[Macworld]

Post your comments for Get your software up-to-date and keep it that way here

[recording]

Sorry to be irritable, but updating past 10.6 means no Rosetta - you can't run PowerPC programs. That point, along with workarounds such as maintaining separate startup disks, really belongs in this article! (In my case it would cost a couple of thousand dollars to update older software I only need to use once in a while.)

It's also worth pointing out to the kind of person who this article is aimed at - probably a casual Mac user who doesn't wear trendy glasses - that software updates can also break things. iOS, sure - that's a very closed system. But on a Mac? I'd be very afraid to recommend that people just update their software reflexively.

[samadore]

No need to trek over to MacUpdate constantly. If you set up a Watchlist there, they'll email you every time your chosen applications are updated. Very handy, especially if, like me, you eschew the Mac App Store.

[ThomasG]

Minor detail Sharon...the " Service and Support Coverage Page" link in the fourth paragraph goes to an ERROR 404 page...please fix.

[brilor]

"No need to trek over to MacUpdate constantly. If you set up a Watchlist there"

Yes, it is part of their desktop service that costs $20/year

[Dr]

I'm glad you remain enthusiastic Sharon!

15 months ago I attempted to upgrade my 2009 iMac G5 (2.93GHz, 8G RAM) to Lion and everything crashed. After gnashing my teeth, I reverted to Snow Leopard.

I have just attempted an upgrade to Mountain Lion and the core Apple applications (software upgrade, Safari, Mail, Photo) are inoperable. I have reinstalled Mountain Lion, repaired permissions, and no improvement.

Am I pleased that I upgraded?

I have a call in for an appointment with AppleCare but expect that I'll have to revert to the stable Snow Leopard.

As an intermediate Mac user for 25 years, these have been the only difficult upgrades I have encountered. What hope would there be for a novice to the Mac who got into difficulties?

[Stempnakowski]

Quote

I'm glad you remain enthusiastic Sharon! 15 months ago I attempted to upgrade my 2009 iMac G5 (2.93GHz, 8G RAM) to Lion and everything crashed.

First, you can't upgrade a iMac G5 to Lion. The G5 is a PPC processor and Lion requires an Intel processor. Second, there is no such thing as a 2009 iMac G5. The 2009 iMacs, the first of which I believe debuted in March, are all Intel Core2 machines. I am using a March 2009 24" iMac right now.

So if you do in fact have a G5 iMac then best bet is roll back to 10.5.8 since Snow Leopard also requires an Intel processor.

[Dr]

Quote

I'm glad you remain enthusiastic Sharon! 15 months ago I attempted to upgrade my 2009 iMac G5 (2.93GHz, 8G RAM) to Lion and everything crashed. First, you can't upgrade a iMac G5 to Lion. The G5 is a PPC processor and Lion requires an Intel processor. Second, there is no such thing as a 2009 iMac G5. The 2009 iMacs, the first of which I believe debuted in March, are all Intel Core2 machines. I am using a March 2009 24" iMac right now. So if you do in fact have a G5 iMac then best bet is roll back to 10.5.8 since Snow Leopard also requires an Intel processor.

[Dr]

Sorry, Stempnakowski. You're quite correct. it is a 24" 2.93GHz Intel Core 2 Duo. (I have had a few iMacs!). The advice from AppleCare was to do a secure erase and reinstall which seems in conflict with the fact that I have just replaced the hard drive with a new one so it would seem illogical and I will probably wind back to SL.

My point is that the attraction of Apple is ease of use and increased productivity for most users. That should be the defining difference from using alternative operating systems.