Yosemite, is it worth it?

[bermanat]

I always wait 6 to 8 months to upgrade a new operating system.Clear the bugs, make some necessary patches. Hear what other users say. wait for the dust to settle. Am I right?

 

[vansmith]

I don't think there's anything wrong with that approach especially since the previous version of OS X often has a usable shelf life beyond a year. If Mavericks still works for you, I don't think you need to rush and can easily wait until the new year.

 

[pigoo3]

I always wait 6 to 8 months to upgrade a new operating system.Clear the bugs, make some necessary patches. Hear what other users say. wait for the dust to settle. Am I right?

Sounds like a great way to deal with new OS releases…sort of the approach I use.

But this statement does not really relate to the thread title (Yosemite, is it worth it). You stated your OS upgrade strategy…but you really didn't ask (in the post)…if "Yosemite is worth it!" Or if what you REALLY mean to ask is…should you upgrade??

- Nick

 

[bermanat]

Yes, you are right. What I really wanted to say was "Is it worth all the unknowables, the crashes, the system changes and all the headaches? Bottom line: I don't trust the big corporate apple anymore. Paranoid? Overly suspicious? You tell me.

 

[pigoo3]

Yes, you are right. What I really wanted to say was "Is it worth all the unknowables, the crashes, the system changes and all the headaches? Bottom line: I don't trust the big corporate apple anymore. Paranoid? Overly suspicious? You tell me.

Do you have a reason to upgrade to Yosemite (other than curiosity)?

- Are there features of Yosemite you cannot live without?
- Do you have software that needs Yosemite?
- Do you have hardware that needs Yosemite?

These are the reasons many folks upgrade. And one thing to be VERY careful…is all of your current software or hardware compatible with Yosemite?

- Nick

 

[harryb2448]

Well have used Yosemite since first Beta release. Never had a crash nor any headaches at all. It is very fast and rock solid. But then I always do a format of the hard drive and a clean install rather than the simple upgrade route.

 

[Quietone]

I've seen a few unhappy comments on Yosemite. It's amazing to me I haven't had any trouble with it so far. Sometimes I wait to upgrade, too. Sometimes an update of some program comes in, while someone has an older OS, and it won't work; this has happened to me occasionally.

Many times I read reviews about new programs, and often they say there's bugs that need fixing. If I can, and remember to, I look for a writeup on something before getting it.

When reading reviews, it's important to note the pros and cons that are mentioned, then evaluate them according to your needs. Most times, there will always be some negative comment, which may or may not apply to the person reading it, so it's important to decide how much that statement applies or not. If there are many more positive ones, I weigh them against the fewer negative ones, also.

I've seen some comments claiming that many reviews are faked, mainly the positive stuff, so we have that to contend with, too, so look in more than one place; if it's software, look in various forums and tech magazines.

So far I've been lucky with the upgrades. It seems more often these days that too many products are slapped together and rushed out the door; it's the trusting consumer who gets the job of finding all the bugs.

 

[vansmith]

I've seen some comments claiming that many reviews are faked, mainly the positive stuff, so we have that to contend with, too, so look in more than one place; if it's software, look in various forums and tech magazines.

This right here is sound advice for any sort of review. Going across multiple reviews is the way to go especially since you don't really know how specific an issue (or lack of) may be.

 

[pitbull60077]

I have Yosemite on my mid 2007 15 inch macbook pro... so far it works awesome and it looks cool too. I have lion on a mac mini from 2009 and thinking about updating that too, however mom uses it for her projects so need to make sure the printer and her games work on it as well. soon i will plug the pro into her printer and see if it works and the games she has i can attempt to install and see if they work. if all is well her mini will be running Yosemite as well.

 

[rubaiyat]

I've seen some comments claiming that many reviews are faked, mainly the positive stuff, so we have that to contend with, too, so look in more than one place; if it's software, look in various forums and tech magazines.

Most sites and magazines do not cross Apple. It's the hand that feeds them.

The most clear cut and bald faced example is what Apple did to the iWork suite last September. You wouldn't know how bad it was from any of the reviews. When the reviewers were challenged with long lists of the features removed and all the bugs, their response was silence rather than go against Apple.

Apple allows critical reviews in the App store but if it is against their products those critical reviews seem to get bumped, off at first, then to the back of the reviews covered with suspiciously glowing reviews along the lines of "I love it! It's great!" with no specifics.

I particularly love the reviews that are on the lines of "I don't use it much but…"

…followed by the evidence that they don't use it much…

Yosemite is only a must if you want to use the (unnecessarily) Yosemite-Only software such as the latest iWork suite and XCode.

