OS X Upgrade Reports 1 & 2
Posted : 26 Sep 2002 & 23 Oct 2002
Having done quite a few OS X upgrades now, I just wanted to let you know how they have gone in general and my latest feelings on OS X.
Miscellaneous Issues
Synchronising mail if swapping between OS 9 and X regularly is very tedious
unless you use Eudora. Doing a one off transfer to OS X is ok but checking in
both is a pain.
If you are using Quark don't touch OS X. You have been warned !
Printer driver support is still a bit weak in OS X. Not all printers are supported
and even if they are they don't always work correctly.
Epson software RIP's only work in classic mode, native OS X versions are somewhere
off in the distant future
Because of font/printer driver issues some programs may look and print a little
bit differently.
Adaptec SCSI cards have been causing intermittent problems with OS X, sometimes
they work and sometimes they don't.
Printer & bureau support for Adobe In Design is not as strong as for Quark
XPress
OS X will work well for you if -
1) You rarely or never need to use classic
2) Have a well supported printer
3) Are buying a new system and can buy new compatible hardware and software
4) Need to do the typical email/web/word processing/spreadsheet/accounting functions
OS X is not yet for you if -
1) You only have 1 computer and must run one or more OS 9 programs regularly
under classic in OS X
2) You have existing hardware that is not supported by OS X
3) You need to use Quark XPress
Some Options
Install OS X on one machine and only do things that OS X does best
Keep older hardware (scanners are a typical problem) on an OS 9 Mac
After all this stuff you may be wondering why you should use OS X at all. It
definitely does have its good points, namely less crashing, nice look and feel,
better PC connectivity, advanced Internet services, etc.
My advice : Proceed with caution if an existing Mac OS 9 user and carefully
analyse your existing hardware and software. Call or email me for anything you
want to ask.
To give you a quick summary of my OS X installs and upgrades so far... OS X
works well but there have been some issues along the way.
----
Some of these are as follows :
- email transfer between OS 9 and X. Eudora is the only OS 9 and X solution
that works easily. Otherwise it gets a bit messy exporting and then reimporting
mail and address books. This is compounded by the fact that Microsoft have not
released a free email client for OS X. Most people use Outlook Express and then
have to import their mail into Eudora or Apple's OS X email program. Easier
if you own Office X and have Entourage. Doing the reverse process is even worse
if you have to go back to OS 9.
- legacy hardware support. Some older scanners, printers, external drives have
given problems because of their age as the original manufacturers have either
gone out of business or have not produced OS X drivers for very old equipment.
Part of my time on site includes a hardware survey of all your existing hardware
to test OS X compatibility.
- in some cases, current model printers, etc are having trouble printing from
OS X. These are typically unusual suppliers and supposedly OS X support is forthcoming...
OS 9 however has no problem printing to these printers.
- support of legacy OS 9 software. In 95% of cases software works fine running
under classic mode (OS 9 running under OS X) but it's the 5% that jumps up and
bites you almost every time.
- software updates. For most software, OS X versions are now available. There
is a cost involved as most major software houses have released either new versions
or major updates that they are charging for. Part of my time on site includes
a software survey of all your existing software to test OS X compatibility.
- Using OS X as a file server has highlighted a few issues with group and user
privileges mainly to do with the changes in the way Unix handles file and folder
permissions. I am concerned with the way that OS X handles file sharing and
user/group management, as it is very time intensive to setup and manage file
sharing - groups in particular. Basically OS 9 manages this process much more
easily and intuitively. OS X server does a better job but also costs a lot more.
- Adaptec SCSI cards have intermittently been a problem with OS X. Dantz (the
makers of Retrospect backup software) have gone so far as to withdraw their
support for Adaptec cards. They have worked fine for me once I have installed
the latest drivers though.
----
My current thoughts on OS X after my latest round of installs :
1) OS X is much more powerful than OS 9. The power of Unix under the hood (so
to speak) is amazing. The more I learn about it the more I realize that Apple
has done the right thing. They have the best flavour of Unix running, bar none.
Huge learning curve to get familiar with Unix at the terminal level.
2) More than ever I must emphasise that OS X is different. It works different,
looks different and is different from OS 9 on many levels. Much of the smoothness
and familiarity that we have acquired after using varying Mac OS's can only
partially be transferred to OS X.
3) I reckon that Apple (and software developers) have still a year or so of
work to integrate everything together to make it all work as well as you and
I would all expect it to work. It is best suited to new users who don't have
to support legacy software and/or hardware. For those of you with 2 or more
computers it is easier to try and integrate OS X into your network as you can
load it onto 1 computer.
4) Foreign language support seems to be excellent. I have even done a Chinese
language OS X install. Now that was really exciting ! Still some areas associated
with other programs using the language but core OS X support seems to be working
fine.
5) Printing in general seems to have taken a step backward from OS 9. Support
of the full range of printers and RIP's is still not satisfactory. Be careful
when buying a printer to ensure that it works with OS X. Epson have the best
compatibility, HP, Xerox and Canon next. Anything else and you run a risk of
having problems. Check carefully.
6) Multiple fonts (100+) will remain a problem for users until the solutions
(Suitcase et al) mature further and while OS 9 support is still required.
7) OS X 10.2 improved things a lot in terms of speed and refinement. Still more
to go though.
----
To summarise :
Every installation is different. Every site has a different range of hardware
and software and tasks that they want to do. The basic core stuff - email, web
browsing, MS Office, Adobe applications (not Acrobat distiller), internet connection,
etc., works fine. Going beyond that - running RIP's in classic, complex file
sharing, connecting to old hardware, extensive use of classic software, printing
to unsupported printers is where it can sometimes come unstuck. There are often
(but not always) work arounds, but the more complex your setup then the more
issues you may potentially have. Apple seems to be preparing a whole range of
new hardware for January which will apparently be unable to boot into OS 9 (but
will be able to run classic). OS X is here to stay and if you use Mac's you
will have to come to grips with these issues sooner or later.