Apple release OS X Mavericks as free download

[erwbol]

Apple give away their new operating system, OS X Mavericks (10.9), for free! Any MAC that is supported by the new OS X can go to the App store and download it.

Since I'm still on 10.6.8 (Snow Leopard) this is more than a service pack update. Good thing I never bought Lion (10.7) or Mountain Lion (10.8).

[tranemonk]

I downloaded and installed it immediately as soon as it was available. It is much better. Adds battery life. Safari and Google Chrome are faster.. It's a really good improvement!

[Chuck Nessa]

That was my response.

[Shawn]

I installed it late last night and finished up the application updates (for iWork, iLife) this morning. My little mini is underpowered in the RAM department and had become quite sluggish on Snow Leopard after a few years, but it's working much better under Mavericks. Not just better performance in Safari but also better memory performance with multiple applications running. I'm a happy camper.

[mjzee]

I'm exploring it now. So far, seems like a smooth experience. One program that I used often, an Epson scanning software, no longer works under Mavericks. **sigh**

[Eric]

Huh - honestly, I don't see much of a difference (I have an iMac that is a couple years old).

[erwbol]

Last night, I created a USB install stick for a clean install. When I bought my machine I payed for 2GB extra RAM so I would end up with 4GB. Instead the doofus in the Apple store put in 8GB RAM total. Both the new OS X and the free RAM from Apple will surely increase the longevity of my iMac.

[Stefan Wood]

I'm exploring it now. So far, seems like a smooth experience. One program that I used often, an Epson scanning software, no longer works under Mavericks. **sigh**

EPSON is supposed to be working on updating their drivers for Mavericks.

I upgraded my Macmini to Mavericks with no issues.

[jazzbo]

I'm too chicken to try it, I'm not good with this stuff. But that sure seems a deal.

[.:.impossible]

No issues. No obvious benefits. 2009 MBP.

[Blue Train]

Really haven't had the time to check the changes.

Anyone interested. The most in-depth review you will find.

http://arstechnica.com/apple/2013/10/os-x-10-9/

[.:.impossible]

Yeah that is a mammoth undertaking!

[erwbol]

First impression is that it's very good for a .0 with only minor bugs experienced so far. Hopefully this will turn into another rock solid operating system like Snow Leopard. I do hate Launchpad (cannot remove (non App Store) apps) and the All My Files view in Finder, but both can be ignored.

I had the opportunity to try Lion and Mountain Lion on my iMac and both were sluggish as .0 releases.

[mjzee]

This does not seem sluggish. I have a 2007 iMac and was pleasantly surprised it still qualified for the upgrade.

[mjzee]

Review of Mavericks from ZDNet.

[Jim R]

Just noticed this thread, and had not heard about this release. I've been using Macs exclusively since about 1990, and have loved every one of them, but I'm not really very interested in computer technology and keeping up with what's new. I guess I don't like change very much, and there have been OS upgrades where I was unhappy for awhile in terms of getting used to new software design, when I thought the previous one was wonderful. These days, I'm getting far more apprehensive about upgrades in general, after what I went through with iTunes 11.0 (installed it reflexively, then realized I hated it, and put in a TON of effort to uninstall it).

I have a 2011 iMac running 10.6.8 (I can never remember which cat that is... the whole cat thing just confuses me). Generally using Chrome, sometimes Safari. Other than e-mail, TextEdit, and Preview, iTunes is about the only app that I use regularly. I'm currently quite happy with what I have (as usual). We recently upgraded our modem to xfinity's latest high-speed model, and I have experienced roughly zero improvement from the old (very old) one we were using. I rarely feel like my computers are running too slow. Anyway, I guess I'll consider this upgrade, but I'm not going to jump right in. Thanks for all the info... I'll be following this thread, and try to find some time to study the info at the above links.

