Thinking of upgrading to Lion. Need opinions

I don't recommend upgrading to Lion. There are a lot of problems, and they are persistent. In fact, some of the problems are "features" and are unlikely to be corrected.

Having said that, if you want iCloud fully, you need to upgrade. Having said THAT, you can take advantage of many iCloud features while sticking with Snow Leopard, which is unquestionable, a more stable and better designed system.

Here's my rundown of when you do and don't need Lion for iCloud:

iCloud – Lion Not Needed

Calendars and Reminders:These can be synced automatically to iCloud by simply changing the settings in iCal to sync with the iCloud server. If you make a change to any of your calendars, all of your calendars will update almost exactly as they would with Lion. You can find instructions on the proper settings for iCal here: https://discussions.apple.com/thread/3402091?answerId=16418266022#16418266022

Find My iPhone and Find My Friends: Neither require Lion to run.

Mail: Technically, this does require Lion, but you can achieve the same effect by using an IMAP mail server (gmail does this). IMAP (as opposed to POP mail) always has been a "mail in the cloud" type service, and does exactly what iCloud does: syncs your mail on every device. Bonus: Mostly likely you can do this with your existing email account if you're not already.

Backing up your phone: I've never tested this, but I'm pretty sure you can back up your phone settings without Lion (someone correct me if I'm wrong)

iCloud – Lion Needed

Contacts

Safari bookmarks

Notes (actually this might be possible without Lion through iCal, haven't tested it)

Photo Stream

Documents & Data

You'll need to decide if it's worth moving to Lion for these other items. It depends on how you use your phone. For me, personally, the things I want to auto update are those things that change the most – like the calendar, reminders and mail. So I didn't see much use in "upgrading." I almost never update my contacts so having contacts update instantly isn't that important to me (it can wait until the next sync). Documents & Data only works with Apple's document software (not with Microsoft Word, PowerPoint, etc.) so if your productivity software of choice is Microsoft's, that feature isn't of any use. You get the idea. You'll need to decide how you're going to use iCloud and decide if it's worth dealing with Lion.

One other note: Upgrading to Lion is only required for your computer to join in the iCloud sync. Even without Lion, you can use Photo Stream to sync images between your iPhone and iPad, for example. Or your iPad and Apple TV. The photos just won't show up in iPhoto unless you have Lion.

Don't know. Seems like a good question to ask your bank.

Allan

Allan Eckert wrote:

Don't know. Seems like a good question to ask your bank.

Allan

On the surface, that makes sense but the problem is in locating someone that actually knows the answer.

LJH_CMH wrote:

I don't recommend upgrading to Lion. There are a lot of problems...

Such as?

I still use iWeb and publish my website to a new server with FTP from iWeb. After Mobile Me will be gone those parts of iWeb that link to graphics on Mobile Me will not work, like the arrow buttons in Slide Shows. Roddy McCay and Old Toad have found a solution: Here is a tutorial by Old Toad how to fix this: http://oldtoadstutorials.net/No._26.html and it works like a charm.

Cheers

Léonie

mac2112 wrote:

Thanks LJH_CMH!

I thought you had to be on Lion to do anything at all with icloud. no?

No, no. Read my post again. I use iCloud every day for lots of stuff and I'm on Snow Leopard. (Although I was on Lion for 5 days in July.)

Philly_Phan wrote:

LJH_CMH wrote:

I don't recommend upgrading to Lion. There are a lot of problems...

Such as?

You can read through these discussions for a more comprehensive list, but my experiences included:

1.) Frequent freezes and occasional crashes.

2.) Icons automatically rearranging themselves.

3.) Decreased battery life

4.) Slow performance

5.) Elimination of features such as Front Row, Rosetta and small things like finder window pinch-to-zoom. And the addition of a confused and clunky Mission Control.

Yes, I know, you never experienced any of those problems, so that proves that those problems don't exist. And you like the new "improvements," so that proves I'm an old foggy stuck in the past. You don’t' need to respond – I've heard it all before.

You're correct about one thing. I have not experienced most of those issues either on my machine or on any other Mac that I've used.

Yes, I've noticed the absence of Rosetta. With the exception of ONE application published by Intuit, which abandoned the Mac world several years back, it's not a problem. You certainly can't expect to update part of a complex system while retaining 100% compatibility with everything else in the system.

If you're not happy with Mission Control, the solution is exceptionally simple - don't use it! That's my wife's solution.

mac2112 wrote:

Right, but when I try to migrate to it, it the last question is something about all my machines having the correct software, so I backed out at that point. Did you go through with the migration, even with SL?

Where did you get this "last question"? On your Mac? iPhone? iPad? I think Apple is just trying to make sure that you know that your devices will only sync as advertised if they all have the proper software (iDevices need iOS5). If you set up iCloud without Lion, your Mac won't be able to sync to the cloud (other than in the situations I explained in my earlier post), but your devices will still work with the cloud, no problem.

Philly_Phan wrote:

If you're not happy with Mission Control, the solution is exceptionally simple - don't use it! That's my wife's solution.

Really, you could have saved yourself the time, but at least you've proved that my predicting abilites are 100% on target.

The problem with not using Mission Control is that I LOVE Snow Leopard's Expose and use it all the time. If my mouse stopped working, would you tell me to learn keyboard shortcuts? I'm not going to recommend an inferior tool just because Apple slapped a "new and improved" sticker on it.

You say, "don't use it." Well guess what: That's exactly what I did. I "downgraded" back to Snow Leopard and said goodbye to Mission Control. So now a guy is asking if he should upgrade to Lion and I'm being honest about my expereinces.

mac2112 wrote:

it was on my MBP, when i logged into icloud.com

I was afraid to proceed, but it seems like its ok to do it and migrate, right? I will still be able to update my iweb site the same as im doing now, etc?

Thanks so much for your help

Under normal circumstances, I would say it's fine to upgrade through icloud.com, no matter what your operating system. However, I know nothing about iWeb or how it interacts with the cloud. Anyone?

the last question is something about all my machines having the correct software, so I backed out at that point.

Before you migrate it is very important to update all your software to the current versions using the automatic software update and to check each non-apple Application for updates.

• for many propriatory apps that came with cameras, scanners etc. that you originally installed as PowerPC apps there may be free updates to universal binaries. Install them while still running SL. You will not be able to launch and update these apps from Lion.
• Make sure all your Garageband Jam Packs are properly installed, if you use Garageband. The Jam Pack installers require Rosetta.
• If you are still using Aperture 2 make sure your version is a universal binary version, if not, upgrade.
• If you still use iTunes 10.3.... then upgrade to an iTunes 10.4 or 10.5 version.