Pete ROW

Q: Is OS X 10.10 recommended for MacBook early 2009?

Apple Support says a MacBook (white, early 2009) will meet the requirements to run OS X 10.9 Mavericks and even OS X 10.10 Yosemite, but is that recommended, or will those Operating Systems be too much for the machine?  I had an Apple Genie tech recommend that I stick with OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard, because the later OS would take too much system resources.  Any thoughts?

MacBook, OS X Yosemite (10.10)

Posted on Dec 20, 2014 9:10 AM

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Q: Is OS X 10.10 recommended for MacBook early 2009?

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  • by Mike Sombrio,Helpful

    Mike Sombrio Mike Sombrio Dec 20, 2014 10:30 AM in response to Pete ROW
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    Dec 20, 2014 10:30 AM in response to Pete ROW

    I have an early 2009 macbook running Mavericks in 4gb of ram, Yosemite is similar so if you have AT LEAST 4gb of ram you should be fine. Coming from Snow Leopard I can assure you that you wont be happy trying to run the newer OS in less than 4gb. Be aware that some apps that work in SL will not run in the newer OS due to the loss of Rosetta. http://roaringapps.com/apps?index=a

  • by Pete ROW,

    Pete ROW Pete ROW Dec 20, 2014 11:16 AM in response to Mike Sombrio
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    Dec 20, 2014 11:16 AM in response to Mike Sombrio

    Mike, thanks!  One more question - I really don't use Apps, just the normal Safari, Foxfire, Office for Mac, Macmail, etc.  So, I'm not too concerned about that.  I don't know what Rosetta is, but won't a lot of those apps listed on roaringapps.com be updated to run on Mavericks and Yosemite in the future? 

    Also, I'm concerned with system resources vs. up-to-date software with security updates still being made.  So, what prompted this was a desire to move up from Safari 5.1.10, which I understand, no longer is getting security updates from Apple.  I do have 4GB of RAM, but do you know if there is much difference in use of system resources (mainly RAM, I guess) between Mountain Lion (the minimum I'd have to go to in order to move up in Safari version) and either Mavericks or Yosemite?  Maybe I should only go as far as Mountain Lion?

  • by Mike Sombrio,Helpful

    Mike Sombrio Mike Sombrio Dec 20, 2014 11:37 AM in response to Pete ROW
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    Dec 20, 2014 11:37 AM in response to Pete ROW

    Beginning with Mavericks ram is allocated and reported differently. Mavericks and Yosemite use as much of your free ram as it can and releases ram to other apps as its needed, this has confused some people because they think the OS is eating up all their ram. The best response I saw to the way ram is allocated now is that you WANT your computer to use all of its resources, what good are they doing sitting there not being used? As long as the OS reallocates resources when they're needed why would you not want them to be used? How to use Activity Monitor - Apple Support

    My early 2009 macbook runs Mavericks just fine, for your use I'd feel confident that yours would too.

    Rosetta is emulation software that allowed Power PC code to be run on Intel processors, MS Office 2004, for example, will not run on anything past Snow Leopard. Before upgrading beyond Snow Leopard you need to be aware of what software you depend on or you could get an untimely surprise. Another way to check your installed apps is to open System Profiler. click the Applications tab and look at the type, if its PPC it will not run, if its Intel it will. That way you can go to each developer and see if there's an update you could get for software you need/want.

  • by Pete ROW,

    Pete ROW Pete ROW Dec 20, 2014 12:06 PM in response to Mike Sombrio
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    Dec 20, 2014 12:06 PM in response to Mike Sombrio

    Mike, THANKS!  Once again, your answers are VERY clear and helpful.  Thanks for telling me how to check for PPC applications.  I do have some.  Most are related to old printers I have, but my wife's macbook - 2010, which is running Mavericks, is still able to print to those printers, so I imagine at worst, I'd have to download a new driver for me to access them (and I have a new printer that I use almost exclusively now, anyway).  There is one other PPC application that I wonder about needing.  It is a 2004 version of Flashplayer.  I was surprised to see that, because I think I just recently downloaded an update or updated version of Flashplayer.  Perhaps the new version has another name, and I won't miss this one.  Any thoughts on that?  Finally, there were quite a few applications labeled as "Universal," and one labeled, "Classic."  Am I correct in assuming that these will be fine on Mavericks? 

  • by Mike Sombrio,

    Mike Sombrio Mike Sombrio Dec 20, 2014 1:01 PM in response to Pete ROW
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    Dec 20, 2014 1:01 PM in response to Pete ROW

    Classic was to support OS9 applications, it's so old I don't even remember when support was ended. Whatever that app is should not even work in 10.6.8

    You want to keep Flash updated. Whenever you update Flash or Acrobat you should enter www.adobe.com yourself and avoid ever clicking on links to upgrade, many will rdirect you to other sites that offer a modified updater that will also install malware on your mac without your knowledge.

