My experience with OSX

Hi,

Well, my "computer problems" log is now full, 100 pages of it. I've had this Powerbook since 11/05. I thought I would use this occasion to list the major problems I've had to see if this is roughly the same as other people's experience. (There were plenty of odds and ends that didn't make it onto this list but were par for the course when dealing with computers.)

I have had 14 kernal panics.
I have had 76 freezes where I had to hit the power button to get back to normal.
I have reinstalled the system software, by 'archive and install' or 'erase and install', 7 times.

I always update the OS as updates become available and update all applications as best I can. I run very few haxies and OS tweaks. Whenever I have used the Apple hardware test, it has never shown anything wrong. In the past six months or so I have been leaving it on all night with the power plugged in and online (but with all apps closed) so it can do it's maintenance scripts.

Problems that have been fixed (all under warranty, which expires this-coming November)
- Keyboard would freeze or type numbers instead of letters. Number lock was never on. Reboot would cure it for a little while. I have had two keyboards replaced.
- fan made a strange noise. (Logic board replacement fixed it although I have never seen my "right rear" fan, using iStat which used to call it by another name, running since then...)
- getting a bootable install disc. Apple sent 7 bad discs before I got a working one.
- audio feedback

Problems that have not been fixed
- Network window (Go/Network) flashes and then disappears. Rarely works. Will only stay up the once after a reinstall.
reinstalling the OS, has it acted normally.
- Preview won't animate GIFs
- Occasionally windows get to be too big to use scroll bars. Resizing is impossible/doesn't work. Fix is to create a new folder.
- It is easier to connect to my Powerbook Firewire (G3) using Firewire mode than to try to connect via Ethernet. OSX has had a hard time finding G3 w/ OS 9 on it. It is easier for the G3 w/ OS 9 to find the G4 w/ OSX!
- occasionally the first open of a window in list view won't show the number of items in that folder. The second opening usually fixes that.
- Some apps give me 'unexpected quit' messages when I quit them.
- using OSX to archive, sometimes it will say it is compacting more than the original file's size and more items than the original!!
- screen dim on lower left hand corner on "cold" startup or when I bring the brightness all the way back up from black first thing in the morning. If it gets worse I will take it in. (the Powerbook Firewire had screen problems after three years (reddish screen at startup) but it has gotten better! (I hardly use it these days.)

Hardware problems that I won't be doing anything about:
- replacement keyboard has a tilted Tab key.
- finish is peeling off in one section. Not due to being scraped.

In the hope that including the dates might indicate something, here is when these things took place.

12/1/05 - Freeze
12/5/05 - Desktop rearragned by itself
12/22/05 - freeze
12/28/05 - kernal panic
1/7/06 - freeze
1/9/06 - freeze
1/10/06 - 10.4 .4 update
1/12/06 - freeze
1/13/06 - archive and install
1/25/06 - freeze
2/7/06 - freeze
2/12/06 - erase and install
(3/31/06 - temporary freeze)
5/12/06 - freeze
5/25/06 - freeze
5/27/06 - freeze
5/29/06 - freeze
6/2/06 - freeze
6/5/06 - freeze
6/19/06 - freeze
7/6/06 update to 10.4.7
7/10/06 - freeze
7/13/06 - archive and install
8/3/06 - freeze
8/13/06 - freeze
8/14/06 - freeze
8/26/06 new keyboard, old problem returns 10 days later
9/26/06 - freeze
10/5/06 - kernal panic
10/10/06 - kernal panic
10/21/06 - freeze
10/22/06 - archive and install
10/28/06 - kernal panic
1/23/07 - freeze
1/24/07 - kernal panic
1/27/07 - archive and install
2/13/07 - freeze
2/15/07 - freeze
2/18/07 - freeze
2/26/07 - freeze
3/5/07 - freeze
3/12/07 - kernal panic 2X!
4/17/07 - kernal panic
4/25/07 - kernal panic
4/27/07 - freeze
5/3/07 - freeze
5/16/07 - freeze
6/18/07 - freeze
6/24/07 - cursor freeze
7/10/07 - freeze
7/11/07 - freeze
7/24/07 - partial freeze, then later, full system freeze
8/9/07 - freeze
8/28/07 - freeze
9/6/07 - freeze
9/6/07 - freeze when not using it at 12:58 am
9/7/07 - freeze when not using it at 6:21 am
9/30/07 - freeze
10/11/07 - freeze
10/14/07 - freeze
11/5/07 - freeze when not using it at 5:47 am
12/2/07 - kernal panic
12/13/07 - freeze
1/27/08 - archive and install
2/2/08 - extremely sluggish, takes an hour and a half to reboot
2/2/08 - freeze (after reboot)
2/6/08 - freeze
2/9/08 - freeze
2/10/08 - freeze, 2X
2/19/08 - freeze
2/21/08 - erase and install, freeze after
2/27/08 - freeze, 2X
3/10/08 - freeze
3/14/08 - freeze
3/17/08 - freeze
3/26/08 - freeze, 2X
4/3/08 - freeze
4/18/08 - freeze
4/20/08 - freeze
5.4.08 - kernal panic at 3:56 am when not using it
5/6/08 - freeze
5/12/08 - freeze
5/14/08 - kernal panic
5/20/08 - kernal panic
5/23/08 - kernal panic
5/27/08 - freeze
6/10/08 - 2 freezes
6/12/08 - freeze
7/17/08 - freeze
7/26/08 - freeze
7/30/08 = freeze
7/31/08 - freeze
8/7/08 - freeze
8/11/08 - freeze
8/?/08 - freeze
8/23/08 - freeze
8/30/08 - kernal panic
9/5/08 - freeze
9/6/08 - freeze
9/9/08 - freeze

If these numbers don't add up, it is my error in writing them down here. The totals mentioned in the beginning are correct.

Thanks for any help.

Cheers,

John L