odujim Loc: New Jersey

I updated my 2018 (Intel) Mac Mini to Monterey without any problems except I was using Topaz Gigapixel (not used too often) to improve a closely cropped photo, but it would crash whenever I tried to save the finished product, regardless if I was outputting in Tiff or jpeg format. I have the latest version of Gigapixel so I'm hoping there's an update from Topaz if others are having similar issues.

leftj Loc: Texas

Here is my checklist for installing a new MACOS.
1. Install new MACOS

Works every time.

bingonut Loc: Cape Cod

Thank you for all your replies.

Monterey is working good on my MacBook Air.

burkphoto Loc: High Point, NC

Perhaps you've never managed a help desk in IT, or managed a fleet of 45 Macs in a Windows environment? Dealing with premature Maculation is embarrassing when it loses money for your company.

The vast majority of installations ARE routine. But around 5% to 15% go awry, depending on the release, because Apple and third party developers don't think of everything before the software is released. And there are often complications we can't anticipate. It's a lot safer to wait for reviewers, early adopters, and others to find the problems.

In the photo lab where I worked, we had numerous vintages of Macs. When a new OS was released, a few of them could not handle it. So we had issues with those... do we leave them alone? Do we replace them? Do we move them to lesser roles? Replace them with PCs?

Inevitably, a new OS release would break something in Adobe Photoshop, or (way back in the 1990s) PageMaker, or FoxPro, or Binuscan PhotoPerfect flatbed scanner software. Kodak KPIS software often failed on new OS releases, so we would have to wait for Rochester to release a new version (in the next summer following an October OS upgrade). FileMaker Pro, at the time an Apple subsidiary, sometimes failed to work and required an upgrade.

I remember early 2008, when upgrading to my first Intel machine, a MacBook Pro, I had to replace all my third party software. That was a $1200 expense! It was worth it, ultimately, because the new computer was about 3.5 times faster than the PowerBook G4 and Dell Latitude 610 it replaced. But an over-budget expense never pleases the VP.

There is always a period of time between Apple's WWDC (world-wide developers' conference) and the (usual) October release of the new OS when developers are supposed to play with the Developer Preview of the next OS and tweak their software to be compatible with it and take advantage of new features. Some do, some don't. Some just need more time. Occasionally, the new OS breaks their current version, causing major headaches for users in commercial settings.

Reverting to a backup is an expensive waste of time. Oh wait, the OS upgrade bricked your machine and you don't have a backup? You're screwed! (Murphy's law of backups states that if you don't have one you will need one soon, and at the worst possible moment. But if you have one, it will be A LONG TIME before you need one.)

A little caution and patience are in order. The road to new systems is littered with the bodies of those early adopters who took the arrows of update gotchas. Anything truly new is on the "bleeding edge" of technology. I like to let the amateurs and early adopters take the hits, so that Apple and other developers get the fixes out before I need them.

The IT department where I worked was always happy to stay at least one release behind on Windows. We were still on WinXP when Windows 7 was stable. There was some inconvenience in that, but a little caution goes a long way when a $60,000,000 business is at stake.

So for me, MacOS Monterey 12.1 would be the earliest version I'd install. I didn't buy a new M1 Mac until August of 2021, about ten months since they were released. I don't like to buy from the first batch of machines off the boat. Mine came with version 11.3 of the OS, and is now on 11.6.1, which seems very stable. The new M1 Pro and M1 Max MacBook Pro-equipped Macs are out now, and getting rave reviews. I don't need one, but if I were planning an upgrade, I'd wait six to nine months, just like I did with my M1 MacBook Air purchase.

Y'all be careful out there, okay?

burkphoto Loc: High Point, NC

Topaz Gigapixel is listed still as a Rosetta-powered application. There isn't an M1 Native or Universal version of it available just yet.

https://isapplesiliconready.com is a gold mine of information about what is fully updated, runs on Rosetta, runs with issues, or doesn't run at all.

leftj Loc: Texas

And your point?

burkphoto Loc: High Point, NC

Simply that not everyone is as lucky as you are with their upgrades. They can and do fail, for many reasons.

leftj Loc: Texas

Every new MACOS system is followed by horror stories about how their system is messed up. Personally I think these are just planted false stories by Apple haters. I have been using MACs for 20 years and have never had a problem.

burkphoto Loc: High Point, NC

Anecdotal evidence is not statistically significant, just as correlation does not equal causation. Many folks have never had a glitch during an upgrade, but I've helped many folks crawl back from an upgrade gone bad.

For instance, you would be surprised how often someone forgets to turn off virus/malware protection, and bricks their machine when migrating data from an older OS on one machine to a newer OS on a new machine. That's usually an issue for an upper level Apple support person to decipher, because the cause is not usually suspected*. It happened to me a while ago, and I've helped two others out of such a jam since.

*The best solution is to start up from the recovery drive, reinstall a fresh copy of the new OS on the new machine, then go to the old machine, uninstall all virus protection, reboot, and rerun Mac Migration Assistant. You can reinstall the virus protection software on the new Mac, assuming it has been made compatible with the new OS.

Tote1940 Loc: Dallas

I did last night , just to be up to date against virus and their kin.
Took a while, did not recognize mouse at first but now all seems to be working, no visible improvement.
Compared to WIN installa fantastic!

Bret Perry

[quote=bingonut]Has anyone installed the new operating system (macOS Monterey) on their computer.

If so any problems with it?

Dozens of reports of Monterey update bricking older Macs on Apple forums.
Bricking — it won't turn on or do anything.
Apple says probably fix is flashing the firmware, but with no way to turn it on, that will require a trip to the Genius Bar or Geek Squad etc.

Apple had same issue with Big Sur, but affected lots more folks.
(And it's not just Mac-haters, Apple wouldn't offer a solution if there wasn't an issue for some folks)

So, if your Mac is new, fine.
If it is older or Intel then I would wait.
Probably your update will be fine (like other UHH-ers), dozens of reports out of millions of updates is not a lot, but why chance it?

I always wait for .1 update if I really need to update. If there is nothing urgent, I wait till .5

Tote1940 Loc: Dallas

I updated so far no detectable improvement, wiser to wait specially older units

burkphoto Loc: High Point, NC

[quote=Bret Perry]

I, too, wait for a couple of updates or more. That has probably saved me from dozens of headaches and hundreds of wasted hours wondering WTF happened.

hdfilmnoir Loc: New Mexico

I just installed Monterey and what a mess for me. I can not download to UHH anymore and I can't delete or copy in canon app.

burkphoto Loc: High Point, NC

Which Mac are you running it on? Is it fully supported? Check this list to be sure: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT212551