[Shawn]

My Mac Mini is a 2010 model and I've seen significant improvement in memory usage and overall performance since I upgraded from Snow Leopard. After a couple days using the new OS I'm really enjoying it and it also allows me to use iTunes Radio for the first time since that wasn't possible under Snow Leopard.

The only issue I had was Pro Tools will require an update from the manufacturer to be compatible, but I generally use Logic instead so it's not really that big of a deal.

[erwbol]

The real test for me will come when I try to play a 24bit/192kHz HD Tracks Blue Note download while doing some heavy multitasking.

[Chuck Nessa]

I found it does not support a few programs I use. I can't access my complete New Yorker and had to buy 3rd party software (for $80) to use my $500+ Nikon slide/negative scanner.

Edited October 26, 2013 by Chuck Nessa

[Shawn]

I found it does not support a few programs I use. I can't access my complete New Yorker and had to buy 3rd party software (for $80) to use my $500+ Nikon slide/negative scanner.

It usually takes a couple weeks for the Printer manufacturers to make new drivers compatible with an OS release. I was working at Apple when Snow Leopard launched and it was just around 10 days before HP and the other printer manufactures provided updated drivers.

What software do you use to access the complete New Yorker?

[Chuck Nessa]

I found it does not support a few programs I use. I can't access my complete New Yorker and had to buy 3rd party software (for $80) to use my $500+ Nikon slide/negative scanner.

It usually takes a couple weeks for the Printer manufacturers to make new drivers compatible with an OS release. I was working at Apple when Snow Leopard launched and it was just around 10 days before HP and the other printer manufactures provided updated drivers.

What software do you use to access the complete New Yorker?

It is / was a Power PC program - same as the Nikon - no longer recognized.

[Shawn]

I found it does not support a few programs I use. I can't access my complete New Yorker and had to buy 3rd party software (for $80) to use my $500+ Nikon slide/negative scanner.

It usually takes a couple weeks for the Printer manufacturers to make new drivers compatible with an OS release. I was working at Apple when Snow Leopard launched and it was just around 10 days before HP and the other printer manufactures provided updated drivers.

What software do you use to access the complete New Yorker?

It is / was a Power PC program - same as the Nikon - no longer recognized.

Ah, that makes sense.

[.:.impossible]

A strange anomaly: when I uncompress a packaged InDesign folder (Fonts, Links, Instructions.txt, FileName.indd), the .indd file is only visible for about two seconds through finder; however, if I search through InDesign using File>Open and navigate to the same uncompressed folder, the .indd file is there and opens without issue.

[Dave Garrett]

I found it does not support a few programs I use. I can't access my complete New Yorker and had to buy 3rd party software (for $80) to use my $500+ Nikon slide/negative scanner.

It usually takes a couple weeks for the Printer manufacturers to make new drivers compatible with an OS release. I was working at Apple when Snow Leopard launched and it was just around 10 days before HP and the other printer manufactures provided updated drivers.

What software do you use to access the complete New Yorker?

It is / was a Power PC program - same as the Nikon - no longer recognized.

Bondi Digital, the company whose Bondi Reader software runs the New Yorker DVD set as well as the similar Rolling Stone and Playboy sets, appears to have shifted their development resources to a web-based HTML5 reader. This is great for the publishers, who can sell subscriptions to their archives online, but it pretty much leaves those who purchased the DVD sets out in the cold as the Reader software becomes increasingly incompatible with newer operating systems.

I don't have a Mac, but when I got a PC running Windows 7 my New Yorker set wouldn't run on it either. I got it to work after downloading a patch for 64-bit Vista from the CoverToCover website (http://www.covertocover.com/support/support_issues.html), but the fact that they don't list any Windows OSes past Vista in their system requirements is a strong indication that they're no longer actively developing the Reader software.

[cih]

I dare not try it yet - as I'm running such old adobe cs (and quark) - it's a miracle it still worked with mountain lion.. I'll wait till my employer gets me the new stuff.