Yosemite removes features like many of Apple's recent software and the implementation of Labels and Tabs is awful as is the cross connections between Contacts, Preview, AppleScript and the iWork suite. Cutting and pasting seems to rasterise some contact, certainly is not as neat with pdf as previously. I try and fix the Labels with XtraFinder, but that still leaves problems. iPad users love it because it has bent OSX to iOS's will.

Most printer drivers were stuffed by Yosemite and I am sure there were many other glitches that I either only saw in passing or haven't affected me personally.

I rather like to get my work done and find that lately Apple is getting in the way and stuffing up one thing after another. I seriously wonder how much of their own software Apple uses. Certainly not their own server software, or iWork or anything really I can detect.

 

[Quietone]

Most sites and magazines do not cross Apple. It's the hand that feeds them.

The most clear cut and bald faced example is what Apple did to the iWork suite last September. You wouldn't know how bad it was from any of the reviews. When the reviewers were challenged with long lists of the features removed and all the bugs, their response was silence rather than go against Apple.

Apple allows critical reviews in the App store but if it is against their products those critical reviews seem to get bumped, off at first, then to the back of the reviews covered with suspiciously glowing reviews along the lines of "I love it! It's great!" with no specifics.

I particularly love the reviews that are on the lines of "I don't use it much but…"

…followed by the evidence that they don't use it much…

Yosemite is only a must if you want to use the (unnecessarily) Yosemite-Only software such as the latest iWork suite and XCode.

Yosemite removes features like many of Apple's recent software and the implementation of Labels and Tabs is awful as is the cross connections between Contacts, Preview, AppleScript and the iWork suite. Cutting and pasting seems to rasterise some contact, certainly is not as neat with pdf as previously. I try and fix the Labels with XtraFinder, but that still leaves problems. iPad users love it because it has bent OSX to iOS's will.

Most printer drivers were stuffed by Yosemite and I am sure there were many other glitches that I either only saw in passing or haven't affected me personally.

I rather like to get my work done and find that lately Apple is getting in the way and stuffing up one thing after another. I seriously wonder how much of their own software Apple uses. Certainly not their own server software, or iWork or anything really I can detect.

Wow, this is amazing, but not so surprising, since I've read something similar about companies hiding and removing negative reviews. Sooner or later, the users find the flaws, and word spreads quickly. Hiding flaws is a very old practice, it seems. I have read many glowing reviews, then discovered what a piece of junk many products are. "Buyer Beware," is a popular, and sadly true, motto of the day.

And so it seems, with the question of, "is Yosemite worth it," from what I have seen here and at the Apple support community, about problems with it, the answer may be "no," at least for now. Those who wait awhile before upgrading, have a better chance of getting a stable product. I did wait a little awhile, too.

 

[vansmith]

he most clear cut and bald faced example is what Apple did to the iWork suite last September. You wouldn't know how bad it was from any of the reviews.

Ars Technica was pretty critical of it (see here) and I'm sure I could find others. I think you might be overstating Apple's reach online.

 

[rubaiyat]

One swallow does not a summer make, and that Ars Technica review was written one and a half months after the launch.

It looks like the author may have partially lifted bits of the criticism from Apple's forum, but was hardly comprehensive. Never addressing the problems of lack of compatibility and continuity.

If you hunt you'll find just about anything on the 'Net, the question is that in the face of things like Bendgate, how does such a massive stuff up and bait and switch get so much good media?

When I posted a long list of the problems shortly after launch to the Comments under a local newspaper article lauding the New Improved Pages, the Comments disappeared from that webpage and nothing was ever shown.

 

[cbreze]

I installed Yosemite on my 2012 MBP mainly from a curiousity standpoint. Didn't need to. I'm good with it, never had a crash or any type of issue.
Might depend on what type of user one is as to crashing possibilities. I'm a pretty light user and rather undemanding of my system. Never push it. Maybe that's whay I've had no issues.

 

[harryb2448]

iWork was always second rate. Now it is fourth rate.

 

[chas_m]

Actually, iWork is fantastic and has far surpassed the previous version IMO. The *first release* of the current iWork suite had a lot missing, but that's ancient history now.

But what do I know, I only use it every day to make a living ...

 

[vansmith]

But what do I know, I only use it every day to make a living ...

That you work in one of the few industries that iWork can adequately serve? I'm not trying to be combative but you're the first person I've ever heard say that iWork works in a professional capacity. I can only speak for my own (education), one in which Pages is thoroughly inadequate (fidelity is essential) and lacks referencing software (although that could have changed). Keynote on the other hand works just fine if you don't need to share slides (I've tried to use the converted versions - everything works fine but they always take a bit of fixing after the fact). Apple can make a fine media player, a great OS and decent browser but office software...not so much (again, a personal opinion and I acknowledge that it will work for others).

