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Sleep or Shutdown?

How do you leave your Air for periods of inactivity?

  • Sleep Mode

    Votes: 146 78.9%

  • Shut Down

    Votes: 39 21.1%
  • Total voters
    185
When I had my MBP, I would go 2-3 weeks without restarting or shutting down because it would take about a minute to turn on and finally load. My with MBA I will shut down every night because start up is only about 15 seconds. Throughout the day I will keep it in sleep mode.
 
so.....Windows PC needs to be shut down regularly but OsX mac is okay to not shut down at all?
Anyone care to explain the reasoning behind this?
Thanks
 
dtbadsjw said:
so.....Windows PC needs to be shut down regularly but OsX mac is okay to not shut down at all?
Anyone care to explain the reasoning behind this?
Thanks
Click to expand...

Um......from a few posts up:

Queen6 said:
I just shut down my MacBook Pro 4.1 2.4Ghz Penryn last week, outside of the odd restart from Apple, this is the first time the machine has been fully off since 2008 :eek: there is no need to shut down your Mac, and there is absolutely no benefit. OS X performs routine self maintenance, if you shut the computer down the system wont complete the tasks, if you sleep the OS will run the routine's on the next wake up - it`s time to let go of Windows ;)

And the Penryn, well having more than earned it`s dues, it now moves to the standby system, with the new Air being primary, well until Apple release a Pro that is designed to run SSD from the ground up :apple:
Click to expand...
 
dtbadsjw said:
so.....Windows PC needs to be shut down regularly but OsX mac is okay to not shut down at all?
Anyone care to explain the reasoning behind this?
Thanks
Click to expand...

People are just reporting their experiences with Windows--I don't know really since I've used Windows in several years. So I'll just report on OSX and you should never need to shut OSX down except for updates that require it. Sure it can crash but for most people where their system is running properly, there is no need unless you want to. I have never had any noticeable degraded performance from not shutting down.
 
Last edited:
dtbadsjw said:
so.....Windows PC needs to be shut down regularly but OsX mac is okay to not shut down at all?
Anyone care to explain the reasoning behind this?
Thanks
Click to expand...

Well, I am not sure about OS X, but my experience with Windows is that the longer the system is up, the more the performance degrades over time. Not sure if it is due to the OS itself or some applications that are causing memory leakage, but in any case a regular reboot always kept my Windows systems happy. I have to say this has been less of an issue since Windows 7. Win7 has been very solid for me, so it is more of a habit from the 2000/XP days.
 
ZBoater said:
Well, I am not sure about OS X, but my experience with Windows is that the longer the system is up, the more the performance degrades over time. Not sure if it is due to the OS itself or some applications that are causing memory leakage, but in any case a regular reboot always kept my Windows systems happy. I have to say this has been less of an issue since Windows 7. Win7 has been very solid for me, so it is more of a habit from the 2000/XP days.
Click to expand...

OS X is not Windows, and being Unix based far more stable by several magnitudes, your restarts only serve to make you feel better, OS X is literally lightyears ahead of Windows 7 at the base level. My wife has to restart her Windows 7 system more times in one week, than I have to in a year with my OS X systems, her use is casual browsing, mail, Skype, QQ mine is bringing in the $$$, if shutting down and restarting was of any benefit I would be on it ;)

11.6 McBook air is on the way for my wife, and the Windows notebook will be donated to a good home, Windows 7 is not a bad OS by any means, OS X is just so much better :apple:
 
Sleep always. Even before I switched to Mac from Windows (which was several years ago), I always used to put my laptops in sleep mode, rather than shutting them down.
 
Throughout the day, I will usually put my computer to sleep between classes, when I'm back at my dorm, etc.

I only shut it down at night when I go to sleep as I like to start fresh in the morning the next day. Yes it probably /isn't/ necessary, but that's just me.
 
Since I got my 11" MacBook Air end of october last year I never shut it down, except when I went on holiday for three weeks :)
 
VMMan said:
If I'm going to be inactive for more than 15 minutes, I shut down. Shut downs and restarts are so zippy on MBAs.
Click to expand...

Complete waste of time mate, I really can't fathom why you do this. Seriously, break the habit, that kind of usage is a relic of computers past. You'll be telling me you only do full charge/discharge battery cycles next!
 
yegon said:
Complete waste of time mate, I really can't fathom why you do this. Seriously, break the habit, that kind of usage is a relic of computers past. You'll be telling me you only do full charge/discharge battery cycles next!
Click to expand...

LOL!!!! I laugh because I do sooooo many things like this.... :D
 
sleep if i am going to use it the next day. shut down if i'm not gonna use it for 2-3 days
 
ZBoater said:
LOL!!!! I laugh because I do sooooo many things like this.... :D
Click to expand...

Haha!

I know someone who still does the full battery thing with his mbp, bought the same week as me in late '08. His battery health is about 70%/500 cycles. I charge mine with zero special methods, 92%...500 cycles, heh.
 
yegon said:
Haha!

I know someone who still does the full battery thing with his mbp, bought the same week as me in late '08. His battery health is about 70%/500 cycles. I charge mine with zero special methods, 92%...500 cycles, heh.
Click to expand...
Seems like you and your mate are on the same... Cycle! *buh dum pshhh*
 
iphonsteve4ajob said:
LOLL! Had to read it 3 times. :p

----------



92% 500 cycles? Not bad!
Click to expand...

Yeah, can still get about 3+ hours out of it, although it's permanently plugged in these days. I love my swanky new mba, but on the rare occasion I use my old mbp unplugged I do find the heft of it quite pleasing. Probably the best computer I've ever owned in terms of reliability given it's been hammered for 3 years now. Did a lot of windows gaming on it with the 9600 in the first year I had it, amazing that it survived without melting and is still going strong.
 
Shut down for me, in sleep it drains the battery for me. Is this normal by the way?
 
yegon said:
Complete waste of time mate, I really can't fathom why you do this. Seriously, break the habit, that kind of usage is a relic of computers past. You'll be telling me you only do full charge/discharge battery cycles next!
Click to expand...

Even though I accept that OS X doesn't require regular "maintenance" restarts like with my Windows experience, if I don't shut down, the idea of the MBA still drawing and wasting power bothers me.

I guess I just don't like the idea of wasting resources. "Don't waste any food on your plate, don't leave the lights on, make sure the faucets aren't dripping", etc.
 
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