Late Tiger = silver lining?

[annk]

My preordered copy of Tiger isn´t going to arrive til tomorrow. I was pissed off when it didn´t come on Friday, but now I´m not so sure. So many people have posted about fairly big problems. Maybe it´s just as well it didn´t come on time, because I would´ve installed it right away, and be posting about problems.

So what do I do now? Should I choose to wait til an update comes out, and if so, can I just install Tiger then immediately install the upgrade and avoid some problems? Is that how it works? I´ve never done a Mac OS upgrade before.

I´m planning on doing an Archive and install, because I´ve got so much 3rd-party stuff and I don´t feel sure enough of how to reinstall things manually.

 

[Blue Velvet]

I think waiting for a little bit is sensible. There will be an updater within weeks... after all, if your Mac is working perfectly fine now then what's the hurry?

This is just one summary of problems so far.
http://www.macintouch.com/tigerreview/incompatibility.html

If you use your Mac for work (college/employment) then my view on it is let sleeping dogs lie until your most important applications have released updaters or Apple have fixed some things.

I didn't upgrade to Panther till it was at 10.3.3...

 

[BWhaler]

My preordered copy of Tiger isn´t going to arrive til tomorrow. I was pissed off when it didn´t come on Friday, but now I´m not so sure. So many people have posted about fairly big problems. Maybe it´s just as well it didn´t come on time, because I would´ve installed it right away, and be posting about problems.

So what do I do now? Should I choose to wait til an update comes out, and if so, can I just install Tiger then immediately install the upgrade and avoid some problems? Is that how it works? I´ve never done a Mac OS upgrade before.

I´m planning on doing an Archive and install, because I´ve got so much 3rd-party stuff and I don´t feel sure enough of how to reinstall things manually.

Given the new pro apps require 10.4.1 and they are shipping in 2-3 weeks, if you want to save yourself some headaches, I would wait. With that said, most of the Tiger bugs seem cosmetic (not all, just most) so odds are you'll be safe. Better safe than sorry, I say, especially since .1 is so close.

I would also recommend you find a way to do a clean install. Most of the issues you read about are from archive and install. Since Tiger is such a major upgrade, it really is the best solution in terms of minimizing headaches. Just back up all of the 3rd party apps first.

 

[Demon Hunter]

My preordered copy of Tiger isn´t going to arrive til tomorrow. I was pissed off when it didn´t come on Friday, but now I´m not so sure. So many people have posted about fairly big problems. Maybe it´s just as well it didn´t come on time, because I would´ve installed it right away, and be posting about problems.

So what do I do now? Should I choose to wait til an update comes out, and if so, can I just install Tiger then immediately install the upgrade and avoid some problems? Is that how it works? I´ve never done a Mac OS upgrade before.

I´m planning on doing an Archive and install, because I´ve got so much 3rd-party stuff and I don´t feel sure enough of how to reinstall things manually.

I feel your pain, I don't get mine until next week either. But I'm tired of waiting, I just want to install it already!

 

[Applespider]

I appear to be one of the lucky people who don't have any major problems with Tiger. The only thing that isn't working properly for me is when I choose an iPhoto image from Spotlight when iPhoto is already open but hidden/minimised. It goes to the image but doesn't maximise the window again.

I'd go with whatever you feel most comfortable with. I waited until iPhoto 5.0.1 to come out before I bothered getting iLife 05; there were too many problems with transferring libraries for me to feel happy.

I felt comfortable about installing Tiger because I knew I had a bootable 'clone' of 10.3.9 on my external drive that I could restore if I needed to. So if anything major went awry, I'd just go back to 10.3.9 and wait. My Mac also isn't my bread and butter computer so there was less risk attached.

I'd agree that Archive & Install is the way to go btw. Make sure you repair permissions before and after. I also took the opportunity to boot from my other drive (or from your restore disc) and repaired the HD.

 

[annk]

I would also recommend you find a way to do a clean install. Most of the issues you read about are from archive and install. Since Tiger is such a major upgrade, it really is the best solution in terms of minimizing headaches. Just back up all of the 3rd party apps first.

I love this forum, good answers from people who know, within five minutes! I will wait for the update. 😀

I really want to do a clean install, but I´m scared. I don´t feel I really know how to back up my 3rd party apps and the content I´ve created, or how to get it all back in place once the clean install is done.

I searched and only came up with one thread, with two posts. Here´s a quote:

The setup assistant works fine from an external HDD. I think it has to be a bootable clone, but I'm about to do the cycle you describe: Clone, erase, install tiger, migrate users with setup assistant.

