Snow Leopard

[Erika Epstein]

Just received notification that Snow Leopard is out on Friday.

This will be my first mac OS upgrade and I am wondering what is involved? Do I order it, or wait a month or more? Any tips?

Will I have to upgrade other software?
Go ahead, laugh at the newbie to mac

[Thomas Holm]

Erika,
it seems Apple have learnt some from previous releases, since they're talking about simplified installation etc, but you never know.
- The upgrade from Tiger (10.4) to Leopard (10.5) broke many backs because of new permissions issues.
- The ATI X1600 OpenGL graphics issue that plagued a lot of us Archicad users was introduced with 10.5 and not fixed until 10.5.7.

So: The cautious user waits until Apple releases 10.6.1 before installing. Usually the worst bugs are fixed in this first maintenance release. Typically you'll have to wait a month or so.

If you like, follow Macfixit to see what happens. (But I don't recommend their practice of downgrading parts of system releases when issues arise - that's bound to give you even more problems)

And, if you're using PPC-only software (like MS Office 2004) that needs the PPC emulator Rosetta, you will have to install that consciously with 10.6, it's not automatic anymore.

Archicad 12 isn't certified for Snow Leopard, but should work anyway, AFAIK. I hope AC13 will be tested for it.

[Anonymous]

Personally I would never upgrade my OS shortly after it is out. I kept using Tiger for months after leopard was out. till most of the programs that I use on daily bases confirmed its compatibility with leopard.
In the end of the day.. its cool to have the latest OS. but it is essential to have my programs running !

Have to say its the same with windows ... I remember staying with Win98 for ages after XP was released , the same with XP when "Pizza" was out .. actually many are still preferring XP.

[Ralph Wessel]

Erika wrote:
Just received notification that Snow Leopard is out on Friday.
This will be my first mac OS upgrade and I am wondering what is involved? Do I order it, or wait a month or more? Any tips?
Will I have to upgrade other software?

My experience of Apple's system updates is very positive, but I always take precautionary measures to avoid the possibility of disaster. I wait at least a week to read the experiences of early adopters. Other safety measures include:

• 1) Make a full backup (I use Time Machine, which has rescued me once from a total hard drive failure)
  2) Verify the integrity of your hard drive with Disk Utility
  3) Repair permissions with Disk Utility

Reports I've read indicate excellent compatibility with existing applications. Again, my own experience is that Apple always provides a very smooth upgrade path.

[Eduardo Rolon]

Adding to Ralph's recommendation I would clone my HD to an external hard disk using either carbon copy cloner (free) or SuperDuper! (the one I use) and verify that I can boot from the external before upgrading.

[Rakela Raul]

Go ahead, laugh at the newbie to mac

make it two !! i was wondering the same..thx for asking !!

i made an image using 'disk utility'......hav'g a clone sounds better

[Eduardo Rolon]

The nice thing about a clone with a previous system is that you can choose from which installation to boot from. Even with the point updates I always clone my HD before updating just in case.

[Erika Epstein]

Thank you everyone!

[Rakela Raul]

The nice thing about a clone with a previous system is that you can choose from which installation to boot from. Even with the point updates I always clone my HD before updating just in case.

thx Eduardo / All & Erika !! im going that route now.....the speed offered by snow is too luring

corrected !!

[Eduardo Rolon]

Remember to Boot from the clone to test that it works before installing SL in your main HD.

After testing disconnect your clone from your Mac before installing SL.

Another recommended item is to disconnect all USB and FW devices prior to install (including your TM backUp) just leave your keyboard and mouse.