How do we help the elderly cope with their apple products?

go to your closest Apple store and take him in for classes

TO go back you need to restore a clone of the system from before you upgraded

LN

Clayhare wrote:

My father is 82 and has had is mac computer since 2011. He has just installed apple's latest software and it has been an absolute disaster! He only uses his computer to sort his photos, write emails and word process but now he cannot access his photos through iPhoto and the computer is not compatible with the latest version. His computer now does not recognise his iPad which he uses to transfer his photos over from the main computer so he can take it to show friends and family. He has phoned several times and just gets cut off and when he does get through they say they will get back to him and never do! He has spent many valuable hours trying to sort this out and gets no where. Is there any way of uninstalling the latest software and getting it back to what he is used to?

Your fathers problem is not age related -- it is an issue for all users that apple is pushing out updates to its software without giving users lists of what to check before even considering installing the latest software.

If you can post more details on your dad's mac that may help -- one way is to download and run this check http://www.etresoft.com/etrecheck

it is an issue for all users that apple is pushing out updates to its software without giving users lists of what to check before even considering installing the latest software

So you've never read the Release Notes that accompany every update? Every single one. They tell you what has changed.

So you've never read the Release Notes that accompany every update? Every single one. They tell you what has changed.

But they do not tell all implications of the change. We have to read the developer documentation to understand what the changes will mean for our system.

The Release notes are fine in telling us about new features and the hardware requirements to run the software. What they rarely tell us however, is which features have been removed, and if the new features will be breaking the compatibility for older applications.

For example, when I looked at the release notes for MacOS X 10.7 Lion, the release notes stated nowhere, that Roseta is no longer available, and we could no longer run PowerPC code on the Mac.

The release Notes for iOS 8 on the iPad did praise the new Photos.app, but did not mention once, that iPhoto is incompatible with the new system.

The Release Notes for OS X 10.11.5 do not mention, that Photos for Mac may not be visible in the Media Browser of older applications, in Office 2011 for example.

The Release Notes for OS X 10.11.5 do not mention, that Photos for Mac may not be visible in the Media Browser of older applications, in Office 2011 for example.

And they do anything different on Windows? Linux? Go buy a new model car and they tell you what is new and better but also never tell you what's been left out. Oh look it had a CD player... but that about all those C90s? Same with everything.

This is all common sense. There are two things you need to do before running any upgrade: Back up (so you can revert) and research the upgrade. Don't do it immediately if you're not sure, read around the net. Or, putting even more simply, take responsibility. Don't expect Apple (or MS or whoever) to mind-read the individual requirements of each user. They can't. They make their products and offer them to the consumer. It's up to the consumer whether he or she takes them up on the offer.

As to the specific case: that issue - an incompatibility between 4 year old, no longer developed, third party software - has been around since 10.10.3 A modicum of research on this forum would have revealed that issue.

This is all common sense. There are two things you need to do before running any upgrade: Back up (so you can revert) and research the upgrade. Don't do it immediately if you're not sure, read around the net. Or, putting even more simply, take responsibility. Don't expect Apple (or MS or whoever) to mind-read the individual requirements of each user. They can't. They make their products and offer them to the consumer. It's up to the consumer whether he or she takes them up on the offer.

As to the specific case: that issue - an incompatibility between 4 year old, no longer developed, third party software - has been around since 10.10.3 A modicum of research on this forum would have revealed that issue.

I totally agree with that. we need to research an update or upgrade before we install it. These forums, sites like "Roaring Apps" all can help to find out, if we can risk the upgrade. I just wanted to point out, that particularly the release notes you recommended are not a a big help for that decision. We have to search for them, and otherwise we will see them the fist time, when we are running the installer.

Click on the update in the App Store and there are or a link to them.

The App Store page does not exactly encourage to read the Release notes - it is collapsed, and small print in faint gray, that cannot be enlarged. We cannot even copy and paste from it to search for more details.. But the "Update All" button is big, fat, and inviting to update all without questions asked.

Terence Devlin wrote:

it is an issue for all users that apple is pushing out updates to its software without giving users lists of what to check before even considering installing the latest software

So you've never read the Release Notes that accompany every update? Every single one. They tell you what has changed.

The vast majority of PC and Mac users of any age are not IT savvy when it comes to installing updates -- in work environment - the IT staff does it.

By the time I slogged through checking all the stuff for updating to Maverick - Yosemite came out taking -- and in that case in order to see the difference in the handling of RAM and VM I had to search for what amounts to a tech paper.

I am at Snow Leopard because of that research - - free is just too expensive in what you lose - have to repurchase etc.

léonie wrote:

So you've never read the Release Notes that accompany every update? Every single one. They tell you what has changed.

But they do not tell all implications of the change. We have to read the developer documentation to understand what the changes will mean for our system.

The Release notes are fine in telling us about new features and the hardware requirements to run the software. What they rarely tell us however, is which features have been removed, and if the new features will be breaking the compatibility for older applications.

For example, when I looked at the release notes for MacOS X 10.7 Lion, the release notes stated nowhere, that Roseta is no longer available, and we could no longer run PowerPC code on the Mac.

The release Notes for iOS 8 on the iPad did praise the new Photos.app, but did not mention once, that iPhoto is incompatible with the new system.

The Release Notes for OS X 10.11.5 do not mention, that Photos for Mac may not be visible in the Media Browser of older applications, in Office 2011 for example.

Thank you for this reply -- funny thing about Rosetta - having it on the intel macs for Leopard and available for Snow Leopard was a positive thing - because it said to users we won't trash the application that really works for you - or the game you like in its present form because it does not have useless animation.

Some stuff apple does is bizarre - was expecting that when I put in a used RW DVD I would get the option to clear it - instead had to research & found one has to do it through disk doctor.

For me the glamour of Apple being intuitive and easy to use - wore off a long time ago -

They keep adding "features", and make what was previously "intuitive", completely obsolete. Macs are still easier for a beginner to grasp than other systems for general day to day usage. They're also easier to support over the phone.

Just be sure you turn off all sharing. There have been numerous security fixes to the underlying BSD unix since that time. Have you manually patched those?

I am at Snow Leopard because of that research - - free is just too expensive in what you lose - have to repurchase etc.

Good for you. You did your research and have made a decision appropriate for your needs. But what you say about information re updates is untrue and always remember "It's not what I expected" is not a synonym for "Some stuff apple does is bizarre". It just means that it's not what you expected.