Is the following interpretation correct?:

1 Use something like carboncopycloner or something I already have in Disk Utility to clone everything, put it on my iPod (because that´s the only firewire external HD I have - the other is USB, and I assume that´s not going to work?? I understand I can only boot from a firewire disc?). Is there a specific sort of type of back up I need to have? How do I know I´ve made a bootable clone?

2 Install Tiger (I figure I don´t have to erase separately, because the clean install will do that)

3 Install the update (because I´m going to wait!)

Now here I´m stuck - are there good instructions at a BASIC level somewhere for migrating apps and content from the iPod to my PB? I´ve searched and read a lot, but I´m just not sure I´m understanding what I´m reading. Do I have to put everything I want back piece by piece, or can I just click on something to have it all put back in the correct folders? I don´t mind doing it piece by piece, but I´m terrified I´ll put things back in the wrong place. And what about the apps - do they need to be reinstalled from the install files, or can they be migrated back? I have all the keys and could reinstall everything if I had to, but it would be great not to have to redo all my preferences.

Before I cloned, I would go through everything to get rid of junk, so just putting everything back would be great if it´s possible to do easily - by someone who´s never done it before.

THANK YOU for your patience, all of you who take the time to read this...

 

[Blue Velvet]

Although I will be doing a clean install because I'm buying some new hard-drives, I honestly think AppleSpider's advice is best for you.

Do an archive and install after repairing permissions. At the very least, back-up your Users folder to the iPod.

 

[7on]

Here's what I did.

1. Backup (I make a backup once a month and I just waited until Tiger before doing this month's backup) I don't think it's really needed, but you never know what might happen.

2. Ran Cocktail's Pilot actions. It's quite keen on running cron jobs and clearing caches.

3. Renamed the Applications folder to "Old Applications" just incase something went wrong or so I could go through my apps easier.

Then I did an archive and Install with Preserve Users checked.

Only problem I've had was Mail not hiding at login, Spotlight crashing, and a couple of widgets have crashed. Other than that, everything has been keen.

 

[annk]

Although I will be doing a clean install because I'm buying some new hard-drives, I honestly think AppleSpider's advice is best for you.

Do an archive and install after repairing permissions. At the very least, back-up your Users folder to the iPod.

Ok, thanks - that´s a relief. I´ll do that. I´ll wait for 10.4.1, and since I do complete back-ups once a month, I´ll do that no matter what. And I´ll repair permissions before anything else.

Thanks so much for all your help, everyone - this forum is reason enough to be a switcher 😀

 

[0s and 1s]

I think waiting for a little bit is sensible. There will be an updater within weeks... after all, if your Mac is working perfectly fine now then what's the hurry?

This is just one summary of problems so far.
http://www.macintouch.com/tigerreview/incompatibility.html
..

That's strange. The list shows that Quickbooks 2005 doesn't work with Tiger, but I used it tonight without any isues. Hmm...

FYI: Using Tiger with QB NUE that came with my Rev. D PB.

 

[Advance The Man]

I've got Quickbooks on my PB, but wish I had Quicken. Can Quickbooks do personal finances?

That's strange. The list shows that Quickbooks 2005 doesn't work with Tiger, but I used it tonight without any isues. Hmm...

FYI: Using Tiger with QB NUE that came with my Rev. D PB.

 

[iBunny]

I would wait until 10.4.1 comes out before I install Tiger. Also, I would erase your hard drive, format and Install Clean. Alot of people say its a waste of time, but people who did that have less problems than upgrading or whatever.

 

[BWhaler]

That's strange. The list shows that Quickbooks 2005 doesn't work with Tiger, but I used it tonight without any isues. Hmm...

FYI: Using Tiger with QB NUE that came with my Rev. D PB.

Actually, it shows that Quickbooks 2005 DOES work with Tiger.

It's the earlier versions which have issues. 2005 works well. Well at least as well as Intuit products do nowadays.

 

[CaptainHaddock]

I just backed up all my documents and mail, put in the DVD, and did a regular old "upgrade" installation. Then I ran Mail and watched it quickly import and configure all my mailboxes. With 30 minutes I had a flawless Tiger desktop and was able to delete my backups.

Easiest installation, bar none, I've ever seen! 🙂 (I'm a recent switcher)

I have a few third-party add-ons, and they all seem to work - perhaps because by doing the upgrade, Tiger saw they were there and kept them in place. However, Safari and Mail add-ons are often blamed for problems, so I'd remove those (and any system hacks) first.