pgoodwin wrote:
When I go to iTunes\Check For Updates on the iTunes pull-down menu, it tells me there's an 11.1.4 update. When I select the download button, it opens the App Store app, and that shows no updates available.
When I go to the Apple website - http://www.apple.com/itunes/download/ - It will allow me to download iTunes 11.1.4.
My question is this: Is this update recommended or not? I'm on a mid-2010 iMac running iTunes 11.1 on Mac OS 10.9.1.
The 11.1.4 update has been problematical for some folks running Windows, and at least one person running iTunes for Mac has noticed that the Wish List is gone in 11.1.4.
For my part, I no longer implicitly trust ANY software update, including those issued by Apple. I'm unwilling to install any update unless I have the installer for the previous version so I can roll back an installation that doesn't work, or that breaks something else.
Unfortunately, that strategy has become increasingly untenable with so many applications now using the App Store, which installs updates directly, and leaves you without an installer. It's also problematical for some applications (like iTunes and iPhoto) that reconfigure your data libraries so that they won't work with previous versions of the application.
I suppose the App Store approach would be OK if everything always worked. But meanwhile, back in the real world, it's not a very smart approach to system configuration management.
So, here's an alternative strategy. If you have a bootable backup drive, boot from that, run the installer, and test iTunes. If it works there it will work on your primary boot volume.
If you don't have a bootable backup drive, you should seriously consider it. I've lost count of the number of times it has saved me from disaster.
