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Level 1

4 points

Worth upgrading to Mountain Lion or stick with Snow Leopard?

A few weeks ago some of you helped me navigate the pros/cons of buying a spanking new Imac vs a mid 2011 (I decided the 2011 was plenty worthy). I thank you for that, and now I want to ask: if I were to get a mid 2011 Imac, is it worth to upgrade to the latest OS, or is sticking with Snow Leopard (my current OS) fine?

I'm using some older software like FCP 6 and its associated suite of programs, and probably plenty of other applications I'm not thinking of at the moment, that I got back in '08 or so when I got the Imac I have now. I think I've heard that Lion/Mountain is a total overhaul of the OS compared to Snow Leopard, and that makes me wonder if there are compatibility issues/problems associated with trying to use these older pieces of software with the new OS. What are the super amazing benefits of Lion or Mountain Lion vs Snow Leopard? Are they worth it? Do the aforementioned issues exist? Thanks.

Posted on Dec 24, 2012 6:18 AM

43 replies

The Bass Author

Level 1

4 points

Jan 1, 2013 10:20 PM in response to babowa

Thanks. I'm used to discs. This downloading apps stuff is MADNESS!!!!!!!!

babowa

Level 9

78,109 points

Jan 1, 2013 10:25 PM in response to The Bass

Agreed - it wastes resources, time, and bandwidth allowances which most ISPs have. I have two bootable clones (one pristine, done from a fresh install, only to be used if I need to start over) and one being kept current for every OS version I have (SL, Lion, and Mountain Lion).

Jan 1, 2013 10:50 PM in response to babowa

Can I install a fresh install using a 16-gig USB Stick? I do have a full backup on an external USB 1-terrabyte drive I use with Time Machine but was wondering about the stick. Will it boot from it and install like a DVD drive would? I'm still getting a Super Drive in the next few weeks as I've never had a new Mac (just bought a new Mini about a week ago).

babowa

Level 9

78,109 points

Jan 1, 2013 11:01 PM in response to Pat-italiano-Valella

I don't use a stick (preferring clones), so I can't speak from personal experience, but here are the instructions:

http://www.macrumors.com/2012/07/25/create-a-bootable-mountain-lion-usb-key-inst aller/

The Bass Author

Level 1

4 points

Jan 2, 2013 12:14 AM in response to babowa

So when you guys talk about clones, are we talking an additional external drive with nothing else on it? Like if the clone is on that drive, nothing else can be?

Jan 2, 2013 12:19 AM in response to The Bass

Yes. Get an external drive roughly the same size as your internal drive (they're relatively cheap these days), connect it to your Mac and format iit using Disk Utility ("Mac OS Extended (Journaled)" with a single GUID partition, and then use Carbon Copy Cloner to clone your internal drive to the external drive.

Pretty simple (and cheap) to do....

Clinton

The Bass Author

Level 1

4 points

Jan 2, 2013 1:44 AM in response to clintonfrombirmingham

Forgive me. . .if the idea is to have a pristine (I'm assuming that means with no apps installed, etc.) clone of the OS, and the OS is 4GB, why do you need a drive the same size as your internal?

Jan 2, 2013 1:58 AM in response to The Bass

Just in case you do backup your entire drive - apps and all: that's what a clone is. I keep two 'working' clones and one 'release' clone. As a developer, I'm often running on pre-release software so I keep a clone of the 'stable release' as a backup and two 'scheduled' clone backups of my internal drive. I also keep two Time Machine backups - I'm a fool for backing up, coming from a long history with mainframes.

So if you're going to clone your current drive, you should get a drive of equal size. If you just want a 'recovery' drive, you can create a USB stick of 8GB+ to do a fresh install of Mountain Lion. I've two of these, as well.

Clinton

The Bass Author

Level 1

4 points

Jan 2, 2013 2:26 AM in response to clintonfrombirmingham

Ah, ok gotcha. We may have been over this so again, forgive me, but how would a TM backup differ from a clone of one's entire drive?

Jan 2, 2013 2:32 AM in response to The Bass

Time Machine keeps incremental backups - so you can 'go back in time' and restore your drive from a particular date. A clone is different - it takes a one-time 'snapshot' of your drive. This allows you to restore your system as it was when you took that one 'snapshot'.

I use both methods - I keep both the 'incremental' backups, via Time Machine, and a 'one-time' snapshot of my internal drive. As I said, one clone I'll use for a 'stable' system release and the other two as daily snapshots.

Clear? If not, call back.

Clinton

The Bass Author

Level 1

4 points

Jan 2, 2013 3:36 AM in response to clintonfrombirmingham

Ok, that's what I figured. Guess they haven't implemented a feature in Time Machine yet where you can tell it "NEVER ERASE THIS PARTICULAR BACKUP!" (e.g. the very first one you make, your "stable" built). . .a setting to let it erase/overwrite everything else as needed when the drive fills up, but keep that particular backup locked/protected from erasure. The act of being erased, that is. Not the band.

The Bass Author

Level 1

4 points

Jan 8, 2013 9:32 PM in response to The Bass

So heres an update: got the mac, apparently already has ML installed, guy at apple store said id its a mid 2011 must have shipped with lion, couldnt fathom that it might have shipped with SL, and he knew of no way to check. So thats where i be at right now.

babowa

Level 9

78,109 points

Jan 8, 2013 9:43 PM in response to The Bass

Well, if you want to pursue it, I'd call Apple (you're under warranty!) and ask if they can confirm which build and OS version it came with since it's a mid 2011, so it could have either installed.

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1159

Worth upgrading to Mountain Lion or stick with Snow Leopard?