Mac OS stability

MikeT · Mar 9, 2007

Throughout the week where I work I will have to reboot my Windows OS a minimum of 2 times. How stable is the MAC Tiger operating system? Does it require reboots or is it stable enough to not need these reboots?

My brother uses Linux and he leaves his computer on continuously without rebooting it and it seems to have no problems. What has been your experience?

Martin. · Mar 9, 2007

i leave my computer on constantly and just sleep it when i go away or whatever and i never reboot it unless installing an update needs a reboot.

Mac OS is very stable and you wont have to reboot just because the computer is getting slow (or whatever windows problem you have)

TOYOTA · Mar 9, 2007

No, you will not have to reboot that often. I have never 'needed' to reboot, I just do every once in a while, or if I'm going out of town for the weekend, etc.

todd51 · Mar 9, 2007

The only time I usually reboot is if I have to becuase of a software update. Mac OS X is extremely stable, I either let it sleep, or log out whenever I'm not around.

Jonnyfive · Mar 9, 2007

Honestly, I can't remember the last time I rebooted my MacBook... I just close the lid which puts it to sleep in about 5 seconds or less and then when I want to use it again I open the lid and in about 3 seconds it is up and ready to go, just as perky and fast as it was the first time I turned it on.

The stability of the OS X is probably the main reason why I love Macs so much.

todd51 · Mar 9, 2007

I especially like how if an application isn't responding (which doesn't happen at all), if you choose Force Quit, it literally closes it IMMEDIATELY, unlike Windows, where it takes like 10 minutes for it to finally terminate the process.

voiceofra · Mar 9, 2007

The only time I've rebooted is when a software update required it or I've powered down because I'm taking it with me somewhere.

nukemm · Mar 9, 2007

I reboot only to bounce between Windows and Mac OS X (Windows for gaming, Mac OS for everything else), but aside from that my MBP stays on or sleeping all of the time. My Mini just had an uptime of 39 days, and I had to shut it down to move it from one desk to another.

BIG D 04 · Mar 9, 2007

Like the others have said I only Sleep it, I've never had to Reboot it but I have had the Applications Crash. I suppose the main benefit I have seen is that if a Program/App is not responding then it doesn't have a snowball effect on everything else.

So you can still operate everything else except the program and then just Force Quit and it's sorted. The main problem I had with Windows is if an Application stopped responding It would often force the rest into a Snowball effect and then I would have to reboot but that is avoided in OSX.

iWish · Mar 9, 2007

Okay, I hate to rain on everybody's parade here, but I've had to reboot for one more reason than a software update or if I've been out of town. Have any of you ever had a window appear, on a translucent background identical to that of Dashboard, that tells you that you have to immediately shut down your computer? I've read someone compare it to the Windows "blue screen of death", the only difference being that it looks nice and less ominous. Whenever it's appeared, I've had no choice but to hold my power button and force my Mini to shut down.

I only see this window once every couple of months on average, and if I recall correctly it's happened mostly when problems with peripherals are detected, like my external HD. Actually, I have no way of pinpointing exactly why this has happened to me over a half-dozen times in nearly two years.

So sorry, Macs DO have their instability issues like every other OS, but when I compare this with my past Windows experiences, my Mac issues are a mere drop in the bucket. You couldn't give me a Windows computer without me selling it and buying a Mac instead. But I just wanted to give you a reality check about Macs - they aren't perfect, but they're close.

nukemm · Mar 9, 2007

Never had the crazy screen.

walkerj · Mar 9, 2007

iWish said:
Okay, I hate to rain on everybody's parade here, but I've had to reboot for one more reason than a software update or if I've been out of town. Have any of you ever had a window appear, on a translucent background identical to that of Dashboard, that tells you that you have to immediately shut down your computer? I've read someone compare it to the Windows "blue screen of death", the only difference being that it looks nice and less ominous. Whenever it's appeared, I've had no choice but to hold my power button and force my Mini to shut down.

That's a Kernel Panic, and I had one of them with my Macbook just today. It's the second one I've had so far, but they've been spaced about a month apart. If I have another one, I'll probably take it to Apple and have them look at it.

My Mini, however, never had a Kernel Panic so it depends on the Mac. Kernel Panics usually mean that something is wrong somewhere with the hardware, which can happen with any computer.

When there's nothing wrong with the hardware Macs tend to be much more stable than Windows machines.

DubeDude · Mar 10, 2007

iWish said:
Okay, I hate to rain on everybody's parade here, but I've had to reboot for one more reason than a software update or if I've been out of town. Have any of you ever had a window appear, on a translucent background identical to that of Dashboard, that tells you that you have to immediately shut down your computer? I've read someone compare it to the Windows "blue screen of death", the only difference being that it looks nice and less ominous. Whenever it's appeared, I've had no choice but to hold my power button and force my Mini to shut down.

