Apple's latest update to OS X is called Mavericks. No - it's not the name of a big cat, but the name of a surfing location off the coast of California - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mavericks_%28location%29
So far upgrades seem to have been easy enough, though there have been some reports of hopefully isolated problems with mail - http://www.theregister.co.uk/2013/10...infinite_spam/
Whether iWorks will get upgraded at the same time as the OS might be of interest to some. **
If there's an all or nothing situation, with it not possible to leave iWorks untouched, then some users might be unhappy - see http://fireballed.org/linked/2013/10...k-applescript/ This review of Pages is more positive, but points out some problems - http://mac.appstorm.net/reviews/offi...ord-processor/ The complaints about iWorks seem to apply for users who have previously used Applescript, and also there seems to be a view that the apps Pages, Numbers and Keynote are more like the ones on iOS devices. Re Applescript, fairly few users will have been using this, but those who did may have been relying on that for some more powerful operations, and this update could disrupt their activities.
Personally I have never liked Numbers much, either on the desktop or on iPads, and Pages on iPads is somewhat restricted, though bearable on a desktop. Keynote was a presentation tool, with some flair, though again I didn't use it much. Some users liked it quite a lot. The latest update seemingly downgrades all of these apps to something less powerful. Professional users will probably be using Microsoft office anyway, and have little choice but to continue to do so for compatibility reasons. Personally in the last year I have found OpenOffice and LibreOffice to be better tools for word processing.
There seems to be more convergence between iOS and OS X - it's too early for me to say whether this is a good thing or even acceptable. Again, personally I have long thought that some features of iOS which many seem to like, are in fact really poor. The lack of a sensible file system in iOS is simply pathetic, and it may not have changed with the latest "updates". One iOS feature I do like is the ability to easily email pages from within Safari. It is possible to do this with most browsers in OS X, but each browser needs to be treated individually.
It may be that the new desktop OS is in fact acceptable, but anyone who is concerned about this might want to wait a while until things settle down.
I was thinking of updating one of my machines to see how things go, but writing this is now making me think I should wait quite a while before doing so. I still haven't updated one of my machines - which is still running Snow Leopard - because I've got software which I still use which won't run on later versions of the OS. Having said that, I find that Lion and Mountain Lion work rather well for me - apart from just a few software packages. In the meantime I am investigating running Snow Leopard in a virtual machine environment, which I think is possible, but may be somewhat involved.
Anyone who wants to update more than one machine might find it useful to make a USB stick with the OS on - see http://arstechnica.com/apple/2013/10...install-drive/ The new OS is a 5 Gbyte download, so it won't fit on a CD, or even a DVD, but it will go on a portable hard drive or an 8Gbyte or larger USB stick.
During the installation process, one has to intercept the downloaded file(s), otherwise it/they will be deleted as the installation completes. Keep the dmg files.
Users on a very fast network (typically in an organisation - say up to 100 Mbps and above with a very high speed connection to the Internet) may be able to download the file(s) in under 15 minutes, but users on 4 Mbps ADSL may find the download takes hours, so it's definitely worth trying to intercept the install file(s).
As I've not done this yet, I don't know whether the installation is one or more files.
** PS: I have been informed that for anyone really concerned about retaining iWorks, it is possible to ensure that the earlier installed version is saved in a folder during the installation process. It might be necessary to be careful when installing to make sure that this happens.
So far upgrades seem to have been easy enough, though there have been some reports of hopefully isolated problems with mail - http://www.theregister.co.uk/2013/10...infinite_spam/
Whether iWorks will get upgraded at the same time as the OS might be of interest to some. **
If there's an all or nothing situation, with it not possible to leave iWorks untouched, then some users might be unhappy - see http://fireballed.org/linked/2013/10...k-applescript/ This review of Pages is more positive, but points out some problems - http://mac.appstorm.net/reviews/offi...ord-processor/ The complaints about iWorks seem to apply for users who have previously used Applescript, and also there seems to be a view that the apps Pages, Numbers and Keynote are more like the ones on iOS devices. Re Applescript, fairly few users will have been using this, but those who did may have been relying on that for some more powerful operations, and this update could disrupt their activities.
Personally I have never liked Numbers much, either on the desktop or on iPads, and Pages on iPads is somewhat restricted, though bearable on a desktop. Keynote was a presentation tool, with some flair, though again I didn't use it much. Some users liked it quite a lot. The latest update seemingly downgrades all of these apps to something less powerful. Professional users will probably be using Microsoft office anyway, and have little choice but to continue to do so for compatibility reasons. Personally in the last year I have found OpenOffice and LibreOffice to be better tools for word processing.
There seems to be more convergence between iOS and OS X - it's too early for me to say whether this is a good thing or even acceptable. Again, personally I have long thought that some features of iOS which many seem to like, are in fact really poor. The lack of a sensible file system in iOS is simply pathetic, and it may not have changed with the latest "updates". One iOS feature I do like is the ability to easily email pages from within Safari. It is possible to do this with most browsers in OS X, but each browser needs to be treated individually.
It may be that the new desktop OS is in fact acceptable, but anyone who is concerned about this might want to wait a while until things settle down.
I was thinking of updating one of my machines to see how things go, but writing this is now making me think I should wait quite a while before doing so. I still haven't updated one of my machines - which is still running Snow Leopard - because I've got software which I still use which won't run on later versions of the OS. Having said that, I find that Lion and Mountain Lion work rather well for me - apart from just a few software packages. In the meantime I am investigating running Snow Leopard in a virtual machine environment, which I think is possible, but may be somewhat involved.
Anyone who wants to update more than one machine might find it useful to make a USB stick with the OS on - see http://arstechnica.com/apple/2013/10...install-drive/ The new OS is a 5 Gbyte download, so it won't fit on a CD, or even a DVD, but it will go on a portable hard drive or an 8Gbyte or larger USB stick.
During the installation process, one has to intercept the downloaded file(s), otherwise it/they will be deleted as the installation completes. Keep the dmg files.
Users on a very fast network (typically in an organisation - say up to 100 Mbps and above with a very high speed connection to the Internet) may be able to download the file(s) in under 15 minutes, but users on 4 Mbps ADSL may find the download takes hours, so it's definitely worth trying to intercept the install file(s).
As I've not done this yet, I don't know whether the installation is one or more files.
** PS: I have been informed that for anyone really concerned about retaining iWorks, it is possible to ensure that the earlier installed version is saved in a folder during the installation process. It might be necessary to be careful when installing to make sure that this happens.
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