10.2 Full vs. 10.2 Upgrade

S

sukram

Registered
just trying to plan ahead....

what do people this about this. is it better to buy the 10.2 upgrade (or get it for free hopefully) if i have 10.1, or to just get the full 10.2 version?

how to upgrades work, and why is getting an upgrade so much worse for you and your computer than the full version? my theory on upgrades (esp. this one) is that sometimes upgrades are so fundamentally different that the upgrade in fact is simply just overwriting the program entirely rather than trying to rework the original program. any thoughts?

thanks
sukram
 
Yes, all an upgrade does is overwrite and update certain files. An upgrade isn't worse than a full install/clean install, but can result in a lot of old, excess files you may not need and in some cases, is not as stable as performing a clean install. Most OS upgrades like with 10.1 or Windows can be used to perform a full/clean install as long as you have a copy of the previous full version of the OS. This installs the OS exactly the same as a "full version" of the software would have. The only reason you should buy the full version is if you don't have a previous version of the OS to upgrade from.
 
The bad thing about the update CD is that it won't let you install if you don't have the older version on it. So basically if you want to repartition your harddrive(s), you always have to install two operating systems, even if you let the update kill the first installation totally.

Usually, however, Apple doesn't have two boxes. There was no update version for 8.0, 8.5, 9.0 or 10.0. Only the operating system as a whole, because it's *always* an update, you can't own a Macintosh without owning a license to use Mac OS. 10.1 (Puma) was a big exception. I wouldn't expect this to happen again. One box, one price, it is. (Unless you buy a Mac in a short period before the upgrade is available, then you can upgrade for free with the provided coupon.)
 
In the past all Mac OS upgrades were actually full versions. Usually, Apple released the next verison for $99 or so, with a rebate coupon provided for those who had the previous versions Proof of Purchase Coupon.

The 10.1 update was the first update ever that I can remember that actually checked that you had the previous version installed. Before, there was no difference between the upgrade CD and the full version.

If Apple continues this, I'll probably shell out the extra $$$ for a full 10.2/10.5 CD. The reason is obvious - if something goes wrong (or if I install a new HD) and I need to reinstall the system, with an 10.2 ugprade CD, I'll have to install 10.0, then apply the 10.1 update, then install 10.2. That's something I would expect from Microsoft, not Apple.

Let's hope with 10.2 being a paid upgrade of some sort, that it doesn't require a previous OS X install present on the installed partition. 10.1's previous install checking mechanism was probably just a fluke due to the install CD being free....
 
Updates are free, upgrades are not free.

x.2 and x.7 is usually almost always going to be released as a x.5 and x.0 respectively.

x.5 and x.0's are usually $99 but judging from MacOS 10.0's original release which was $129 so that probably means the standard price will be bumped up to $129 from now on.

x.0's are usually much larger releases than x.5s and usually have fundamental differences added for example, 8.0 was geared to be almost all PowerPC native and have an improved interface. 8.5 cemented that by being 100% PowerPC native and anded the improved multi tasking finder which took advantage native code as well as themes for the new interface.

x.5s are usually fundamentally the same as x.0's but add even more features that take advantage of the original release. (Much like Windows second edition releases)

Before you start to complain consider this. Apple usually releases a full version upgrade every year to year and a half. They have to make money. MS is no different so if this is a huge surprise to anyone, I don't know why.

1997 - MacOS 8 (Mid Summer)
1998 - MacOS 8.5 (Mid Fall)
1999 - MacOS 9 (Mid Fall)
2000 - Nothing
2001 - MacOS 10 (Early Spring)
2002 - MacOS 10.5 (Late Summer)

As for the updates... x.1 increments are usually free and always check to make sure the previous version is installed. I could not go to 7.6.1 from 7.5.3. The only reason we never noticed is because Apple never released an update that was an entire CD in length. (A huge mistake on their part but since this was a huge jump in the architecture they had no choice) Updates to x.1 or x.6 usually are 10% to 20% the size of the OS they are updating. 9.0 was about 500 Mbs in size and the 9.1 update was around 70 Mbs I believe. I believe 10.1 was a fluke and we will see 10.6 be a 100 MByte update that comes out in the spring of next year.

As for the route to go... Well usually I never got my hands on x.1 incremental updates cds that had a full version. *THEY DO EXIST* but usually are sold in place of the .0's. In otherwards, once an incremental update comes out, they stop selling .0's and .5's and start selling the updated version instead. Usually those of us who buy the original are stuck installing the original and then applying the update. Like if I wanted to do a clean install of 8.6, I usually always had to reinstall 8.5 clean, then apply the 8.6 update. The only exception was when I bought 10.0 which came with 9.1 instead of 9.0. Having a 9.1 CD is really a heck of a lot easier to reinstall. (I eventually got 9.2 with 10.1, again another fluke in numbering)
 
x.5 and x.0's are usually $99 but judging from MacOS 10.0's original release which was $129 so that probably means the standard price will be bumped up to $129 from now on.
Click to expand...

The $129 price might have also had something to do with 10.0 including a full copy of OS 9.2 with it on CD. I'm curious as to whether 10.5 (upgrade or full) will include 9.2 as well...
 
I bought my iMac about one year ago.

It came with 9.1 installed. I was able to send away for a free version of 10.0 using one of the coupons that came with 9.1. When 10.1 came out I was able to get it for free along with 9.2.

I still have 2 coupons from 9.1 and all 3 that came with 10.0. Will I be able to use one of these 5 coupons to get 10.2/.5 this summer for free???
 
Originally posted by cwoody222
I bought my iMac about one year ago.

It came with 9.1 installed. I was able to send away for a free version of 10.0 using one of the coupons that came with 9.1. When 10.1 came out I was able to get it for free along with 9.2.

I still have 2 coupons from 9.1 and all 3 that came with 10.0. Will I be able to use one of these 5 coupons to get 10.2/.5 this summer for free???
Click to expand...

i still have my coupons for 10.1 which at the time were promised to me for future versions... will i ever be able to use them? i did pay for them...

sukram
 
Coupons must be from the immediate previous version. That means you must have OS X 10.1 coupons in order to get a discount for Mac OS X 10.2 (or whatever Jaguar is called).

Unfortunately, that means I'll probably have to buy the full upgrade. Not that I'm complaining, though, because I'm REALLY looking forward to Rendezvous. :) Hopefully it's not $129 again, though. :\
 
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