 

[rubaiyat]

I installed Yosemite on my 2012 MBP mainly from a curiousity standpoint. Didn't need to. I'm good with it, never had a crash or any type of issue.
Might depend on what type of user one is as to crashing possibilities. I'm a pretty light user and rather undemanding of my system. Never push it. Maybe that's whay I've had no issues.

"My car gets excellent mileage, I never drive anywhere but the shops. Great car!"

Crashing is not an issue hasn't been since OSX came out 15 years ago.

I am really saddened by the level of debate, knowledge and thinking on the Mac these days. You barely meet anybody who knows what is happening, or does much with their Mac beyond basic pottering.

Compare that with the thriving smart users of the 80's and 90's.

Not like Apple has increased market share. Just it now has all the floatie deckchair types from WALL-E.

 

[chas_m]

That you work in one of the few industries that iWork can adequately serve? I'm not trying to be combative but you're the first person I've ever heard say that iWork works in a professional capacity. I can only speak for my own (education), one in which Pages is thoroughly inadequate (fidelity is essential) and lacks referencing software (although that could have changed). Keynote on the other hand works just fine if you don't need to share slides (I've tried to use the converted versions - everything works fine but they always take a bit of fixing after the fact). Apple can make a fine media player, a great OS and decent browser but office software...not so much (again, a personal opinion and I acknowledge that it will work for others).

Fair enough, my use isn't very collaborative so the compatibility with MS Office is a non-issue with me. I was *ECSTATIC* about the direction Apple has gone with iWork (no more "inspector," have always hated that UI form since Macromedia days), crucially and particularly in that I can work on documents on any of my iOS devices or the web if I'm not near my own Mac (that flat-out didn't work well in the old version of iWork).

I appreciate that everyone has a different workflow and as I acknowledged earlier the first release of the rebuilt iWork suite cut a lot of features a certain minority of people relied on, but as far as I can tell that has all been put back and then some in updates since then. I use Pages and Keynote extensively and don't feel like I'm missing anything.

As I've noted elsewhere, this is the iMovie story all over again, the Final Cut story all over again, the AppleWorks story all over again and indeed the OS X story all over again. You can like it or hate it, but Apple periodically burns the house down and sets about building a new, better house over time. Much wailing and gnashing of teeth for a while, then it all quiets down as the new house eventually beats the pants off the old house.

They've gotten a lot better, IMHO, about leaving you the old house for a while so you can continue to work in it as they build the better house (I still have iMovie 09, iDVD, Garageband and the old versions of iWork, all sitting here unused* though they all open in Yosemite) rather than overwriting them, so I often scratch my head and wonder what the hissy fit some people go on about is all about ...

(I actually do still use the old GB, as it works with podcasts much better than the new GB. So I have been [minorly] inconvenienced with Apple's rebuilding sprees, but even I will acknowledge that the new GB is way better for musicians.) Now if someone would just build a podcasting-focused app that could record Skype group calls to separate tracks ...

 

[rubaiyat]

That you work in one of the few industries that iWork can adequately serve? I'm not trying to be combative but you're the first person I've ever heard say that iWork works in a professional capacity. I can only speak for my own (education), one in which Pages is thoroughly inadequate (fidelity is essential) and lacks referencing software (although that could have changed). Keynote on the other hand works just fine if you don't need to share slides (I've tried to use the converted versions - everything works fine but they always take a bit of fixing after the fact). Apple can make a fine media player, a great OS and decent browser but office software...not so much (again, a personal opinion and I acknowledge that it will work for others).

Not a major tool, but a very useful one.

I created a series of City Guides and lots of user manuals in Pages '09 because it was so fast for those tasks. I have tried to do the same in MsWord and LibreOffice, Indesign, Quark XPress and Swift Publishing, all of which took way longer to mostly get inferior results.

It also does great reports, and is extremely popular in universities and for eBooks.

Pages '09 has several referencing tools that I know of, most free. Endnote, Zotero, Mendeley, Sente, Papers, Bookends, Qiqqa and others…

The problem really, as in nearly everything I see lately, is you have given your opinion without really knowing much on the subject. Sorry to be blunt but it is becoming a depressingly common practice to excuse inferior work, and dismiss anything else just because it is unfamiliar.

Sadly Michael E. Cohen has just released "Take Control of Pages" covering Pages 5 and the changes, without actually getting on top of the subject either.

Because Pages has an extremely sophisticated spreadsheet/table built in, along with all the graphics/charting tools it has served many businesses well since Apple trashed AppleWorks.

PS Word and PowerPoint files converted to Pages and Keynote "lack fidelity". It all depends on the ruler you user for the measure. I can not help but observe just how much really awful work is produced by the armies of people armed with nothing but Microsoft's Office Suite.