Apple is suddenly offering a free upgrade to 10.9.2. I am currently running 10.6.8 with no problems. The computer is 5 year old iMac 10.1, 2.06 GHz speed, 4GB memory. Is it a good idea to upgrade, or will it just leave me pissed, the way every update to iOS does?
Mavericks has always been free.
As to whether you should, sounds like you’ve already decided you don’t want it. If you’re happy with the way your computer works right now, then no, don’t upgrade. If you ever change your mind, I’d imagine it will still be free.
Thanks DC. I had no idea it would be free, I feel like I’ve been asked to pay for other upgrades. But I am open to upgrading if there are good reasons to do it–better performance, sticking with the old OS endangers my security, etc.
I upgraded (from 10.6, IIRC) because there were getting to be just too many programs I wanted to run that weren’t supported on older OSes any more. It broke a lot of things I was previously using, though, such as NeoOffice, removed some features such as quick-view of most movie formats, and changed a bunch of settings around for no particular reason, some of which I’m still not sure how to change back (like my desktop background-- I can’t even find the old picture any more). So if you’re not yet running into programs that don’t work any more, I would recommend against it.
Also, I’m reporting this thread for a move to IMHO, since what the OS does might be factual, but whether it’s worth it isn’t.
Some people have had issues with the Mail application upon upgrade. I might read up on that. Me? I upgraded one computer, had no issues, so upgraded the other. It’s not a major cosmetic change. The main thing I notice is the notications center in the upper right corner. I’m not even sure what all the other changes are, as it’s been so seamless for me, personally. Oh, and for my laptop, battery life is better with Mavericks.
Their position on that is actually that all those videos should be converted. They claim that they are not modern formats.
The real reason is that they just took the new 64-bit Quicktime player from iOS, which chose to only support some codecs, mostly due to the hardware support available.
They use this player for preview, and it is not extensible.
If you use multiple monitors, run on battery, or use applications that require Mavericks to update, then upgrade. Mavericks is solid and has many small improvements that will probably outweigh any annoyances you find. It’s at 10.9.2 now, so most of the early bugs have been worked out.
If not then there’s probably no compelling reason to update.
A warning:
I can’t recall which upgrade changed “Save As. . .” to just “Save.” I think it was Lion. Maybe Mountain Lion.
The problem: Every version of every document is saved, so going back to a previous version means jumping through a couple or three hoops to get it, and all those versions sit on the hard drive.
Apple gave in to the zillions of complaints and brought back “Save As…” if the user holds down the Option key, but it’s bogus. It’ll Save As, but it also changes the original anyway, so it’s useless.
Thank Og the free utility Onyx has a setting to delete all those previous versions.
You might have to get into the habit of duping the original, then opening the dupe before saving any changes, thereby leaving the original alone.
Idiots.
You don’t sound like you’re talking about Word… What program/protocol/whatever are you talking about?
A question from me unanswered from another thread on the subject: is it significant that I can’t update to the latest Java or Quicktime plugin versions because I’m still on 10.6? The only program I use now that I wouldn’t be able to use under Mavericks is Office, but I’m a little reluctant to upgrade for fear of losing functionality I’m used to, and the “if it ain’t broke” thing.
I installed Mavericks and had some really bad conflicts with Adobe applications, especially Photoshop and Illustrator. After trying everything else, I finally re-installed Mavericks, and everything’s ok now.
Apple’s apps, including Pages and TextEdit, the Pixelmator photo-editing app (which isn’t an Apple app) and others that I don’t have. **This story ** contains a better explanation.
I nuked Java (not JavaScript to any who might confuse them) after the kerfuffle about it being used to plant malware. I never needed Java, however. And I’ve never used Word (I used QuarkXpress as a word processor), so I can’t help with your other questions:
Java is unfortunately one of the worst when it comes to needing its security updates. It’s so bad that Java now has a built-in sandbox (in addition to the virtual machine) and prompts you to allow you to run, and freaks out if you’re using an older version. The good news is that most people don’t need it. I’d suggest turning it off in your browser, at least, turning it on only in the very rare times that you’ll need it.