    Most printers are supported unless they're extremely old. See here for compatibility of your specific model OS X: Printer and scanner software available for download - Apple Support

  • by Mike Sombrio,

    Mike Sombrio Mike Sombrio Dec 20, 2014 1:05 PM in response to Pete ROW
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    Dec 20, 2014 1:05 PM in response to Pete ROW

    Pete, here' how I've upgraded my macs when these major upgrades come out. I clone my existing system using Carbon Copy Cloner onto an external hard drive before upgrading anything, that way you have a bootable clone from which you can erase your hard drive and restore to the previous system if you dou't like the new version.

    IT's always recommended to make a backup before doing any upgrades anyway, by cloning you have an easy way back.

  • by RBearden,

    RBearden RBearden Dec 20, 2014 1:18 PM in response to Pete ROW
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    Dec 20, 2014 1:18 PM in response to Pete ROW

    I updated to Yosemite on my 2009 MacBook Pro 15 inch.  I have maxed out my memory and everything seems to work fine so far.  But on the flip side is there a way to get the old desktop theme look of the Maverick in Yosemite?  The lack of detail and flat finish is visually boring and looks like a 6 year old with a box of crayola crayons did the artwork.  I loved the apple for the rich desktop and apps, brushed aluminum and details had a very rich and polished look.  This is minimalist and  looks cheap and not worthy of such fine hardware and software.  They should have given an option for the desktop and application themes, like Microsoft Windows did.  My iMac will remain using Mavericks because Yosemite looks cheap and this applies to the iOS8 as well. 

  • by Pete ROW,

    Pete ROW Pete ROW Jan 1, 2015 12:51 PM in response to RBearden
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    Jan 1, 2015 12:51 PM in response to RBearden

    RBeardon,  Thanks for chiming in!  It's helpful to know that Yosemite is working on your machine.

  • by Pete ROW,

    Pete ROW Pete ROW Jan 1, 2015 1:09 PM in response to Mike Sombrio
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    Jan 1, 2015 1:09 PM in response to Mike Sombrio

    Mike,  Thanks again for all your helpful information.  Sorry for the delay, had to pause and get ready for Christmas, etc.  I think I'm going to try upgrading, but want to backup my system, in case I need to go back to Snow Leopard.  I do general back-ups on an external drive using Time Machine.  That backs-up everything including my Snow Leopard OS, right?  What is Carbon Copy Cloner?  Do I need to download that or would Time Machine be sufficient?

  • by Mike Sombrio,Solvedanswer

    Mike Sombrio Mike Sombrio Jan 1, 2015 2:07 PM in response to Pete ROW
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    Jan 1, 2015 2:07 PM in response to Pete ROW

    Time Machine is fine IF you have Snow Leopard install discs. In order to restore from TM you need a working OS. That's why I prefer a clone for this task. CCC is not free but you can DL it....it's worth every penny in my mind. I've never used Disk Utility to do it but I guess DU can clone also http://macs.about.com/od/backupsarchives/ss/diskbackup.htm

    BTW....Happy New Year!

  • by Mike Sombrio,

    Mike Sombrio Mike Sombrio Jan 1, 2015 2:13 PM in response to Mike Sombrio
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    Jan 1, 2015 2:13 PM in response to Mike Sombrio

    Looks like DU will do a fine job for you.

  • by Pete ROW,

    Pete ROW Pete ROW Feb 7, 2015 10:26 AM in response to Mike Sombrio
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    Feb 7, 2015 10:26 AM in response to Mike Sombrio

    Well, I thought I'd finally report what I did and then undid, as a result of all this discussion!  BOTTOM LINE:  DON'T UPGRADE AN EARLY 2009 MACBOOK TO OS X 10.10 YOSEMITE.  But, I also learned a bunch of other information about how to go back to older Operating Systems, the use of Time Machine (which is better than most Apple Technicians know), the use of Migration Assistant, and the great, free software support from Apple's Genius Bars at their Apple local retail stores.  Read on if you'd like to learn from me about those things:

     

    I decided I wanted to upgrade from my 10.6 Snow Leopard system just to 10.8 Mountain Lion, because I suspected that OS X 10.10 Yosemite, and perhaps even 10.9 Mavericks, would be too much for my system resources.  But, when I went to apple.com to upgrade, I could only go to 10.8 by ordering (and paying for) disks to be shipped to me.  The only other listed option for my macbook serial number was upgrading to OS X 10.10 Yosemite.  I was also having a printer problem which (at the time) I thought might be due to my outdated system, and didn't want to wait for disks to be shipped.  And, since everything Apple Support had posted said that my early 2009 macbook could run OS X 10.10 as long as I had 4 GB of RAM, I went ahead and upgraded to OS X 10.10 Yosemite.  That was a mistake.  It was too much for my macbook's system resources, especially when running Office for Mac 2008 - Word and Excel started to run really slow.  It would run good if I rebooted, but after a while of use, even if I closed various applications I had used, it would run really slow again - too slow to be efficient in my work.  It seemed like either Yosemite or Office for Mac was not releasing system resources, even after closing things.  A call to Apple Support - advisor suggested that I was right and things wouldn't improve even if I upgraded to Office for Mac 2011.  He agreed that it was probably because of the greater resource needs of Yosemite.  He suggested that the technicians at the Apple Genius bar at the Apple local retail stores could help me with getting back to my original 10.6 Operating System, or to 10.8, and made an appointment for me.

