10.8.5's release

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10.8.5's release

As you may be aware, 10.8.5 is now available. As with any update, it is important to remember to

Backup your data!

That is no accident I say that twice, you need two separate off computer backups. Updates do not inherantly cause problems.

They are there to add new features, usually enhance security, and optimize an already healthy system. The key here is healthy.

Underlying issues, including unwanted third party software and drivers that have not been tested usually cause the most problems

after an update has been performed. Hence they appear to be caused by the update. Backing up your data is the surest way to determine if an

underlying issue was at cause. Only update once you are sure all your software and drivers are compatible. And because updates make massive changes

to a system, if its hardware is marginal, you will often discover this after an update.

Hence backing up lets you recover once you replace that marginal hardware. If you don't backup, you will never know the exact cause of any problems you may face, and may be left with a non-functioning system and no way to recover.

OS X Mountain Lion, * Links may give me compensation

Posted on Sep 13, 2013 6:01 AM

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Answer 1

Sep 13, 2013 6:47 AM in response to a brody

This might have beeen better as a User Tip. I can't see that anyone's going to come searching troubleshooting forum for a problem before it happens...

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Answer 2

a brody Author

Level 10

82,941 points

Sep 13, 2013 6:53 AM in response to Phil Stokes

I have a user tip in the User tip section on Mountain Lion. Some people never browse user tips, so I put it in this forum. Unfortunately you can't sticky the user tips at the heading of the forum anymore. So if you see people troubled, feel free to link to either or.

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Answer 3

Sep 13, 2013 6:54 AM in response to a brody

Fair enough! 🙂

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Answer 4

Sep 13, 2013 8:48 AM in response to a brody

In addition to your excellent advice in preparation for an OS update, I would add one more thing:

Wait.

If issues have slipped through the sometimes lengthy Developer Preview process and into the general release, they'll start popping up here on the various forums, though especially on the relevant OS forum. So don't be in a rush to install the latest and greatest; let others find out if it really is.😉

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Answer 5

a brody Author

Level 10

82,941 points

Sep 13, 2013 10:01 AM in response to FatMac-MacPro

I agree with waiting. It will take awhile before everyone's software is compatible anyway. But be forewarned when forums start reporting problems, most of the time, the problem is between keyboard and chair. Ensure that sufficient individual troubleshooting has taken place to ensure it is not the individual having a problem. An error many make is that because many people posted to one thread, there is a problem with the operating system. Unfortunately many of those "me too" threads result in no troubleshooting at all, or very unfocussed troubleshooting leading to no definite answers either. If you don't see a resolution has come from a troubleshooter that the issue is definitely with the operating system, don't assume the problem is due to the operating system. You also don't know if multiple people are using the same third party software which may not be compatible. So be sure any isolation is done individually.

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Answer 6

Sep 13, 2013 10:45 AM in response to a brody

a brody wrote:

I agree with waiting. It will take awhile before everyone's software is compatible anyway. But be forewarned when forums start reporting problems, most of the time, the problem is between keyboard and chair...

...which includes the coffee cup over the keyboard.😉

But in this case, there are a number of posts about WiFi issues occurring immediately after 10.8.5 is installed, which is also immediately after it was released. I don't use WiFi so I would miss it even if I installed it, and there may be a common third party driver gumming things up, but a few days delay would allow some troubleshooting and results to be reported.

I still remember when a QuckTime update broke TurboTax during tax prep time and it took a while for Intuit to get it working again, with Pacifist as the only solution in the meantime. Unless it's an urgent security update, I tend to wait, or try it out on another boot partition as a test.

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Answer 7

a brody Author

Level 10

82,941 points

Sep 13, 2013 10:52 AM in response to FatMac-MacPro

WiFi issues are as old as WiFi itself. Sadly the design of WiFi has lead to a number of issues, which I identified back in Mac OS X 10.4* which still present themselves today. I agree otherwise, trying a different partition is a good idea, if you must start testing it. But always keep at least two backups that is off either partition of your most essential data.

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Answer 8

Sep 13, 2013 11:06 AM in response to a brody

I couldn't agree more on the backups. I use a 3TB USB 3.0 external with four partitions and do a rotating backup on it. I also use a dual HD FW enclosure from OWC with Seagate 3TB Barracuda XT's that came out of GoFlex external enclosures that caused them to overheat. And the four Mac Pro bays are full so that I can use four different OS's for testing and PPC software and still have room for archives and Time Machine.

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