Easy to upgrade from Mavericks?

[matt9013]

I'll be getting an Imac soon which has Mavericks soon. I can't wait for Yosemite and was wondering how easy it would be to go from Mavericks to Yosemite? Is it just the click of a few buttons or much more than that? I'm not to computer savy as you can tell with upgrading OS and stuff.

 

[mrapplegate]

I'll be getting an Imac soon which has Mavericks soon. I can't wait for Yosemite and was wondering how easy it would be to go from Mavericks to Yosemite? Is it just the click of a few buttons or much more than that? I'm not to computer savy as you can tell with upgrading OS and stuff.

As with all Mac upgrades it will be just some clicks to upgrade. Make sure to backup your data first. Odds are you won't have any issue, but with computers it's best to be paranoid.

 

[johnnnw]

It could not be easier. It is literally a 1, maybe 2 click upgrade.

 

[dhlizard]

But you will have a MUCH better, cleaner experience if you back up your Maverick setup using TimeMachine, then erase your drive and do a CLEAN install of Yosemite. Then Migration Assistant to add in your apps and content.

 

[Dirtyharry50]

But you will have a MUCH better, cleaner experience if you back up your Maverick setup using TimeMachine, then erase your drive and do a CLEAN install of Yosemite. Then Migration Assistant to add in your apps and content.

That seems like a lot of effort when the installer is designed to install on top of an existing previous version and at least in my experience that has worked just fine, as in perfectly with zero problems of any kind whatsoever.

I upgraded to Mountain Lion over Lion and that was just fine.

I upgraded again to Mavericks on the same system and that was just fine.

I will be upgrading from Mavericks to Yosemite on this system and if history is any predictor of the future, everything should be just fine.

That said, I do agree always with the advice to back up but then I don't understand why anyone would not be running Time Machine in the background constantly to protect themselves from data loss. This is another Apple feature I have used and it too worked like a charm when I needed it to both retrieve files on occasion and moving to a new iMac from an old one.

 

[chrfr]

But you will have a MUCH better, cleaner experience if you back up your Maverick setup using TimeMachine, then erase your drive and do a CLEAN install of Yosemite. Then Migration Assistant to add in your apps and content.

This isn't necessarily true. I've upgraded many computers without clean installs and not had issues. Regardless of upgrade method, a backup is an absolute necessity.

 

[dhlizard]

Well, the erase time is 60 seconds or less, the Yosemite install time is comparable to the upgrade route and you can let Migration Assistant run while you are busy a couple hours doing something else, but to each his own.

Just the fact you have done several upgrades in lieu of a single clean install would scare me off from chancing another upgrade.

 

[JoelBaka]

That said, I do agree always with the advice to back up but then I don't understand why anyone would not be running Time Machine in the background constantly to protect themselves from data loss. This is another Apple feature I have used and it too worked like a charm when I needed it to both retrieve files on occasion and moving to a new iMac from an old one.

Using Time Machine constantly is a bit of a hassle if you have a macbook, I'm always moving around so having a external HD hanging on my USB port is kind of annoying. However I do backup monthly and the important files are being backup up by dropbox 24/7. You should use Time Machine, but 24/7 is not always a possibility

 

[MacOG728893]

I've always done clean installs since I came over from Windows Vista to Leopard. I suppose it was something I just got use to on Windows and carried it over to my OS X days.

I might just try the upgrade this time around and see how it goes.

 

[Dirtyharry50]

Using Time Machine constantly is a bit of a hassle if you have a macbook, I'm always moving around so having a external HD hanging on my USB port is kind of annoying. However I do backup monthly and the important files are being backup up by dropbox 24/7. You should use Time Machine, but 24/7 is not always a possibility

I was thinking of an iMac which I have and the OP has when I made my comment about Time Machine. I can see your point where portability is frequently needed. It sounds like you have adopted a very good plan though utilizing the cloud along with monthly local backups. I would probably do the same in your circumstances.

 

[Weaselboy]

Well, the erase time is 60 seconds or less, the Yosemite install time is comparable to the upgrade route and you can let Migration Assistant run while you are busy a couple hours doing something else, but to each his own.

Just the fact you have done several upgrades in lieu of a single clean install would scare me off from chancing another upgrade.

I am not a proponent of "clean installs", but without getting into that whole argument, what you are doing is not a clean install and is pretty much a big waste of time. A true clean install involves erasing the drive and reinstalling the OS, then manually moving data and apps back.

The whole idea of a clean install is you get rid of cruft etc that is there from old installs. If you use Migration Assistant after a clean install it brings all that cruft back and completely defeats the purpose of a clean install.

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I'll be getting an Imac soon which has Mavericks soon. I can't wait for Yosemite and was wondering how easy it would be to go from Mavericks to Yosemite? Is it just the click of a few buttons or much more than that? I'm not to computer savy as you can tell with upgrading OS and stuff.

If it works like Mavericks and other upgrades (and it looks like it will) you will just go to the App Store and find Yosemite then click where is says free here and the OS will download to your drive and the installer will launch on its own. You will then get a screen that says something along the lines of "do you really really want to update to Yosemite"... you click yes and off you go. Very easy.

You should of course backup first just to be safe, but the Yosemite install will not erase your data. It just installs Yosemite right over top of Mavericks.

 

[matt9013]

What would happen if I don't have a backup? I don't plan on really having anything on this computer right away. Maybe some videos and photos which I'll have on a flashdrive if they do get lost.

I'll set time machine up once I get Yosemite, so I'm not going backup free forever. Just not right away.

 

[Weaselboy]

What would happen if I don't have a backup? I don't plan on really having anything on this computer right away. Maybe some videos and photos which I'll have on a flashdrive if they do get lost.

I'll set time machine up once I get Yosemite, so I'm not going backup free forever. Just not right away.

Nothing about a Yosemite upgrade will erase your drive, but what sometimes does happen is all the stress of an OS update can take a drive that may be close to failure and push it over the edge. If that happens you lose any data you had on the drive. If you don't have anything on there you would miss, it is not a big deal.

 

[dhlizard]

The whole idea of a clean install is you get rid of cruft etc that is there from old installs. If you use Migration Assistant after a clean install it brings all that cruft back and completely defeats the purpose of a clean install.

MigrationAssistant allows the option to only import just your documents, but I agree that using it to restore your settings and apps sort of defeats the purpose of clean install.

 

[Weaselboy]

MigrationAssistant allows the option to only import just your documents, but I agree that using it to restore your settings and apps sort of defeats the purpose of clean install.

It seemed pretty clear to me from the post that that is not what was done.

 

[Sonmi451]

It's a bit of a pain to do a clean install, but when the GM is out, I think it will be a bit easier.

 

[matrix07]

But you will have a MUCH better, cleaner experience if you back up your Maverick setup using TimeMachine, then erase your drive and do a CLEAN install of Yosemite. Then Migration Assistant to add in your apps and content.

Upgraded Lion to Mountain Lion, then upgraded Mountain Lion to Mavericks. My Macbook is faster every upgrade.
That said, this time I'll do a clean install for Yosemite. Guess third time might be just too much for upgrading alone.

 

[kappaknight]

Seems like the OP will have a pretty new computer anyway, it's probably not a big deal to just upgrade.

You can always keep your docs/files on Dropbox, or the new iCloud service, and back it up that way. OS and apps you can download from the cloud.

I'm always constantly on the move with my MBP too, but my backup disk is attached to my Apple Extreme base station so I don't have to lug it around with me. I guess it's different if you're not sleeping at the same place for more than a week at a time. Dropbox will help you back it up constantly though.