, .5 or .6 is released. You'll have fewer problems to contend with at this stage of development.

Start with a good backup strategy. Just like a seat belt and an air bag protect you in different ways when driving, you need both Time Machine and a clone for full protection. Buy a 4T drive and partition it for both clone and Time Machine.

Software used to Clone:

CarbonCopyCloner http://www.bombich.com/download.html (All options are available free for 30 days)

SuperDuper! http://www.shirt-pocket.com/ (Free forever to do an erase and install. Purchased version allows for smart updates and schedules)

Thanks for the advice! That's what I wanted to know. I will stick with my current version for now. I have no idea what Time Machine or clone is, but I'll look into it. Thanks for the suggestions!

 

[m4v3r1ck]

Wait! High Sierra just released v1. It's not bug free. Since you are new to Mac, wait until .4, .5 or .6 is released. You'll have fewer problems to contend with at this stage of development.

Start with a good backup strategy. Just like a seat belt and an air bag protect you in different ways when driving, you need both Time Machine and a clone for full protection. Buy a 4T drive and partition it for both clone and Time Machine.

Software used to Clone:

CarbonCopyCloner http://www.bombich.com/download.html (All options are available free for 30 days)

SuperDuper! http://www.shirt-pocket.com/ (Free forever to do an erase and install. Purchased version allows for smart updates and schedules)

+1 Top notch! - best in class - advice for our new fellow macOS user & MR forum member!

 

[r03dz]

No OS is bug free. Just stating a fact.

 

[m4v3r1ck]

Thanks for the advice! That's what I wanted to know. I will stick with my current version for now. I have no idea what Time Machine or clone is, but I'll look into it. Thanks for the suggestions!

Just have a good read about the back-up programs. CCC is my absolute favorite.

CCC saved my bacon many times!

Cheers

 

[m4v3r1ck]

No OS is bug free. Just stating a fact.

And that's a fact for Apple hardware as well, so a good back-up strategy is an absolute must if you value your bits & bytes!

Cheers

 

[kohlson]

As stated above, no computing platform is bug free. And, it's generally not a good idea to install the first release (the dot-oh release) for general/production use. But I've just installed 10.13.1 on my 2013 15-MBP, and it seems to work fine. I've been running 10.13 on another system, a 2009 Mac Pro, for about a month and it's been fine. If you have specialized requirements, such as drivers for high-end printers, and camera interfaces (ahem - Sony) then you may want to wait. A good backup system is always a must.

 

[namethisfile]

10.3.2 broke sleep on my cMP w/ RX 460.

It wasn't the case with 10.3.1... and earlier, nor was it the case in 10.2.6 and earlier since Ive had my RX 460 for a while.

I think it was only until I updated to 10.3.2 that it broke sleep.

Is there a way to roll back to 10.3.1?

 

[kohlson]

Is there a way to roll back to 10.3.1?

Windows has a pretty nice feature, which would be a nice addition to Mac OS X. Restore Point. For nearly everything done to a Windows platform, the first step is an (automatic) restore point.

 

[SoYoung]

10.3.2 broke sleep on my cMP w/ RX 460.

It wasn't the case with 10.3.1... and earlier, nor was it the case in 10.2.6 and earlier since Ive had my RX 460 for a while.

I think it was only until I updated to 10.3.2 that it broke sleep.

Is there a way to roll back to 10.3.1?

If you don't have a time machine back up, I don't think you can without losing your data.

 

[CTHarrryH]

No software is bug free. High Sierra work just like Sierra - if you learn one you will have no problem with another.

 

[Valashtar]

Is there a way to roll back to 10.3.1?

Windows has a pretty nice feature, which would be a nice addition to Mac OS X. Restore Point. For nearly everything done to a Windows platform, the first step is an (automatic) restore point.

Yes! There is, actually. Only if you have upgraded to APFS when you installed High Sierra, but macOS now uses the APFS Snapshot feature before 10.13.X version updates! You will lose anything you've done since you started the upgrade, but basically you reboot to Recovery, select "Restore from Time Machine Backup" and it will offer your own computer as a restore option.

More info here: https://derflounder.wordpress.com/2...creating-apfs-snapshots-on-macos-high-sierra/

here:
https://maclovin.org/blog-native/2017/restoring-from-a-snapshot-with-apfs

and an Apple Kbase here: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204015

• Starting with macOS High Sierra, an additional snapsnot is saved before installing any macOS update.

 

[ghanwani]

So is High Sierra completely bug free to install?

P.S. I'm the type of person who is last to update iOS just so I don't have to face any bugs.

It will be bug free in 2.3 days.
http://dilbert.com/strip/2017-10-02

 

[kohlson]

You will lose anything you've done since you started the upgrade

I'm pretty sure the Windows recovery point works differently than this. It enables you to "undo" any of the myriad updates to frameworks/drivers/patches/app install that are part of the Windows ecosystem. But my (subsequent) work remains untouched.

I think I've always been able to go back in time - Time Machine is more of an all-or-nothing thing. In this case, I just wanted to go back to 10.12.6 - when life was mo' bettah - and not affect the work I'd done.

 

[Riwam]

Windows has a pretty nice feature, which would be a nice addition to Mac OS X. Restore Point. For nearly everything done to a Windows platform, the first step is an (automatic) restore point.

*********************************************************************
Well...that would certainly be a very good feature...provided it works!
I run Windows 10 parallel to macOS in both my vintage Early 2008 MacBook and my Late 2013 MacPro.
Whenever there was a problem in Windows caused by a change bringing more sorrow than joy, I said to myself
"I am not afraid since I have set regularly Restore Points when Windows and the hardware worked OK".
However, after waiting (and sweating every second) that the blessed restore process should finish and bring me back in time to a nicely working system, I found with dismay the info from Windows that the restoring had not worked and no file had been changed and returned to an early good working stage.
So I learned in the hard way that a good idea isn't enough.
It must be implemented in a way that it performs what it is supposed to do.
Maybe in native Windows PCs that "Restoring" works. I have none to test it, but in my non native-Windows macs it certainly does not!
The same applies by the way to a recovery Windows drive, for instance a USB key or an external USB drive.
To prepare such a drive is highly recommended by Windows and is supposed to cure entirely a bad working Windows system if some unwanted change, update, new software or new driver causes trouble and lack of stability.
Again, maybe in a true windows PC this safety drive actually works. In my 2 macs running Bootcamp Windows 10 it doesn't!
The only way I have a minimum of "Windows safety" is to use "Winclone" from the mac side.
It is a difficult piece of software with hard requirements for instance about the size of the external clone drive matching the size of the Windows partition. It also often stops cloning right at the beginning with a notice of failure for reasons I don't understand at all.
But when it works, it keeps a certain moment clone of the Windows partition and, if needed, allows restoring it.
Compared to that, to use for the safety of a mac system both, Time Machine and (recent!) external clone drives of macOS (made with CCC or SuperDuper!) are not only good ideas in the theory but they actually keep a macOS user in a real safe situation.
Ed