macOS Big Sur

[Tony L]

Apple have the tablet market locked down for sure. As far as desktop devices go, they are no where to be seen. I like their laptops for use but on desktop windows all of the way for me nower days.

That’s very significant for me now as I now use an iPad Pro for 95% of the stuff I do, so really my priority for a computer for the heavy-lifting 5% needs to integrate with that perfectly. That keeps me tied-into the Apple infrastructure, especially so as Logic Pro is part of the 5%. As such my next proper computer will almost certainly be another MacBook of some description. I’ll likely make that decision in Feb, March or so. I’m certainly not jumping in immediately.

From an ‘ex-IT guy’ perspective I find the new ARM trajectory very interesting and suspect it at least has the potential to be a real game-changer. It will certainly move Apple out of the ‘just a posh PC with a nice stable Unix OS’ market and back into being their own thing the way they were right from the Apple I & II right through all the RISC stuff. I’m fascinated to see where they take it as the actual architecture and ability to ditch the X86 legacy allows for a lot of lateral thinking should they wish.

 

[avole]

I still use MS apps on the Mac, by the way. Never comfortable with Apple's version of what word processors, spreadsheets etc should be.

Typing this running under BS - first and obvious problem, mail only sees one mailbox. Can't be bothered adding the many, so may switch to the one MS programme I don't use, Outlook, for both. Mind you, will need some convincing that BS is worth pursuing.

 

[Tony L]

I still use MS apps on the Mac, by the way. Never comfortable with Apple's version of what word processors, spreadsheets etc should be.

I’m completely happy with LibreOffice, I can’t imagine wanting anything more. The only advantage Microsoft have is they have Office for the iPad, whereas as yet there is no Libre/OpenOffice. To be honest it is the main reason I turn my MBP on these days.

 

[Tony Lockhart]

Your Mac is a PC. A sexy looking one with standard innards that is way overpriced. It will run both macOS and Windows (and Linux). Just a few days ago I booted both a 2014 MBA and a 2010 Mac Mini with the latest version of Windows 10 Enterprise. I have had a few Windows 10 machines come to me because they don't boot and often locked in an attempted auto repair loop. I believe the problem is related to fast boot and I disable that during repair.

Cheers,

DV

When I bought this MacBook, I priced up an equivalent from the usual windows laptop suppliers. With a similar resolution screen, SSD etc, guess what? Around the same price.

 

[garyi]

I still use MS apps on the Mac, by the way. Never comfortable with Apple's version of what word processors, spreadsheets etc should be.

Typing this running under BS - first and obvious problem, mail only sees one mailbox. Can't be bothered adding the many, so may switch to the one MS programme I don't use, Outlook, for both. Mind you, will need some convincing that BS is worth pursuing.

You probably just need to enter your passwords again. goto system prefs and accounts and check the email accounts in there are active

 

[BTC3]

Loaded BS onto my Mac with no apparent issues. My usual apps seem to work without issues. Will let you know when it implodes.

 

[david ellwood]

Can you find out more about the problem. I'd like to help if I can.

Cheers,

DV

He bought it from a Mac specialist and he is sick of taking it back there. I suspect he may just ask for his money back if they don’t sort it this time.

The problem with selling your gear off the idea that it’s well made, reliable and user friendly is people expect that it actually will be.

 

[Darth Vader]

He bought it from a Mac specialist and he is sick of taking it back there. I suspect he may just ask for his money back if they don’t sort it this time.

The problem with selling your gear off the idea that it’s well made, reliable and user friendly is people expect that it actually will be.

However this doesn't tell me what is wrong. What model it is and what year of manufacture? Is the Mac working at all (i.e. not a hardware fault) if so he can take a Time Machine backup and restore the machine to another macOS then copy his TM data back.

These are the sort of issues that I fix for free in my local community and also not so local - one is 350 miles away. They have a 3 hour round trip to the Apple store and has the same complaint of poor support for premium kit.

Cheers,

DV

 

[david ellwood]

There are a multitude of issues, he is migrating from a 2009 iMac and has paid a Mac specialist to do the work. If they can’t get it to work then I think he is justified in feeling that it’s not for him to resort to the forums for assistance.

 

[avole]

You probably just need to enter your passwords again. goto system prefs and accounts and check the email accounts in there are active

Yes, spot on, but doubt I'll be bothered. Then again, the interface is pretty nice, and Safari now nearly equals firefox in terms of features ....

 

[James]

For a while, I thought BS referred to bovine excrement

 

[Darth Vader]

There are a multitude of issues, he is migrating from a 2009 iMac and has paid a Mac specialist to do the work. If they can’t get it to work then I think he is justified in feeling that it’s not for him to resort to the forums for assistance.