QuickTime, I’ve never really heard of any problems with. I do know that the 10.9 QuickTime is a completely different program, but there’s still 10.7 and 10.8 in between that and what you use.
You’d probably be able to get around actually using Quicktime if you wanted, using some open source alternative. You’d still keep Quicktime installed, but a different program would be handling your videos in your browser. But I’m not sure you need to bother.
Plus, again, while needing QuickTime is more common than needing Java, it’s still not all that common. Most people use Flash or HTML5 for video. (Safari may use Quicktime to play HTML5 video–I’m not sure. But I’m pretty sure Chrome won’t, and even more sure with Firefox.)
I installed OSX Mavericks a while back and it takes forever to do anything on my Macbook White 2010. (Though the laptop has always been flaky with battery charging and running off the powercord)
Before that, things worked fine unless I used DOSBox and with that, things would stutter once in a while.
When they’re system-name-change upgrades, I do clean installs. Those I know who install the upgrade over the old system seem to have problems.
I did the upgrade from Mountain Lion and haven’t had any issues at all. Frankly, I didn’t really notice any difference at all, but I’m on a relatively new MBP (mid-2012 non-Retina). I suppose going straight to 10.9 from a few OS’s back on an older machine could be a much bigger change.
Other than name-change upgrades, which do the same thing anyway, I prefer to go to Apple’s support site, download the upgrade and install it myself, rather than use Software Update under the menu-bar apple. If something goes wrong, it’s easier and faster to do it over.
Way, waaay better.
I am on Snow Leopard (OS 10.6) on my work iMac and will remain there until my most crucial apps break, which I hope won’t be for a long time. IMHO, that was Apple’s best OS system ever; it works perfectly for my needs, and subsequent OSes have offered nothing so compelling that I’ve felt I had to upgrade.
On the other hand, they’ve offered many disincentives. The Save As fiasco was the first (though it has since been fixed, and doesn’t cause me any grief now). But as someone else mentioned, there have been many reports of Apple Mail being hosed in one way or another in Mavericks, so I would tread carefully there if you use it.
By far the biggest issue, though, is the supposed “upgrade” to the iWork suite (Pages, Keynote, Numbers). I’ve outlined this before, but as a public service, I’ll do it again. Read carefully if you use any of these programs:
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This “upgrade” has actually stripped out over 100 documented features of the previous version of Pages. In other words, there are over 100 things you used to be able to do that you can no longer do.
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If you upgrade to the new version of Pages and open a document in it that you had previously created in the older version…
[ul]
[li]Any parts of that document you created using one of the 100 features that have been trashed will not appear[/li][li]You will never be able to open this document in the old version of Pages again. Not ever. In other words, real data that you created has been permanently destroyed.[/li][/ul]
Thanks, Apple! The reason this was ostensibly done was to make these new versions of the iWork suite compatible with their counterparts on iOS. Which is another very good reason not to upgrade the iWork Suite on your iPhone or iPad either. Again, let’s say you create a document in the old Pages, move it in Dropbox, and then open it in the new version on your iPad. Once again, it’s permanently tied to the new version, and will no longer open on your Mac in the old one. Once again, data destroyed.
Sorry to rant about this, but Apple’s actions over the last few years have turned me from a fervent Apple evangelist of 25+ years into a total cynic.
If you want to take a chance, go ahead and upgrade. But if any of the above relates to things you do on your Mac, run as fast as you can in the opposite direction.
Yeah. Now Apple is only the lesser of two evils; three, counting Linux.
Before you upgrade, make sure there are no older PPC apps you count on that lack an intel version: 10.7 killed Rosetta, so those older apps will not run at all. Alternatively, I believe you can still install 10.6 on an external drive (FW will work better for this than USB) if you think you might want to boot into it.