OS Upgrade Question

[Larreynaga]

I apologize ahead of time for asking a pretty basic question.

I am currently running 10.7.5 (Lion) on my iMac and I want to upgrade my OS to El Capitan. Besides having to upgrade some of my software and applications, what "bad" things might I anticipate happening?

Thanks!

 

[keysofanxiety]

Nothing bad really, El Cap's pretty stable and smooth.

Before you upgrade, I'd do the following:

1) Check your HDD is OK by downloading SMART Utility (Google Drive link as latest version of SU only supports 10.9+)
2) If that comes out clean, run a volume verification in Disk Utility to ensure your volume isn't corrupted, just to make sure you have a smooth upgrade
3) Check your system specifications are suitable - namely the RAM. Unlikely you've got 2GB unless it's a 2007 model or something, but if you do then it may be worth upgrading to 4GB before doing that.
4) Backup! Again, it's smooth sailing with the upgrade, but please ensure you have a Time Machine backup or at least a copy of anything you can't afford to lose, just to err on the side of caution. You can never be too careful with that sort of stuff.

Except for that, enjoy 10.11! It'll be a huge step up from Lion (which in my opinion is the absolute worst OS Apple has ever released, excluding pre-Tiger builds).

 

[Ebenezum]

While I agree with keysofanxiety on points 1-4 and that Lion is one of the worst OS X versions Apple has released I seriously disagree with El Capitan been stable and smooth.

At the moment 10.11 has too many bugs and I recommend waiting until it has been updated to 10.11.2, preferably 10.11.3.

As for what might happen a few serious bugs I have encountered include:

1. Mail loses all email and crashes when I tried to create new accounts. It took over 2 hours before I could get it to work and its nowhere as stable as Mavericks Mail.
2. Disk Utility crashed when I tried to format external drive. Not to mention that it has been amputated compared to previous version.
3. Safari is very slow even after disabling extensions and emptied cache. Safari in Mavericks works normally.
4. Time Machine crashes when I tried to restore files, same thing happens every time and according to Apple it's likely a USB3 bug in 10.11.1, no idea when it will be fixed.

I am not saying OP will certainly have problems but at the same time I cannot recommend upgrading at this time because 10.11 was released months before it was ready.

For further examples of bugs take a look at 10.11 forum, you don't have to look hard to find them...

 

[Larreynaga]

Nothing bad really, El Cap's pretty stable and smooth.

Before you upgrade, I'd do the following:

1) Check your HDD is OK by downloading SMART Utility (Google Drive link as latest version of SU only supports 10.9+)
2) If that comes out clean, run a volume verification in Disk Utility to ensure your volume isn't corrupted, just to make sure you have a smooth upgrade
3) Check your system specifications are suitable - namely the RAM. Unlikely you've got 2GB unless it's a 2007 model or something, but if you do then it may be worth upgrading to 4GB before doing that.
4) Backup! Again, it's smooth sailing with the upgrade, but please ensure you have a Time Machine backup or at least a copy of anything you can't afford to lose, just to err on the side of caution. You can never be too careful with that sort of stuff.

Except for that, enjoy 10.11! It'll be a huge step up from Lion (which in my opinion is the absolute worst OS Apple has ever released, excluding pre-Tiger builds).

Appreciate the info. Thanks!

 

[Larreynaga]

While I agree with keysofanxiety on points 1-4 and that Lion is one of the worst OS X versions Apple has released I seriously disagree with El Capitan been stable and smooth.

At the moment 10.11 has too many bugs and I recommend waiting until it has been updated to 10.11.2, preferably 10.11.3.

As for what might happen a few serious bugs I have encountered include:

1. Mail loses all email and crashes when I tried to create new accounts. It took over 2 hours before I could get it to work and its nowhere as stable as Mavericks Mail.
2. Disk Utility crashed when I tried to format external drive. Not to mention that it has been amputated compared to previous version.
3. Safari is very slow even after disabling extensions and emptied cache. Safari in Mavericks works normally.
4. Time Machine crashes when I tried to restore files, same thing happens every time and according to Apple it's likely a USB3 bug in 10.11.1, no idea when it will be fixed.

I am not saying OP will certainly have problems but at the same time I cannot recommend upgrading at this time because 10.11 was released months before it was ready.

For further examples of bugs take a look at 10.11 forum, you don't have to look hard to find them...

Wow! Thanks for the heads up. I'll wait for the fixes before installing!

 

[simon lefisch]

Wow! Thanks for the heads up. I'll wait for the fixes before installing!

Take in mind that not everyone are having probs with El Capitan. I updated my late 2011 MBP to 10.11 (currently on 10.11.2 beta 4) and I can say that it has been quite enjoyable.

Best thing I can say is if you have an extra/external drive, clone your main drive to the external, boot from that drive, update to el cap and run it from there. This will give you an idea of how it will run on your machine. If you have probs, you can always nuke the external drive and continue on your main drive without any probs.

 

[chabig]

I second Simon's opinion. We know for a fact that millions of people are running El Capitan. Choosing not to upgrade because some random internet stranger listed a few negatives seems like an overreaction. Make an external clone backup and go forth with the upgrade.

 

[BrianBaughn]

Does your iMac have an SSD?

 

[old-wiz]

I've been using ElCapitan 10.11.1 on 3 different machines: a 2008 24" iMac, a late 2013 13' MBPr, and a late 2013 13" MBA. I have had no problems to speak of. The initial upgrade install went without any hitches and the point upgrade was also easy. Applications may need to be updated, such as SuperDuper.

 

[stringent]

Do a Time Machine or backup before you upgrade just to be on the safe side, then you can always revert back

 

[Fishrrman]

OP:

A poster above suggested a Time Machine backup first, but I'd suggest creating a bootable external clone using either CarbonCopyCloner or SuperDuper instead.

If the install process goes haywire on you -- or if you find you don't like the upgrade or if some software is incompatible -- having a bootable cloned backup will make it VERY easy to "get back to where you once belonged".

There have been numerous reports here on MR from folks who "jumped into the upgrade" without taking the precaution of backing up first. And then.... they got into situations from which they wanted to "go back", and..... couldn't.

At least, they couldn't "down-grade" without a LOT of time and trouble and tribulation.

If you have that cloned backup, this gremlin isn't going to bite you on the behind!

 

[old-wiz]

I forgot to mention in my post that I had two SuperDuper backups of each machine before I upgraded the OS.