What's Yosemite all about?

[usingmac]

I've been told that at my school they will be installing 10.7 soon on all our laptops. What's involved in this i.e. how much of a headache might this cause? Is it going to wipe out stuff?

I've also been told by an IT person that since our network was recently changed (not sure in what way) this is the cause for problems with kids' classroom laptops constantly dropping the wifi. I was told to upgrade to Yosemite but I'm confused. Why is it free? Is it not a real OS like 10.7, which is going to cost us a lot of money? How will it fix our connection problem, and why cant we stay with it rather than eventually having to switch to 10.7?

 

[Raz0rEdge]

10.7 is OS X Lion and is now at least 3 releases older than the latest. 10.8 is Mountain Lion and was a $19.99 purchase. 10.9 is Mavericks and the first time that an OS X upgrade (not a point update) was made available at no charge. 10.10 is Yosemite and continues that free OS upgrade path.

These full upgrades of OS X. Read more about it here: https://www.apple.com/osx/

 

[usingmac]

Thanks but I don't think you answered my questions.

 

[RadDave]

Thanks but I don't think you answered my questions.

Well, a little respect might help - just saying?

Raz..Edge gave you a concise review of the evolution of OS X - and you seem somewhat confused, i.e. you state that an upgrade to 10.7 is about to be done (an old OS X version) and then bring up the issue of Yosemite - do you understand the differences?

Also, if indeed you are only upgrading to OS X 10.7, then regardless backup of you computers is essential to restore to the new OS whatever the version.

Finally, concerning your final questions - Apple has decided to offer Yosemite for FREE, just their decision so why worry or complain?

The problem(s) w/ your Wi-Fi connection is best answered by your IT people - they are the experts for your local network and can best address your issues. Dave

 

[pigoo3]

I've also been told by an IT person that since our network was recently changed (not sure in what way) this is the cause for problems with kids' classroom laptops constantly dropping the wifi. I was told to upgrade to Yosemite but I'm confused. Why is it free? Is it not a real OS like 10.7, which is going to cost us a lot of money? How will it fix our connection problem, and why cant we stay with it rather than eventually having to switch to 10.7?

If you've been told you will be upgrading to OS 10.7 (Lion)...why are you even asking about Yosemite which is THREE OS version newer (10.10)???

Of course Yosemite is a "real OS" version just like Yosemite. Yosemite is newer & free. Regarding the "cost us a lot of money part". OS 10.7 is $19.99. How would you like to pay $129.95 which is what the cost of OS 10.5 was when Apple sold it?? $19.99 is a BARGAIN!!!

And by the way...have you priced how much Windows OS upgrades are??

As far as solving the "connection problem". You need to contact the schools IT department about this.

Again...if you are supposed to be upgrading to OS 10.7...I'm not really sure why you are asking about OS 10.10 (Yosemite). Who told you to upgrade to Yosemite?? The schools IT department...or just some person not associated with the school??

If the school said to upgrade to 10.7...then you gotta do what the school says. And if that is Lion...then you got to do Lion...not Yosemite.

- Nick

 

[Exodist]

Its likely the OP didn't know what Yosemite was version 10.10 and he/she was under the understanding their systems were being upgraded to the next version. They assumed that was Yosemite, not Lion. It is very likely the school is staying a few versions behind for two reasons, one may be hardware/software limitations on some older machines, other which is more likely is that they are doing this for stability reasons. Its always a safe bet not to be cutting edge.

To the OP, don't upgraded to Yosemite, its still very buggy. 10.9 Mavericks is IMHO safe for corporate/government/school use now. But if the school is upgrading to 10.7 Lion, that is a safer bet. But silly as it cost 19.95USD, but there could be software limitations like MS Office 2008 or educational software that the IT department feels may become unstable or flat out not work on newer versions of OSX.

BUT DONT GET YOSEMITE (ver 10.10) YET. At least wait until they release a huge bug fix in a few months. And BTW its reported MS Office 2008 will not run correctly if at all on Yosemite.. Just FYI..

As always, make backups of all your files..
Do full install of what ever OS you choose to go with, not upgrades from the App Store. If you or your IT department need assistance for this. Start a thread on that topic or just use google. It super dooper easy..

 

[pigoo3]

Its likely the OP didn't know what Yosemite was version 10.10 and he/she was under the understanding their systems were being upgraded to the next version. They assumed that was Yosemite, not Lion. It is very likely the school is staying a few versions behind for two reasons, one may be hardware/software limitations on some older machines, other which is more likely is that they are doing this for stability reasons. Its always a safe bet not to be cutting edge.

