MAVERICKS

Next was the announcement of Mavericks (Mac OS X 10.9). It has so many new features! But first let us see if you are on the the fast track to upgrading. The list of Macs that will

install Mavericks is pretty much the same as those that are able to use OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion, so we’re talking 64-bit Intel-based Macs.

Here’s the full list of Macs and OS X Mavericks compatibility:

• MacBook Pro—you’ll need to have either a 13-inch from mid-2009, 15-inch from mid/late 2007 or 17- inch from late 2007 or later.

• MacBook—13-inch from 2008 or 13-inch aluminum from early 2009 or later.

• iMac—it needs to be mid 2007 or newer.

• MacBook Air—it needs to be from 2008 or newer.

• Mac Mini—it needs to be early 2009 or newer.

• Mac Pro—it needs to be early 2008 or newer.

• Xserve—early 2009.

As you can see, this leaves many older Macs unable to upgrade including all the plastic-case MacBooks before 2008, pre-mid 2007 MacBook Pros, Mac Minis, iMacs and most notably the original MacBook Airs. In terms of graphics support this means anything with the ATI Radeon X1600 or an Intel GMA 950 or x3100 integrated graphics cards are dead in the water. Even the 2006 and 2007 versions of the Mac Pro won’t be able to install OS X 10.9, just as they couldn’t install OS X 10.8. So if you’re feeling left out, just think how left out those high-end machine users feel after investing $4K to $5K or even $10K and finding out their machine is now not supported. Now you’ve heard the bad news or good news depending on where your machine is on this list. Let’s talk about what Mavericks offers you. For portable owners, one of the improvements is longer battery life—from one hour to three or four according to tests with various machines doing different tasks. This is achieved with memory compression and how the CPU spends its time. Remember if you want more information on this you can watch the Apple Keynote at: www.apple.com/apple-events/ october-2013/

UPGRADING TO MAVERICKS

There do not appear to be any performance issues using Mavericks on my Mac Mini which is a Core 2 Duo 2.66Hz. There are some screen redraw problems on my 39" TV which I use as a monitor for that unit. Most things are chugging right along, including my two Drobo raid devices which hold my movies and music. As a warning I give everyone: backup your data with a clone and a Time Machine backup. Always start with a Disk FirstAid check to make sure your data and directories are in good shape before doing any major updates. Trying to downgrade back to where you were is a real pain in the bun. I’m lucky to have the Mini which is our media center for music and movies as well as a viewing device for internet video clips. So it’s not like I am risking my work computer. Things to check before you make this kind of upgrade: Is the software you use compatible with Mavericks? I have seen third party software cause big

headaches. Printer drivers could be an issue, make sure that your printer will work with the software. Make sure your Java is up-to-date if you use Adobe products as there is a problem launching them if Java is not correct and turned on. Older (round) Airports may no longer be configured on the newer systems.