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As I have no experience with OS X upgrades, does anyone have advice about upgrading versus doing a clean install? Its a rMBP 13 from late 2013

deleted 12y ago
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k-mcgrady 12y ago
Upgrade. I've only ever done a fresh install of OS X once whereas on Windows upgrade was for crazy people. I actually upgraded last year from the first beta to the official release and there were zero issues. As always, backup first.
Audiophilip 12y ago
I experienced no problems with earlier major OS X updates on my MBP, so personally I'd go down the update route. Nevertheless, it's a good idea to have Time Machine backups at hand.
teamhappy 12y ago
Upgrading works surprisingly good. I never ran into any issues if I recall correctly. For me however, this one is going to be a clean install. I do them every 2-3 releases.
Tehnix 12y ago
Depends on which category you fit into. You use dev tools and stuff like homebrew/macports a lot: fresh install is a lot nicer. You don't use the above that much: Upgrade is fine. As for the packages, I had a lot of different packages that were built for Mavericks, and needed updating, and would constantly bump into something new that needed something reinstalled etc. Various reasons for this, like Apple moving around system utilities and upgrading various things. EDIT: Just to be clear, all is solvable with the upgrade. It's just a bit cleaner with a, well, clean install ;)
- mitchty 12y ago
  I personally always go for a fresh install. I just rysnc my home dir away and copy it back. The rest is mostly setup in ansible land now so I don't really lose much by installing fresh.
biftek 12y ago
Strange, I guess I'm an outlier but I always do clean installs for a new OS.
vbezhenar 12y ago
I always do a fresh install. I save backup of my $HOME, but don't restore it (I copy what I need when I need). It's perfect time for getting rid of old unused applications, projects, etc. But it takes time and patience.
RexRollman 12y ago
I am old school. Across major versions, I back up my files, create the install media, and clean install from that. By the way, Yosemite runs really well on my MBA. The only thing that bugs me is the hideously ugly folder icons.

deleted 12y ago

[deleted]

k-mcgrady 12y ago

Upgrade. I've only ever done a fresh install of OS X once whereas on Windows upgrade was for crazy people. I actually upgraded last year from the first beta to the official release and there were zero issues. As always, backup first.

Audiophilip 12y ago

I experienced no problems with earlier major OS X updates on my MBP, so personally I'd go down the update route. Nevertheless, it's a good idea to have Time Machine backups at hand.

teamhappy 12y ago

Upgrading works surprisingly good. I never ran into any issues if I recall correctly. For me however, this one is going to be a clean install. I do them every 2-3 releases.

Tehnix 12y ago

Depends on which category you fit into. You use dev tools and stuff like homebrew/macports a lot: fresh install is a lot nicer. You don't use the above that much: Upgrade is fine. As for the packages, I had a lot of different packages that were built for Mavericks, and needed updating, and would constantly bump into something new that needed something reinstalled etc. Various reasons for this, like Apple moving around system utilities and upgrading various things. EDIT: Just to be clear, all is solvable with the upgrade. It's just a bit cleaner with a, well, clean install ;)

mitchty 12y ago
I personally always go for a fresh install. I just rysnc my home dir away and copy it back. The rest is mostly setup in ansible land now so I don't really lose much by installing fresh.

biftek 12y ago

Strange, I guess I'm an outlier but I always do clean installs for a new OS.

vbezhenar 12y ago

I always do a fresh install. I save backup of my $HOME, but don't restore it (I copy what I need when I need). It's perfect time for getting rid of old unused applications, projects, etc. But it takes time and patience.

RexRollman 12y ago

I am old school. Across major versions, I back up my files, create the install media, and clean install from that. By the way, Yosemite runs really well on my MBA. The only thing that bugs me is the hideously ugly folder icons.