I've found over the years that trying to guess what an OP means is just as likely to be wrong as right. If an OP wants to clear things up...they will return & tell us.

But of course you are free to guess...you maybe right!

- Nick

 

[Exodist]

I've found over the years that trying to guess what an OP means is just as likely to be wrong as right.......

- Nick

Truer words have never been spoken

 

[usingmac]

Hi guys. Thanks for the help. I'll try to clarify a bit.

When I say 10.7 is expensive, I'm talking about a school with a very small budget and the need to get licenses for dozens of macs. That's expensive for us.

Regarding our network, the IT person has explained some of the issues but i was hoping to get more clarity and other points of view here.

Lion, Mavericks, Yosemite, Donald Duck. I don't know the difference. Easier if like Windows they'd just number the stupid things. My IT guy told me to update to Yosemite because that would make it so that the laptops dont keep dropping the wifi. Of course I have no idea why that is but now someone is telling me not to install it because it has bugs?

Whats confusing is why are we switching to 10.7 if Yosemite is newer and free? If I switch to it now why do we have to reconfigure everything when we go to 10.7 next month?

And again, how much of a pain in the butt is the switchover?

 

[pigoo3]

When I say 10.7 is expensive, I'm talking about a school with a very small budget and the need to get licenses for dozens of macs. That's expensive for us.

Still a lot less expensive than if all of the computers were running Windows.

Regarding our network, the IT person has explained some of the issues but i was hoping to get more clarity and other points of view here.

You never told us what the problem is, or what the issues are. This is just like saying…"I have a problem with my car"…but not telling us what the problem is/was.

Lion, Mavericks, Yosemite, Donald Duck. I don't know the difference. Easier if like Windows they'd just number the stupid things.

They are numbered:

10.6 = Snow Leopard
10.7 = Lion
10.8 = Mountain Lion
10.9 = Mavericks
10.10 = Yosemite

My IT guy told me to update to Yosemite because that would make it so that the laptops dont keep dropping the wifi.

If the school needs/wants to update to OS 10.7…and if this IT person is not associated with the school…then you need to ask the question at the school (why not Yosemite)?

Whats confusing is why are we switching to 10.7 if Yosemite is newer and free?

It very well could be that the computers at the school do not meet the minimum specifications to run Yosemite.

Most of your questions should really be directed at the school. These folks are the ones making the decisions…and it's logical to assume that they have reasons for the decisions they are making.

Who knows…maybe they are not well informed..and maybe upgrading to Yosemite is possible. But then again…if the computers do not meet the min. specs. for Yosemite…then this would be a very logical reason NOT to upgrade to Yosemite.

What you're not considering is…these computers are probably currently running OS 10.6. Upgrading to 10.10 (Yosemite) is jumping 4 OS versions. This is huge. When you make an OS jump this big there are all sorts of possible problems:

- the computers themselves don't meet the min. specs.
- the computers may need hardware upgrades to run Yosemite well.
- the application software on the computers may need to be upgraded (big bucks)
- other hardware the school uses my not be compatible with Yosemite (printers, scanners, network, etc.)
- etc.

There are lots & lots & lots of things to be considered. Least of which is the $19.99 10.7 upgrade price…or free for Yosemite. The "free" price of Yosemite…could lead to hundreds of dollars per computer if newer application software was needed…or newer external hardware was needed (printers, scanners, network, etc.).

- Nick

 

[Raz0rEdge]

Easier if like Windows they'd just number the stupid things.

So Windows 3.0, Windows 3.1, Windows NT 3.1, Windows 3.2, Windows NT 3.5, Windows NT 3.5.1, Windows 95, Windows NT 4.0, Windows 98, Windows 2000, Windows ME, Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows 8.1, Windows 10 make more sense than OS X 10.5, 10.6, 10.7, 10.8, 10.9 and 10.10?????

While people often refer to 10.5 as Leopard and 10.6 as Snow Leopard, 10.7 as Lion, 10.8 as Mountain Lion, 10.9 as Mavericks and 10.10 as Yosemite, OS X DOES have logical numbers that make sense..

Additionally, if you are upgrading your machines and cost is an issue, if your Macs support Yosemite, then you should do that upgrade since the cost would be $0.

Also, it sounds like the IT department is doing the work involved here, shouldn't it be them who are asking the questions and gaining the understanding?

