Should I upgrade to mavericks, or would it make my computer too slow?

[zippythecellist]

I'm running 10.6.8 now, and my computer specs are under my username. I was thinking of upgrading to mavericks, but I'm not too sure if it would be too slow on my older macbook...if it will be too slow, what should I upgrade to instead if I should upgrade at all? I'm pretty sure 8GB is the max RAM for my model, (although I would be pretty happy to find out I'm wrong about that! xD) so increasing that wouldn't be an option.

If it matters, I use my computer for audio and video. Usually with logic, sibelius, maschine and iMovie...I keep the activity monitor open while I'm working, and I can usually run 2 or 3 of those at the same time without using more than 4 or 5GB of my RAM and also without the cpu indicators lighting up like a bunch of christmas trees. I'm hoping I can keep it that way, because I don't exactly have too much wiggle room left!

 

[cwa107]

No, it should be fine. In fact, I found Mavericks to be a bit faster due to some of the newer resource management.

Use something like CarbonCopyCloner or SuperDuper! to make a full, bootable backup. This way, you can instantly revert if you have any difficulty.

 

[dtravis7]

With your MBP's Specs, I agree and second what CWA just posted.

It should run just fine on that hardware.

 

[zippythecellist]

Well then, is there anything BESIDES backing up my entire computer that I need to do before upgrading? Would I still need a bootable backup if I still have the installation discs that came with my computer?

edit: Are you guys sure about this being an ok upgrade? I'm seeing quite a few complaints about the upgrade in the app store page for mavericks...

 

[chscag]

Well then, is there anything BESIDES backing up my entire computer that I need to do before upgrading?

Yes. Make sure you check all your apps to see if they'll run in Mavericks. Keep in mind that Snow Leopard is the last version of OS X that will run PPC coded apps such as Mac Office 2004. Additionally, you may find that you have to update some apps so that they will run OK in Mavericks.

 

[pigoo3]

edit: Are you guys sure about this being an ok upgrade? I'm seeing quite a few complaints about the upgrade in the app store page for mavericks...

What if I said that those complaints probably represent less than 1% of all users…and that 99% are happy??

And what if a good portion of that 1% were folks blaming Mavericks for something that was really due to other things??

What if I also said that many Mac-Forums members have been happily using Mavericks for almost 12 months??

- Nick

 

[zippythecellist]

Well, it looks like the software I care about appears to work fine with mavericks. Glad I'm not going to find that sibelius and logic won't work the semester before my senior recital! xD Can I make a bootable backup with time machine though? I won't be using the software often enough to justify buying superduper or carbon copy.

 

[chscag]

Can I make a bootable backup with time machine though? I won't be using the software often enough to justify buying superduper or carbon copy.

No. You will need to install the operating system first then restore from Time Machine. Time Machine backups are not bootable.

 

[pigoo3]

Well, it looks like the software I care about appears to work fine with mavericks.

Always a VERY important first consideration.

I won't be using the software often enough to justify buying superduper or carbon copy.

To the best of my knowledge…I think Super Duper is still free:

SuperDuper!

- Nick

 

[harryb2448]

If you use SuperDuper, spend the $28 and register to get access to Smart Backup.

A wise Mac user backs up weekly zippy! And to an external hard drive.

 

[rfomlover]

Well, it looks like the software I care about appears to work fine with mavericks. Glad I'm not going to find that sibelius and logic won't work the semester before my senior recital! xD Can I make a bootable backup with time machine though? I won't be using the software often enough to justify buying superduper or carbon copy.

Yeah it sucked to find out that Logic Pro 8 didn't work anymore once we updated to either lion or mountain lion can't remember. We found some way to get it to work though but I can't remember how anymore.

 

[harryb2448]

If you used Migration Assistant to copy over, you may well have to enter to activation co or serial number to get Logic Pro 8 up and running again. You do have the code?

