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Should I upgrade???

rfenik

rfenik

macrumors regular
Original poster
Oct 28, 2003
110
0
I have a brand new 12" 867 powerbook, 640 megs of ram, 60 gig hard drive, airport extreme, with 10.2 (jag), works great. Lovin' it.

I get a student discount so panther will only be $69. I have Keynote, photoshop, indesign, illustrator, microsoft office, and macromedia studio installed - and a ton of songs. A bunch of fonts ... And a lot of homework that i cannot lose.

I don't want to have to format my hard drive or risk losing my stuff - and want the downtime to be as small as possible cause I use this for homework (very important stuff!). I want the new features tho.... especially espose.

My computer works great and i don't want to mess it up. I absoulutely cannot lose my homework - so i suppose i can burn it to a CD to backup... And i don't want to have to reinstall on my programs.

Has anyone had any problems with panther? Any reasons why I should not upgrade? How is the installation - do you just pop the CD in and it just handles itself? Does it overwrite things? Will my settings be changed? I want my computer exactly how it is but with new features.

How should i go about doing this if i choose to upgrade?

Someone should make a website or something on the best way to upgrade. A failproof way to keep all the old stuff but get all the new stuff. With screen shots of every step....

I'm an Ex Windows user so i'm still not used to my computer taking care of itself. When i use my mac it always seems too easy.
I like the automatic software upgrades that it does... wish that i could upgrade to panther using that instead of putting in the cd and installing that.

Thanks

-ryan
 
I just upgraded last night, and it was totally painless. Before the upgrade, you should backup all your documents to CD and to your schools server (you should do this regularly anyway). Then backup all your music in iTunes by choosing data CD from the burning preference pane. Copy your whole library to a playlist and choose burn. It will automatically make multiple discs for you.

Once you start the upgrade process, panther will prompt you to choose an upgrade or a format and fresh install. The upgrade will leave all of your settings and programs alone. However, I can never recommend running your system on an upgrade. Full installs are far more stable. If you have the CD's for your programs, just do a format and full install, then install all your software. This process took me about four hours, but it was totally worth it. After panther, my xBench went from 63 to 76!

One more thing, write down your mail and network settings, just in case. Panther automatically configured my cable modem and my printer, but I had to set-up mail the old fashioned way. Good luck.
 
Still thinking about it. I'm too busy to deal with possible problems... plus i could do a lot more with $70... i'll wait until i find a copy on ebay for $20 or something.

Thanks
 
I've installed panther on three computers in the last week, and I experienced zero problems. The install seems to be flawless, stable, and simple. Apple software is always very high quality. You only have to worry about the unexpected when your using windows or something, where random things happen for no reason. But I think this OS update is seamless.

I would only have questions if you where using an older computer, which your not. So I have no doubt of anything. If I was you, and I even had my life savings digitized I still wouldn't hesitate a bit.
 
One More Thing...

An upgrade is more that adaquite. The idea of a format and install seems to sound more clean and neat, but that idea is someting that's came over from the windows world, where an erase and install was the only way to cleanse your system every six months (which it always desperately needed). Unless you have installed advanced programs that have modified the system, a fresh install will not increase stability. Your system folder remain prinstinely untouched if all you do is install programs that mind there own business (like the ones you mensioned).
 
Ok, i'm getting convinced - i may go to the bookstore tomarrow and get it. It'll be a while 'til the prices drop on ebay - plus getting 'new' stuff is always great.

I don't think i'm going to format my hard drive and install - seems like too much of a hassle. When i get it i will do the upgrade option.

Just one more question tho, regarding the upgrade...

Does it overwrite your system folder and replace it with the new one or does it put it in a new folder like the OS9 system folder? Can you run jaguar on panther (like the classic window)?

Thanks for your opinions so far

-ryan
 
Panther replaces Jaguar in an "upgrade" installation, and this is a good thing; it's a far better OS.
If your Mac can officially run Panther, There's little doubt that you should install it immediately.

Backup your important files, disable third-party startup programs/utilities, repair permissions and check your HDD for problems before doing the upgrade.
Repair permissions again after upgrading.
 
I have a brand new 12" powerbook 1ghz, usb 2. I did an upgrade to panther and my computer was really slow, I did a clean install and my computer was very fast, Backup your data first, reguardless of your installation chose.
 
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