Mac OS Maintenance?
I've had a girlfriend now for about 6 months, so her computer maintenance has become my headache. This is to say that her sorely neglected Dell Inspiron 5100 was in bad shape. Her 30 GB hard drive was filled to the proverbial brim and what should have been a snappy P4 2.4GHz laptop was crawling along with frequent freezes. I tried to clean up the mess by uninstalling programs she didn't use and by running adaware and spybot. None of these tactics were effective in generating stability or speed. I finally convinced her to let me wipe her hard drive clean and reinstall windows fresh. This is a routine maintenance matter for me. I do it to my VPR matrix ever 8 - 12 months with good results. It takes about 4 - 6 hours. I just finished with her machine about 20 minutes ago and now that her machine is running beautifully, I am just about ready to call it a night.
She and I are both fed up with the Wintel machines... after we finish medical school in about 18 months, I am switching for sure and plan on bringing her with me. Does the MAC OS require this degree of maintenance? Are there benefits to doing periodic clean installs of OS X? Any degredation in speed or stability the longer you let an installation of the OS run? With regular vigilance, I have few problems with Windows, but I forsee a future for myself where I will have less available time and patience to maintain this OS at its peak. What can I expect in this regard once I switch?
She and I are both fed up with the Wintel machines... after we finish medical school in about 18 months, I am switching for sure and plan on bringing her with me. Does the MAC OS require this degree of maintenance? Are there benefits to doing periodic clean installs of OS X? Any degredation in speed or stability the longer you let an installation of the OS run? With regular vigilance, I have few problems with Windows, but I forsee a future for myself where I will have less available time and patience to maintain this OS at its peak. What can I expect in this regard once I switch?
Comments
A clean install on a Mac is a last resort solution for a serious problem.
I've been installing updates over older versions now for several years, with no adverse effects. My general experience is that the things just run.
The few times I've had to deal with flakiness, a reboot was enough to straighten things back out. But I've hardly ever had to do that, either.
Macs are still untouched by adware, spyware, viruses, etc. The default browser can be told to block and unblock popups with a simple command (also a menu item), and all the alternative browsers (including FireFox) have a similar feature. The only intrusions you have to be careful about are the ones that try to fool you—remember that no legitimate service will ever email you asking for your account number or password, ever, for any reason, and you're all set.
Originally posted by Kishan
Does the MAC OS require this degree of maintenance? Are there benefits to doing periodic clean installs of OS X? Any degredation in speed or stability the longer you let an installation of the OS run? With regular vigilance, I have few problems with Windows, but I forsee a future for myself where I will have less available time and patience to maintain this OS at its peak. What can I expect in this regard once I switch?
I will echo what Amorph said. I have three Macs running OS X. One is an "old" G3 iMac (almost 5 years old). All I have ever done on this machine (after converting it from OS 9 to OS X) is update the OS with Apple's built-in and mostly automatic Software Update software. This is our home email/web surfing Mac. And my kids play games on it (3 and 6 year old level games). I do not install mods, hacks, themes or anything third-party that changes the OS and this little guy still runs rock-solid. It has 640 MB of RAM.
My other two Macs are my personal PowerBook and a G5 PowerMac on which I do time-critical, pro-level graphic design work. The same rules apply to these two computers - no mods or third-party adaptations. Other than the automatic optimizations that happen with Apple's periodic system updates, I never run any special software to "fix" these computers. The PowerBook is my heavy internet surfing machine and I have had NO problems. Ever.
I don't know what has motivated me to write this empassioned post. But I feel strongly about the capability and security of the Mac OS and I wanted to pass it on to you.
Originally posted by clonenode
I don't know what has motivated me to write this empassioned post. But I feel strongly about the capability and security of the Mac OS and I wanted to pass it on to you.
No need to explain. Having once worked in sales, I can appreciate how fun and easy it is to wax on and on about a product in which you sincerely believe. Your post is very helpful also because of the examples of usage you include. To a degree, I have enjoyed fiddling about with my machine just to see what I can make it do. My girl, on the other hand, uses her computer as an appliance: turns it on... uses it for what she needs... turns it off. The idea of maintenance to her is a little foreign and weird. This is reflected in the fact that by the time I laid hands on her Dell, she had neither run windows update or updated her virus definitions for nigh on a full year. "what do you mean I need to update every week? I don't look at porn sites or anything?!" (Boy did I have to explain that one to her when I mentioned that I update my virus protection every few days!) The fact that you have several machines of various vintage on which you children cavort without instability is a compelling argument in itself to switch. Thanks for your post.
Originally posted by ipodandimac
One thing you will hear a lot about is permissions. It is easy to 'verify permisions' in OS X, and this keeps your system in check. I promise it's nothing compared to trying to take care of a PC.
I appreciate the feedback. I have indeed come across this word, "permissions," within these appleinsider forums. But I am still unclear as to what they are and why I, the computer user, should concern myself with them. Can you kindly point me to a site or another thread in this forum in which this is well discussed?
Originally posted by Kishan
I've had a girlfriend now for about 6 months,
Congrats...that is something many geeks strive for
Originally posted by a_greer
Congrats...that is something many geeks strive for
My girlfriend believes that Geeks are people too! Boy did I get lucky!
Originally posted by Kishan
My girlfriend believes that Geeks are people too!
Where did you find her? I want one! 8)
Originally posted by danielctull
Where did you find her? I want one! 8)
I Believe they have a club somewhere, but neglected to inform any geeks of where they hold meetings....
Originally posted by Kishan
I appreciate the feedback. I have indeed come across this word, "permissions," within these appleinsider forums. But I am still unclear as to what they are and why I, the computer user, should concern myself with them. Can you kindly point me to a site or another thread in this forum in which this is well discussed?
think of permissions as a seeing eye dog or something for OS X. Permissions keep track of where stuff is, and who has access to what. After a while, when files get deleted or moved, there are going to be pieces of that file in random places. When you verify permissions, OS X goes through everything and pieces it back together. Or at least, that's my way of explaining permissions. For probably a better explanation, check out this. The site is osxfaq.com --you'll find it very useful for answering questions like that. I hope this helped.
Originally posted by ipodandimac
For probably a better explanation, check out this. The site is osxfaq.com --you'll find it very useful for answering questions like that. I hope this helped.
Very helpful. Many Thanks.
I personally just use Onyx as well. Check versiontracker.com for it.
There is an option to run the daily, weekly, monthly jobs right away.
I'll just go to the "automator" part, and run 'em all once a month.
Originally posted by ipodandimac
think of permissions as a seeing eye dog or something for OS X. Permissions keep track of where stuff is, and who has access to what. After a while, when files get deleted or moved, there are going to be pieces of that file in random places. ...
Well, we're really geeking it up in here, I see. Quite frankly, I have never touched the "repair permissions" command. I've read about it, and heard my Mac Geni friends speak of it, but other than the times when the Mac OS has done it's automatic thing during system updates and upgrades, I have never gone near it.
sometimes after months, I wont have a single permission that is out of whack. Other times its a whole bunch of crap that has gotten scattered around.
I dont honestly see a difference after I run it (or do a prememptive repair) but hey, milage varies...