i had the GM installed do i need to update today or what? im confused

[Benz63amg]

so im checking for an update and nothing is coming up, i already disabled to not see any "pre-release" version of El Capitan in the system preferences,

do i have the final version or do i need to download el capitan from the app store manually?

 

[Floris]

Go to "featured", it's listed there, you have to click download... as if you're buying it as a new app (it's a new release).
It will say 'oh wait, already installed, continue?', which is what you (i believe) have to click on.

 

[Benz63amg]

okay i see, but i have to go through the whole mac os installation again like i did when i installed the el capitan GM or is this going to be a quicker installation since i already have el capitan?

 

[Floris]

okay i see, but i have to go through the whole mac os installation again like i did when i installed the el capitan GM or is this going to be a quicker installation since i already have el capitan?

It has to replace the beta/GM with the full release, yes. It will upgrade it.
It is probably best to make a full system backup first.

 

[Benz63amg]

so its going to be like a full OS installation? how long does it take to make a backup? should i use time machine?

 

[Floris]

so its going to be like a full OS installation? how long does it take to make a backup? should i use time machine?

If your drive is 20GB big, the backup will be done rather quickly. You can read up on Time Machine on the apple site, it's an option yes. If the drive is 2TB big, the backup will not be done quickly. Running betas and Gm releases, it is usually recommended to only use those if you're familiar with what you're doing too though.

The continue will do a full download and give you the installer, you click 'install el capitan', it will do the upgrade and reboot, and you're back on the desktop again, just from beta 6 to GM.

I dont see why it would completely wipe the whole drive and do a fresh install.

 

[comics addict]

Yes you ought to back up using Time Machine or any other utility of your preference before any operating system update. Also be sure to keep a copy of the installer somewhere besides the Mac's drive for down the road if you need to use it for anything else.

 

[Benz63amg]

the reason i installed the gm was because i was under the impression it was the final release.

 

[comics addict]

None of Apple's public operating system releases this year have been the same builds as the GM releases. I for one don't mind the fact that we get slightly more polished ones for public consumption.

 

[aevan]

You can just download it from the app store (featured page) and run the installer. When you click the download button, it said I already have El Capitan installed, but I did it anyway. Installation was fast, and changed nothing - I'm pretty sure this version is the same as the GM (even though the version number is different). I also think that's the reason there is no update from the App Store - it's the same thing. You can just wait for 10.11.1 and update GM, or run the installer. Either way, I don't think it makes any difference.

 

[Benz63amg]

So you recommand i just wait for them to release the 10.11.1 and just upgrade my GM to that rather than basically wasting time now and updating the GM to the "official" public release which is technically the same ?

 

[comics addict]

I just upgraded my system from the GM Candidate to the public build by downloading the installer app from the MAS and running the installer as I previously said. If being on the public channel is your main concern, as well as mine, do what I just did. If you have any trouble just let me know.

 

[Benz63amg]

I just upgraded my system from the GM Candidate to the public build by downloading the installer app from the MAS and running the installer as I previously said. If being on the public channel is your main concern, as well as mine, do what I just did. If you have any trouble just let me know.

are you noticing any difference from the GM and Final?

 

[comics addict]

Too early to tell since I had been using it for no more than ten minutes...

 

[chrfr]

So you recommand i just wait for them to release the 10.11.1 and just upgrade my GM to that rather than basically wasting time now and updating the GM to the "official" public release which is technically the same ?

It's conceivable that the released 10.11.1 update may require the release version of 10.11. It's generally a bad idea to continue running beta software after the final version has been released and it's really not a waste of time to install the released version.

 

[zhaoxin]

You have no need to upgrade GM to release. Unlike iOS, OS X GM will not upgrade to release. However, you can upgrade to 10.11.1 when the package is ready.

From a developer's point of view, the differences of the stable OS and the beta OS is as followings. If you use a stable OS, you can make your release app to App Store. If you use a beta OS, you can't.

So both GM and release are stable version of OS X. They may have slightly differences. But the differences will be merged by the following 10.11.1, which can be installed in both GM and release version and is coming very soon.

After all, you can download and reinstall the release, but the time you take is not so necessary.