So to what are the issues? There must be millions who migrate from one Mac to another and Apple provides the facilities to transfer your data from both Mac and Windows machines to a new Mac computer/macOS.

Anywho I tried to help and got my hand bitten. As they say "you can a horse to water but..........."

Cheers,

DV

 

[Darth Vader]

For a while, I thought BS referred to bovine excrement

That was Crapalina.

Cheers,

DV

 

[Cesare]

Still on 10.14 here for my software development. I've got a couple more machines in the house which aren't so sensitive so will be upgraded probably in the 3-6 month timeframe. I'll miss all the excitement of being the first with the new OS, and also the pain of being the first with the new OS. Actually, just thinking this through, my other machines may be too old to be upgraded, being, oh, 7 years old. They might be on the cutoff, in which case they will stick with what they have as it works.

 

[davcoll]

2013 Macbook pro. No issues at all, have actually used Safari in preference to Firefox since the upgrade.

Dave

 

[claire.foxx]

That keeps me tied-into the Apple infrastructure, especially so as Logic Pro is part of the 5%.

It doesn’t hurt to have another DAW under your belt as insurance. There are lots of them and Logic Pro isn’t the force it once was. Much of Logic’s functionality is in ones acuity with channel strip plugins — most wont work with M1 and/or Big Sur for a long time. I don’t mind using Reaper for some projects; may take time out to learn UA’s Luna.

Its depressing I still need a Raspberry Pi hack to get my networked laserprinter to print from an iPad because for Apple, printer sharing from macOS would be too ****ing simple.

 

[claire.foxx]

When I bought this MacBook, I priced up an equivalent from the usual windows laptop suppliers. With a similar resolution screen, SSD etc, guess what? Around the same price.

A few things here: In the laptop sphere this holds true but for desktops it gets a bit skewed. Apple traditionally uses laptop grade parts in its consumer desktop PCs so inside the Mac Mini for example you find Laptop equivalent parts for CPUs and GPUs so you’re buying costs at a premium; its not like for like when comparing a BGA-mounted Intel laptop processor and a LGA1150 socket processor of the same family. Also the the RAM and SSD lock in. I have 64GB DDR4 on my Hackintosh, Apple wants +£200 to jump from 8GBto 16GB for 8GB RAM. £200 will buy you 64GB outright and cost to jump from 512GB to 1TB is the same price as buying a 2TB M.2 stick or SATA drive ouright.

Costing the same as a PC is a very broad metric, it has made machine upgrades a necessity (not a bad idea for a lot of reasons now, with the hardware as it is) but it has always been this way in many irreversible ways.

 

[Tony L]

Its depressing I still need a Raspberry Pi hack to get my networked laserprinter to print from an iPad because for Apple, printer sharing from macOS would be too ****ing simple.

That surprises me, my WiFi Canon inkjet, a printer that cost about £50 and is too stupid to tell if it is loaded with paper (it is always convinced it isn’t), works fine from my iPad, MBP and iPhone.

 

[claire.foxx]

yours paid Apple the entry ticket to be an AirPrint printer. Brother didn’t for mine — but it shouldn’t have to being a Network laserprinter and shares with absolutely everything else — even when printer sharing is on a Mac. Its classic Apple nickle and dimeing, so workarounds exist.

 

[Tony Lockhart]

A few things here: In the laptop sphere this holds true but for desktops it gets a bit skewed. Apple traditionally uses laptop grade parts in its consumer desktop PCs so inside the Mac Mini for example you find Laptop equivalent parts for CPUs and GPUs so you’re buying costs at a premium; its not like for like when comparing a BGA-mounted Intel laptop processor and a LGA1150 socket processor of the same family. Also the the RAM and SSD lock in. I have 64GB DDR4 on my Hackintosh, Apple wants +£200 to jump from 8GBto 16GB for 8GB RAM. £200 will buy you 64GB outright and cost to jump from 512GB to 1TB is the same price as buying a 2TB M.2 stick or SATA drive ouright.

Costing the same as a PC is a very broad metric, it has made machine upgrades a necessity (not a bad idea for a lot of reasons now, with the hardware as it is) but it has always been this way in many irreversible ways.

I’m afraid you’ve lost me. I bought what I needed, plus a bit in reserve, and I’ve had no cause to complain. It still whizzes along, even faster with BS, and I’ve no regrets.
It’s all that upgrading stuff (where have we heard that before?) that frustrated me. It’s a tool, I’m not a super-user, and it does what I ask.
When it dies, I’ll see what’s around.