Save a copy of the installation app to your external drive (or a USB drive).Download the El Capitan installation app and install all App Store updates and third party updates if they are ready for El Capitan.Make a bootable backup (CCC/SuperDuper/DU) – see backup options below for the tools to make this backup.Ingredients: A hard drive you can set aside until you’ve finished testing the new OS or a sense of adventure to proceed without investing time and material consisting of a backup drive and a bootable backup. First, open System Information with your backup drive(s) connected and write down the free space and total space numbers for all the disks on the back of your notecard where you wrote out your time expectations and deal-breaker apps. With all that out of the way, here are two suggestions on how to upgrade your Mac. The upgrade script is designed to avoid numerous problems, nonetheless you might have a different setup and need to re-do the upgrade if things hop off the rails that Apple has laid out for us. For the vast majority of users, the upgrade will be smooth and painless as long as realistic time estimates and a plan for support are at hand. Yes, all sorts of drivers and extensions and developer tools will need some work or major work to accommodate these changes. Yes, there are some major changes to System Integrity Protection that will break many programs that don’t ship from the Mac App Store. Maps, Notes, Photos, Mail, Safari all work together better and there are subtle visual clues you will probably have to learn by reading the manual or asking/watching someone who has explored the new software.Īpple has done far, far more user testing with the AppleSeed program, the public beta program and letting developers kick the tires on El Capitan since WWDC in last June. All sorts of cross-application integration has been added so you can do tasks faster than before once you’re mastered the changes. Apple has made numerous workflow and app layout changes (buttons, colors, controls, etc…) so if you like your Safari tabs to do exactly what they did last year, you might not appreciate the new changes. I want to call out one major change that will delight you or infuriate you. You will need to upgrade most third party apps to take full advantage of Apple’s changes, but even running the same app can be faster if Apple’s supporting programs are more efficient and use less resources.Īpple Lists the dozens of changes and enhancements at Apple’s apps have been rewritten for major performance upgrades in terms of speed, responsiveness and energy savings. Spotlight is seriously bulked up as is the malware protection and gatekeeper restrictions to ensure apps don’t mess under the hood with the system. The big features that you will notice is a revamp of full screen / split screen for apps and a new system font with an old system font name. Now, for the fun part – let’s look forward. Hand writing it on paper slows me down in a way that verbally agreeing to a blog post’s checklists just can’t do. When the install is done, I’ll have more/less time to get adjusted and learn what has changed and test my apps: Audio Hijack, OmniGraffle, Acorn, PCalc, etc…ĭoing this quick exercise ensures you have set your personal expectations and can enjoy the excitement of testing new shiny software without leaping before you are ready. Today, I’m willing to devote X hours and Y minutes to reading, downloading, preparing and doing the upgrade work. My last backup is XXX days old and I’m prepared to do the work to use it if something bad happens during the upgrade. ![]() ![]() Take out a 3×5 note card and hand write two specific statements: You don’t have to answer yes to any or all of these questions, but I always recommend one exercise before any upgrade. How much storage space does your Mac use today and how much space is available on your backup drive?.If Microsoft Word and Evernote and Dropbox do not work and work well, I will erase my Mac and reinstall the older OS until those programs get updates or I can find an alternative.) Do you have a list on paper of the apps you consider deal breakers? (i.e.Have you ever used a backup to restore my system?.When was the last time you performed a Time Machine backup?.I’d like to help everyone to a smooth, prepared and successful upgrade. Today is the day Apple releases OS X 10.11 – El Capitan.
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