Traditionally, I've always been an early adopter. As soon as new updates were available, within hours, were installed on my computer. Today I am still happily running OS Lion and I see no reason to update to mountain lion in the near future. So why is my response to mountain lion (ML) was different for Snow Leopard and Lion (and before Leopard and Tiger)? Not that I think that the lion is the last operating system and I don t have problems with ML, but for me, it's a balancing act between benefits and risks of upgrading.
What appeals to me in mountain lion
Despite ML over 200 new features listed, I suspect, like many others, there is a limited number of features out that 200 that tempt me to upgrade.
For me, the standout new feature is the ability to automatically back up more than 1 in time machine. Being paranoid about backups means that shuffled between 3 backup on my desk (plus a cloud service for important data) and an additional offsite backup. Having ML alternate between backups automatically like a lot to me and it is worth the paltry update fee $ 20.99 per se.
Similarly, ML's growing convergence between appeals OS and iOs. On the other hand, not being a social media junkie, nothing to do with Facebook or Twitter doesn't mean much to me. There is also a number of other features that I think I do not force users to pass.
Despite the low cost of upgrading all my Mac to ML and the undoubted appeal to some of the new features, because I'm still using Lion?
I dislike going to ML
Your hands if the moves of Snow Leopard and Lion were seamless transitions. So that's three of you. The rest of you can remember:
- hardware compatibility problems. Remember that the driver for my wireless modem is not updated for long periods and having to put together some weird patch to connect to the internet. Sorting out what was happening she took too long and I was offline until I worked around the problem;
- bug that meant that "just worked" previously, is no longer "just work". While updates are issued reasonably quickly, once again, too much time was consumed by me working out what was going on and trying to fix hadn't broken;
- the time spent running a fresh installation. While Apple seems to do it better than anyone else, doing updates over a number of machines is that require time and a distraction to do the things you want to do; and
- third-party programs do not work properly (if at all) to long (ish) periods of time. While the Apple software is ready for the latest iteration of the operating system before it is released, there are software companies for those who say the most recent update of the operating system is not a priority. As a consultant, I rely on Mindjet to collect all my thoughts and plan what will I do and when I'll do it (more on this program at a different time). If I was able to access files that I created with this program, I am in trouble. There is now updated software Mindmanager that ML compatible but I want to know that is stable before you even consider a move. When it came to rely on programs like Mindmanager for your work and will not run on your machine "updated", a spare machine, running the old software, may be the best option (or only).
A quick review of Mac OS sub forum suggests that at least some users are having similar problems in their update for ML that I faced in upgrading to Snow Leopard and Lion.
Therefore, beyond the frustrations of previous updates, there is one more reason why I am reluctant to change. In a family of 5, we have several Mac-some relatively new and some not so new. I'm running Leo but 2 are incompatible with ML. Despite these 2 age machines work well to what I'm used to and there is no compelling case for updating. As the official support desk for all machines at home, having all look and work the same (well apart from some of the gestures) just makes my life easier.
The lion will run until my dying day?
As they gathered, my problem is not with ML, is the upgrade experience-especially with hardware and third-party software. At some point, I'll bite the bullet and upgrade to ML and the timing of any move will be influenced by:
- enough time, after spending for all major bugs be identified and addressed;
- sufficient willingness to time after passing for hardware vendors and third party software to support ML. Additional time will be required for their inevitable bugs to be identified and addressed;
- old Macs in our House might need to be replaced – thus eliminating the issues around maintaining several generations of OS; and
- the inverse of the current situation will arise at the end and earlier versions of the operating system will not be as actively supported by third-party vendors.
Conclusion
For all my quibbles, I'm sure ML is a OS better than Lion and $ 20.99 looks great value. It's just that for me, at this moment, the Lion is a mature and stable system that handles everything I want. The effort and risk associated with upgrading to ML exceed marginal benefits that I currently offers.
About the author
Damon Clarke is old enough to remember punch cards still young enough to be the help desk for a family of young experts TEC. He operates a leading Consulting, a Melbourne-based business consultancy and has a strong interest in developing technologies and their impact on society and the environment. He can be contacted at damon@leadingconsulting.com.au