 

[zippythecellist]

Well, I finally got the chance to upgrade this weekend. All of my programs work just fine, but I noticed that everything uses a LOT more of my ram! On snow leopard, my computer with nothing open would use maybe no more than 1.5gb out of 8...now it uses around 2.5 on mavericks. And the other day when I had firefox and openoffice running, it used almost 5gb of my ram...something like that would have never taken anywhere near 3 on snow leopard! I also can't bother with uploading anything but small files to anywhere as well as compressing large files, as both of those tasks took up almost ALL my ram! That is just ridiculous since both of those tasks wouldn't take more than 3gb on snow leopard. About the only plus I noticed so far is I get a bit better battery life. Someone please tell me it's possible (and hopefully not too much of a PITA!) to revert back!

 

[cwa107]

Mavericks appears to use more memory because of the memory compression functionality that Apple implemented in it. Let the OS manage the RAM and don't worry about.

 

[zippythecellist]

I really can't "not worry about it" though, especially for the uploading files issue. I need to upload those large files on a regular basis so I can access them on the school computers, and trying to do that with a 20gb file on mavericks left me with 30 or 40 MB of ram left! I don't want to worry about needing the virtual memory for everything I try to do.

 

[cwa107]

I really can't "not worry about it" though, especially for the uploading files issue. I need to upload those large files on a regular basis so I can access them on the school computers, and trying to do that with a 20gb file on mavericks left me with 30 or 40 MB of ram left! I don't want to worry about needing the virtual memory for everything I try to do.

Again, what it appears to be doing is not an accurate portrayal of what is actually happening.

Let me ask you this, if you turn off your memory monitor and just go about your tasks, do they function as expected?

 

[zippythecellist]

My music programs (logic 9 and sibelius 6) seem to work fine, but I definitely did notice things slowing down the time I tried to upload that large file.

 

[LeslieT]

Don't do it! I upgraded this week and am now trying to find a professional tech to revert all three of our Macs back to Snow Leopard. I absolutely loathe mavericks. That said, if you are interested in social media connections, perhaps you'll like it. We do not use gmail or social media. I'm terribly disappointed in Apple and will never upgrade an OS from them again.

We run guest vms on all three Macs and Parallels does a good job, but . . . . . let me count the way I hate Mavericks: email virtually unusable, hate the Safari upgrade (I need to copy entire website addresses which is no longer possible) and the way google appears, the Dock keeps jumping to the second monitor on the iMacs interrupting workflow, the Address Book is now a disaster (forwarding emails takes more clicks than you can imagine), etc. I removed from view iBooks, iMaps, iMovie, etc. which we will never use. We've had nothing but grief from Mavericks. I'm thinking I'd rather go without support than deal with what we've got!
LeslieT

 

[pigoo3]

Don't do it! I upgraded this week and am now trying to find a professional tech to revert all three of our Macs back to Snow Leopard. I absolutely loathe mavericks.

Why go all the way back to 10.6? If 10.9 is not working for you…why not "downgrade" to 10.7 or 10.8?

I'm terribly disappointed in Apple and will never upgrade an OS from them again.

Really? If you go back to Snow Leopard you're already 3-4 years behind…and Apple no longer supports 10.6 with updates (including Security Updates).

In a few years when you're no longer able to get:

- internet browsers that work
- up to date versions of Java
- up to date versions of Flash
- no security updates
- unable to connect to iTunes
- unable to connect to the Mac App Store
- you won't be able to update or upgrade any of your applications
- you probably won't be able to sync with newer hardware (iPhones & iPads)
- and you won't be able to use newer peripheral devices

Computing in 2018, 2022, 2025, etc. still running 10.6 is going to get very very interesting for you! Of course if you:

- never need to connect to the internet in the near future
- never need to update or upgrade your apps
- never need to upgrade things like a printer

…then you will be just fine!

"Never" is a very strong word!

- Nick

 

[LeslieT]

I do NOT care. My computer is unusable to me me. I can use a different browser. I have no use for iTunes after my recent experience. I only use the Mac to run Parallels with a vm and Photoshop Elements which I don't have to upgrade. I don't use iCloud except on my iPads (which, frankly, I'm sorry I also bought). My experience with Mavericks is so grim that I'm willing to pay whatever it takes to go back. When I contacted my usual Apple tech, he told me that he'd advised NONE of his clients to upgrade to Mavericks and is waiting to see about Yosemite. But, alas, he didn't advise me about this so I upgraded for the security. The **** with it! If I can't use my computer the way I want, I've no use for it.