To Fresh install or not Fresh install?

[hotdwag]

So I've been using the same base image in my MacBook since 2008 (obviously upgrading over time), which has gone to an air, to a pro, and now I've got my hands on a new mbpro (non tb). Every time I either transferred with a cloner or straight Thunderbolt with a resizing of the partition. I've noticed that in verbose there are a lot of read write issues with certain directories... though seems to boot okay. Is it advisable to keep doing this? Or does OS X / macOS tend to get bloated with unnessary files etc over time?

 

[KALLT]

It does become a bit bloated, but for the most part purely in terms of space-usage. Fortunately, since El Capitan, almost all system directories are system-owned and wiped when you upgrade. That leaves you with bloat in the remaining ‘non-system’ locations.

If you are not fussy about having old files somewhere, then there is usually no reason for a clean installation. Only in rare circumstances will it affect your computer performance. Apple still designs the system for continuous upgrade paths.

If you just want to make sure that no old software is installed, you can use EtreCheck to have it list third-party kernel extensions and launch scripts. It can point you to some legacy stuff that you might want to get rid off (though generally not necessary).

 

[robgendreau]

+1 on Etrecheck. Usually it's only flaky software installed by third parties that causes issues. Some ancient kexts for serial adapters were a pain for me. But even then the system is really good at isolating them, and they are very small files.

If you haven't had problems, no reason to erase everything and start over.

 

[Skydoor Blue]

Clean installs are more fun, plus you get that all new clean slate feeling. 'Just make sure you can re-install all the apps / applications you use. The install image has programs such as Safari, FaceTime and Chess, but not Garageband nor Pages.