     

    I went to the Apple Genius bar at the local Apple retail store - a great source of help!  They helped me save Documents and iPhoto Library, and then cleared the hard drive and did a clean install of OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion.  It seemed to work great.  (And, one of the main benefits for upgrading from 10.6 to 10.8 is that the Safari version associated with 10.8 is still supported and gets security updates, etc., while Safari with 10.6 is not - something I thought important for working on the internet.)

     

    On my way home, however, I remembered - "but what about all my 'macmail' emails"?  I use my mac mail application with a lot of folders to store emails related to my work, like a filing cabinet.  And, they are essential.  Since I chose a POP configuration (instead of IMAP), the emails are no longer available on my various email servers.  Another call to Apple Support - GOOD NEWS - the technician explained that I could use "Migration Assistant" to get all that back via my Time Machine backups.  (Migration Assistant can be found under your Applications/Utilities folder in Finder.)  Well, that technician said, however, that Migration Assistant will probably only be able to access the latest Time Machine backup that was created before I upgraded to Yosemite, since I was now at Mountain Lion - an OS earlier than Yosemite.  That backup would have missed about the last week's emails, but that would still be pretty close.  BUT, PLEASANT SURPRISE: Migration Assistant didn't ask for a specific backup date to use, just for me to tell it which backup drive to pull from, and God's blessing: it took everything from my very latest backup, which I had made while I was at OS X 10.10 Yosemite, right before reinstalling OS 10.8 Mountain Lion!!!!  It not only got ALL my emails, it also restored ALL my documents, AND even my applications.  For example, I was told that after restoring my system to 10.8 Mountain Lion, I would have to reinstall my Office for Mac 2008 from its system disks.  But, not so with Migration Assistant - it was back again, also!!!

     

    Subsequent to all this, I read an Apple Support article about Time Machine that said I could have just restored my complete system back to the way it was (when at OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard), just using Time Machine for that date.  Of course, however, I would then not have my documents or emails I created or received in the week since upgrading to OS X 10.10 Yosemite.  BUT, talking to another technician at the Genius Bar, there would be a work around for this as well.  For documents, of course, you can just save your latest complete Documents folder to an external drive or large thumb drive.  And, you can save your current iPhoto Library folder that way too.  But, evidently, there's, likewise, a folder(s) that stores all your mac mail emails too (like your "iPhoto Library" folder) which could also be saved.  Then, after doing the Time Machine restore to your previous operating system, you could then just restore these three saved folders, and you're back up and running with all your current data - under your previous operating system.  I didn't try this, don't need to at this point, because Migration Assistant worked for me, but this is basically what the "Revert to a previous OX X version" apple support article said could be done - that is for going back to previous OS X version.  The getting of your latest data restored, following that, is what I learned from the Apple Genius Bar technician.

     

    ONE REMAINING ISSUE:  My iPhoto Library.  The one application I upgraded to work with Yosemite after upgrading to Yosemite, was iPhoto.  Evidently, that changes the access to your iPhoto Library.  So, two things had to happen:  1.) I had to go back to the Genius Bar to get them to install a version of iPhoto application that would work with my now OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion.  That wasn't much trouble.  We just sent the current iPhoto (Yosemite) version to the Trash box, and then installed the needed iPhoto application version.  However, when we then tried to connect my latest iPhoto Library folder (which we had saved separately), it couldn't be accessed.  The upgrade to iPhoto application (Yosemite version) had altered the iPhoto Library as well.

    Next, we tried connecting my iPhoto Library folder from my Time Machine backups from a date before my upgrade of iPhoto application.  But, this didn't work either.  So, for now, we simply moved the photos in my latest iPhoto Library (from my Time Machine backups), to the iPhoto Library folder newly established by the install of the iPhoto application for my OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion system.  This took a lot of time (48GB of photos/videos to move), but worked fine - except that it didn't have all the "Events" organization I had before.  It simply had the events organized by date.  I can reorganize that.  The main thing is that I have all my photos/videos now, accessible from my new iPhoto application on my installed OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion system.

    (I'm not convinced there isn't another way to get all of it back, including my events organization, but haven't had time to look into that more - and I'd probably want to do it with the aid of a Genius Bar technician, again.)

     

    FINAL ADDITIONAL THOUGHT:  Apple's products seem to operate BETTER than they promise.

    1.) No Apple person I talked to - either on phone support or at two different Genius Bar visits (3 different technicians), thought that once I went back to a previous OS X version, after upgrading to Yosemite, that I'd be able to access any of the more recent Time Machine backups I did while at Yosemite - BUT, it did!!!  

    2.)  AND, No apple person expected Migration Assistant to get back any of the data from my more recent Time Machine backups that I did while at Yosemite - BUT, it did!!!!!

     

    I think the answer here is that Apple doesn't want to promise the results that could happen when you're going backwards in Operating Systems.  But, I found  it all to work rather well!!!  I continue to be amazed at the quality and capabilities of Apple products.

     

    Pete