I only see this window once every couple of months on average, and if I recall correctly it's happened mostly when problems with peripherals are detected, like my external HD. Actually, I have no way of pinpointing exactly why this has happened to me over a half-dozen times in nearly two years.

So sorry, Macs DO have their instability issues like every other OS, but when I compare this with my past Windows experiences, my Mac issues are a mere drop in the bucket. You couldn't give me a Windows computer without me selling it and buying a Mac instead. But I just wanted to give you a reality check about Macs - they aren't perfect, but they're close.

Hi,

You are experiencing Kernal Panics. I get them too. There are a number of causes but the most common one is using a machine-specific OS on another machine. That is the cause in my case; I am using the system disks from my laptop on my G4 desktop. Needless to say I do not get kernal panics on my laptop. The problem is that I want my laptop and my desktop synchronized so that I can move seamlessly between the machines. Obviously a better way to do this is to install a generic OS on both machines but I haven't got around to that. I am still using Panther (because it is so stable) and I have looked at buying a generic system (let me recommend 'applerescue.me' for cheap system disks.) But the panics don't bother me too much. I simply restart my machine and life goes on.

I have to say that there is always a cause for kernal panics and other Mac system glitches but otherwise they are incredibly stable.

David

Seraphic · Mar 10, 2007

I work with PCs day in day out and have done so for many years now - but I choose to use an iMac at home. The only time I've had kernel panic is when I had a slightly dodgy usb hub installed - changed that and its been rock solid ever since. Simply awesome operating system.

slashjunior · Mar 10, 2007

todd51 said:
I especially like how if an application isn't responding (which doesn't happen at all), if you choose Force Quit, it literally closes it IMMEDIATELY, unlike Windows, where it takes like 10 minutes for it to finally terminate the process.

I would agree with that entirely apart from it "doesn't happen at all". Don't kid yourself, it DOES happen just not very frequently. However, it does close straight away which is a nice touch. This is one thing I hate about Windows, when something just wouldn't close until after about 10 minutes.

I personally never leave my MacBook on or my desktop PC. My fiance thinks it is unnecessary use of electricity, plus I want to try to prolong the life of my computers. However, on my dad's XP machine at my previous address we left that on 24/7 and that could literally go weeks without a reboot, no kidding. Admittedly, it wasn't used very much, it was just left on because the computer needed to be left on to be connected to the internet. All my dad used it for was surfing the net and syncing his iPod. Pretty sure that the Mac could do the same depending on what you are using it for.

Audio.Trench · Mar 10, 2007

Restarting? Seriously? What's that? I only restart for system updates and/or kernel panics (which I don't get too many of).

My Mac is so smart that it puts itself to sleep when it's tired

TOYOTA · Mar 10, 2007

walkerj said:
A Kernel Panic

I've never had one in two years.

MikeT · Mar 10, 2007

OK, I'm still new so........ What is this "put itself to sleep" thing? Mind you I haven't gottem my mac yet so all I have to compare it to is my wiindows machine. In Win2k, I can set the screen saver to kick in at anytime I want, then turn off the monitor and HD to conserve power. Is this what the mack does in a sleep mode? Is this something that you can set to do at various times of idleness??

slashjunior · Mar 11, 2007

MikeT said:
OK, I'm still new so........ What is this "put itself to sleep" thing? Mind you I haven't gottem my mac yet so all I have to compare it to is my wiindows machine. In Win2k, I can set the screen saver to kick in at anytime I want, then turn off the monitor and HD to conserve power. Is this what the mack does in a sleep mode? Is this something that you can set to do at various times of idleness??

You can do it the way you explained by simply leaving it. By default I think it puts itself to sleep after like 20 minutes. Another way if you have a laptop is to simply close the screen, the Apple logo on top will remain illuminated for a couple of seconds then it will turn off, opening the display again will put you back to where you are in a matter of seconds.

You could also press the power button once and it will come up with the option to goto sleep. Or you could select the Apple logo from the menu bar (the one at the top

) and select sleep.

Sleeping helps save the hardware such as the hard disc and the monitor without the need of having to turn it off completely and reboot. My MacBook though literally takes 20 seconds to boot completely, I can usually wait that long so I don't feel the need to leave it in sleep!

Brendan · Mar 11, 2007

Are there many errors when running OS X? What about programs not responding. How often does this occur? I too am curious how stable they are.

KP's don't worry me too much.

Mac OS stability

MikeT

Martin.

TOYOTA

todd51

Guest

Jonnyfive

todd51

Guest

voiceofra

nukemm

BIG D 04

iWish

nukemm

walkerj

DubeDude

Seraphic

slashjunior

Audio.Trench

TOYOTA

MikeT

slashjunior

Brendan

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