Sleeping iMac after install/uninstall of applications

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tal1971 Author

Level 2

302 points

Sleeping iMac after install/uninstall of applications

I'm going to me receiving my first iMac in the next few days.

Presently on my Windows computer. A lot of the time when I have installed or uninstalled programs, I am shown on the screen that I need to restart my computer.

I was wondering if this is the same on Mac?

Also. I've read many posts that say its advisable to put a Mac to sleep (most of the time) rather than shutting it down everytime I would have finished using it. In light of this, if I install or uninstall an application on my iMac, would it be still OK to put the iMac to sleep or would it be advisable to shut the iMac down instead after I'd finished using it?

Thanks in advance.

Windows Vista, iPad (3rd Gen) 32GB iPhone 5 32GB

Posted on Jan 17, 2013 11:26 PM

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Answer 1

mende1

Level 10

93,538 points

Jan 17, 2013 11:30 PM in response to tal1971

Most of the apps don't need to restart your Mac to complete their installation, but there are others that have to restart the Mac, so it happens with Macs, but less frequently.

We recommend to put the Mac to sleep because the start will be faster and your Mac in sleep doesn't consume more energy

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Answer 2

babowa

Level 9

78,103 points

Jan 17, 2013 11:34 PM in response to tal1971

Some installs require a restart, others do not. You will get a popup dialog telling you if it's needed.

As for sleep vs. shutdown - you will get different opinions. True, the manual suggests that you let it sleep; however, I usually shut mine down (let it sleep 2 - 3 x per week so it can do the background maintenance it does in the middle of the night) - I have done this for years because I don't believe in wasting natural resources. One computer may not consume much while sleeping, but multiplied by millions, it is a waste. It also depends on your usage pattern: Mine is usually used 6 hours per day or so - to me, it makes more sense to shut it down for 18 hours; it sleeps when not needed during those 6 hours. And I've never had a disk problem because I shut it down.

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Answer 3

tal1971 Author

Level 2

302 points

Jan 17, 2013 11:36 PM in response to mende1

mende1 wrote:

Most of the apps don't need to restart your Mac to complete their installation, but there are others that have to restart the Mac, so it happens with Macs, but less frequently.

We recommend to put the Mac to sleep because the start will be faster and your Mac in sleep doesn't consume more energy

Thanks for the help mende1, its much appreciated.

You mention that "there are others that have to restart the Mac". I assume that with any such applications, that I would be notified that I would need to restart my iMac?

Thanks again 🙂

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Answer 4

tal1971 Author

Level 2

302 points

Jan 17, 2013 11:38 PM in response to babowa

babowa wrote:

Some installs require a restart, others do not. You will get a popup dialog telling you if it's needed.

As for sleep vs. shutdown - you will get different opinions. True, the manual suggests that you let it sleep; however, I usually shut mine down (let it sleep 2 - 3 x per week so it can do the background maintenance it does in the middle of the night) - I have done this for years because I don't believe in wasting natural resources. One computer may not consume much while sleeping, but multiplied by millions, it is a waste. It also depends on your usage pattern: Mine is usually used 6 hours per day or so - to me, it makes more sense to shut it down for 18 hours; it sleeps when not needed during those 6 hours. And I've never had a disk problem because I shut it down.

Thanks babowa for the help its much appreciated.

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