Yosemite and older Mac

[billboquet]

What's to gain from upgrading to Yosemite for an Imac 2008?
I've installed on an external drive and surprisingly it's pretty fast, apart from a new look what new features work?

Even if my Imac is 6 years old it looks new and is still fast.

 

[GlenK]

Tough call. I have a 2011 MBP 17" and I always had issues with Mavericks so I took the chance and went with Yosemite. My mac runs better than it has in over two years. I was about ready to buy a new one but now I'm happy with this one for a few more. Really hate giving up this 17 "er.

I don't have hand off and Air Drop from iPhones but I'm afraid to do that upgrade on bluetooth mentioned in MacRumors. It's working so perfectly I'm afraid to rock the boat.

 

[Ray2]

I took my 2008 iMac from 10.8 to 10.10. I'm elated. The best OS since 10.6, with time it will be better. Also running an ssd. Everything feels quicker.

Did a fresh install. First time since 10.6 that all the stuff I actively use (remote management, screen sharing, file sharing) worked without fussing around. The most annoying thing I've seen so far is the Finder window size is not sticky on mine.

I'm not sure I use any "new" features. If anything, I'm "de-featuring" as I find most of Apple's new stuff is either unreliable, is crippled or is another annoyance.

Spend time making sure your apps will support Yosemite. I was surprised how many latest version apps would not install or installed then I got a message they would not run under Yosemite. I'm probably running with 15 fewer apps than I was. Nothing critical fortunately. If you are a DropBox user I'm finding its frequently using more than 50% of CPU even when its doing nothing. A lot of people have reported this. I quit DB after it does its sync. Assume it will be fixed.

 

[darmr]

MacBook Pro mid 2009 17" and Yosemite is my favourite OS X. Running much better than it did on Mavericks.

 

[DaKKs]

MacBook Pro mid 2009 17" and Yosemite is my favourite OS X. Running much better than it did on Mavericks.

Anything runs better than Mavericks, i had less issues with Windows Vista....

 

[darmr]

Anything runs better than Mavericks, i had less issues with Windows Vista....

Mavericks was fine here. Lion was strange but still worked.
I don't know about Vista, I like Windows 7, though it's not used much nowadays.

 

[Quicksilver2001]

My experiences with a 24-inch 2008 iMac

I've got a 24-inch MB325LL/A iMac and I had something strange happen on Mavericks that I hope Yosemite fixes. Updates of Mavericks through 10.9.3 just worked like Lion that I have set up with AOL Desktop for my parents, but when 10.9.4 hit, the iMac's fans started roaring and that would quickly lead to a dead iMac which I can't afford right now (my Momma having cancer will do that to you). I had to wait until 10.10.1 but now the WiFi works and the hardware is as happy as it would be on Mavericks at the equivalent update level.

Apple has to fix this bug that Mavericks had and I sure hope Yosemite is where it gets fixed. I want to like it, but then again I wanted to like Mavericks and we know how that went. ;-)