Catalina: Anyone have cold feet on this?

ScottW

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I’ve never been one to shy away from Mac OS updates. There will be bugs but life goes on. I can usually handle my own on the tech side so no issues there. But for some reason, I can’t bring myself to do the update. I finally decided to install it on a empty drive that I have, which is happening as I write this, but it seems counter productive. I can’t remember the last time I did a “fresh install” which has to be like when OS X came out? Lol. The thought of having to go through the process of serial numbers and moving over settings files seems like a total time suck and really counter productive.

It would seem the only real solution for me is just to upgrade. I have a time machine backup, so I guess if it’s a bad move I can always go back. I’ll be sure to take my time machine drive offline so Catalina doesn’t screw it up.

Maybe I’ll just do the upgrade now and then if it blows up, I can have it restore overnight and be back in business tomorrow.

Anyone else with cold feet?
 
Each time a new upgrade comes out I question why I would need to 'get it'. Why fix what is not broken?
 
That is valid. I enjoy the new features usually, even if only a few really impact my day to day, allows me to stay up to date on everything, so for me, delaying as long as I have, is really odd. But, I think my post above was counseling enough for myself to just bite the bullet. I booted up Catalina on the fresh install drive it’s there. So I copied the install over and now will update my primary drive, fingers crossed.
 
I'm still reluctant. Not that I'm afraid of a new OS, just that there a few 32 bit apps I use daily! Would really hate to loose them.
In the meantime, I'm deleting a ton of 32 bit apps I haven't used in years.
Strange for me too, as I usually am a quick adopter. I'll eventually pull the trigger, but still think about it.
 
That said, Go64 shows a bunch of Framework, Terminal documents, and Unix Executable Files.
Any reason to not delete them??
 
This is the first upgrade that I have not upgraded immediately - and it is mostly the 32-bit issue. I support a couple of off-site Macs, both of which use several no-alternative 32-bit apps. One (and the major one) is The Print Shop 4. Version 4 was released only last year, and was simply a feature upgrade (and still 32-bit). I have not found a (simple for occasional users) replacement. It is used every day (in a church), and they depend on its variety of supporting uses. So, first time in (20+) years that those two Macs are not upgraded immediately. Just waiting for a response from software support about that. I was assured that 64-bit would come, if needed o_O So far, no response from publisher. I cannot upgrade when that (and some others) will not work. They would slap me up-side the head if I tried.
 
Well, I kicked off the install about 80 mins ago, then went off to do other things and come back in and the bar is about 10% completed and no estimated time remaining presented. It’s oddly, very quiet. No drive clicks, no fan, just silence. :/
 
I remember reading where someone had issue with Crucial Memory as being an issue. I’ve had nothing but trouble with Crucial memory on this Mac. So I finally replaced it and haven’t had any issues since. But I guess if rebooting doesn’t fix the issue, I’ll try removing the RAM.
 
Now 15 mins later, no changes on the screen and no signs of life I hit the power button and oddly didn’t just hold it down to force it off. It responded with I have to wait for the update to finish and then showed 9 mins left. After 30 seconds the estimated time disappeared and progress bar remains at 10%. I have some errands to run, guess I’ll just wait and see what it does. Oh now it shows 18 mins. There is still hope.
 
I’m losing confidence. Come back 20 mins later, no estimated time remaining, progress bar still hasn’t budged. I hit the power button, it’s like... hold your horses... and says, 9 mins left. Now it says 18 minutes remaining. Hmmmm... I know the estimation time is never a valid indicator but, it’s been 2 hours. Going to force it off.
 
Well, no luck. Still at the same place, even with the original Apple memory. Guess I’ll just let it remain 3 hours and if it’s not done by then, I’ll boot recovery mode and restore from time machine. Fun.
 
One (and the major one) is The Print Shop 4. Version 4 was released only last year, and was simply a feature upgrade (and still 32-bit). I have not found a (simple for occasional users) replacement. It is used every day (in a church), and they depend on its variety of supporting uses. So, first time in (20+) years that those two Macs are not upgraded immediately. Just waiting for a response from software support about that. I was assured that 64-bit would come, if needed o_O So far, no response from publisher. I cannot upgrade when that (and some others) will not work. They would slap me up-side the head if I tried.
I requested clarification on The Print Shop 4 7 days ago with no response. Wrote again today. Hopefully will get a definitive answer.
 
I requested clarification on The Print Shop 4 7 days ago with no response. Wrote again today. Hopefully will get a definitive answer.
Yes, me too... I DO recall reading somewhere that there is some legal issue with the name Print Shop, between Broderbund (or whatever that company is now) and Software MacKiev, and that has mostly stopped forward progress with that software. You would note that you can't even buy that through the SoftMacKiev store, unless you are a registered edu customer. Seems they can't sell to the general public now. Hopefully, some lawyer manipulation will take care of that.

@ScottW : I note that the Catalina installer has been updated twice in just the last couple of days. Unless you are using the current installer version 15.0.33 - installation problems were listed as one of the areas that were patched. You might want to look at that..
 
5 hours after I hit install, it came back to life with the Catalina login screen. I was using what I thought was the latest install since I just downloaded it this afternoon. When I looked at the screen it never got past 10% on progress bar, but was surprised to see the login screen. Now for the real test. Use it and see if any apps I will be using tomorrow are broke.
 
All seems good here. I’ll update tomorrow afternoon after a full day working with it.
 
Well, it seems like all is fine. The only issue with my Logitech MX Master 2, which has been acting weird anyhow, but the curser won't move with it, the buttons works fine, but not moving the cursor. Reinstalled the software, turned on all the new usage allowed things for it and nothing. My old MX Master one works fine, so who knows. I have a MX Master 3 on backorder, so probably just won't concern myself with that.

I will miss Photoshop..... but I have other apps that are on par with it, I just have to learn how to use them.
 
At work I always upgrade day 1. Supporting Macs is part of my job and I'm always my own guinea pig. I have not encountered any huge problems. There's a short (but important) list of unsupported software. You know what 32-bit apps you have and can decide for yourself how important they are. I've found fewer show-stoppers with Catalina than I did with High Sierra or Mojave.

New nags are annoying, as always. Getting notifications about notifications is a bit much for my tastes. Then again, I work with Do Not Disturb mode on constantly anyway.

zsh takes some getting used to. Of course you can still use good ol' Bash if you like, but it seems like a much better idea to get used to zsh. I'm more afraid of 10.16. When Apple drops the axe on Python, Ruby, etc. I really don't know how I'll do my job.

On my HOME Mac...
<_<
>_>
...I'm still on Sierra. I'll probably jump straight to Catalina once I can be bothered.
 
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