 

[usingmac]

Okay so I have some answers.

First of all, the IT guy is not a regular employee at my school. He comes and goes.

Anyway, I brought up the risks of Yosemite as too big a jump and he admitted it could be. He's testing it out on one of the laptops now. We'll see how it goes. He wasn't originally aware Yosemite was free.

I think we're going to 10.7 because it's simply less risky for our set up.

So maybe you all can tell me this (I've asked it before but need details): How much aggravation is upgrading to 10.7 on 40 laptops going to be? Keep in mind I don't have regular tech support, and I don't know how available this IT guy will be. He may help me the first day and then take off for other duties.

 

[chscag]

So maybe you all can tell me this (I've asked it before but need details): How much aggravation is upgrading to 10.7 on 40 laptops going to be?

Lion was not free. $29.99. I'm not positive but since those machines are not all owned by you, it would be $29.99 x 40. You would have to ask Apple customer service about that.

As far as how much aggravation is concerned.... One consideration is that PowerPC apps that previously ran on OS X will no longer run in Lion. (Rosetta was removed from Lion.) Any upgrade is going to cause some problems whether it be to Lion or Mountain Lion, etc.

 

[pitbull60077]

Windows was easier to understand?? **** no, I have only really been playing with a mac for a short time now.... maybe a few months, I have an iMac running snow leopard since its specs do not allow it to go any higher due to its age and only being a core duo processor and now I have a early 2008 late 2007 macbook pro running yosemite. apple's os is by far the easiest os to understand and figure out including the numbering system

 

[usingmac]

Windows was easier to understand?? **** no, I have only really been playing with a mac for a short time now.... maybe a few months, I have an iMac running snow leopard since its specs do not allow it to go any higher due to its age and only being a core duo processor and now I have a early 2008 late 2007 macbook pro running yosemite. apple's os is by far the easiest os to understand and figure out including the numbering system

Not important. How about we just drop that issue of numbering?

 

[lclev]

I use to teach tech at a high school. I understand the snails pace that schools will tend to move at when upgrading anything. Unless you have specific software that is a must have and is either too expensive to upgrade or can't be upgraded, why would you choose a version of OS X that is already old and will cost $30 per machine? At least consider Mavericks which might actually be a more stable upgrade at this time and it is free.

It use to drive me crazy when we would "wait" to upgrade. One time we had a chance to upgrade from Windows 95 to XP (state grant monies) but no, XP was too new so we went with 98 second ed. And two years later paid big bucks out of the school budget for XP because they discovered they could not make 98 as secure as XP. It use to drive me nuts.

Lisa

 

[pitbull60077]

Nothing is wrong with Lion which is 10.7, my mom has it on her 09 mac mini... she was running snow leopard until maybe a month ago when I installed it for her since I have the lion flash drive that I bought for my iMac not realizing at the time the iMac wouldn't be able to run it. told her i can plug her printer in my macbook pro that is running 10.10 yosemite and see if it works then install 10.10 for her if it does but she is happy with lion for now. if i was going to update computers i would go with 10.10 since it is a free update and easy to obtain.

 

[pitbull60077]

should have added... update to 10.10 yosemite if the hardware is compatable with it. haven't had my first coffee of the morning yet!

 

[Exodist]

.. Any upgrade is going to cause some problems whether it be to Lion or Mountain Lion, etc.

Very very true..

I am a firm believer when it comes to corporate/government businesses, including schools. That if the current computer OS's are not broken, don't fix them.. Unless there is software requiring everyone to upgrade for the sake of usage, do not do it. There is always something, no matter how hard you try to test everything that will end up not working as it should or at all and screws up the whole flow of everything.

I highly suggest picking one machine to upgrade, then test every program out on it for a year before upgrading any of the other systems..

 

[Exodist]

Nothing is wrong with Lion which is 10.7, my mom has it on her 09 mac mini... she was running snow leopard until maybe a month ago when I installed it for her since I have the lion flash drive that I bought for my iMac not realizing at the time the iMac wouldn't be able to run it. told her i can plug her printer in my macbook pro that is running 10.10 yosemite and see if it works then install 10.10 for her if it does but she is happy with lion for now. if i was going to update computers i would go with 10.10 since it is a free update and easy to obtain.

There is a huge difference between upgrading a home computer and a business computer. If your home computer has issues, its a hassle. If business computer has issues, its work stoppage and that gets people fired. Which is totally unacceptable.