As expected, Apple released OS X Yosemite to Mac users today. Following in its footsteps from last year, the latest update to the operating system powering Macs worldwide will be available as a free download.
Like any other software update, it’s important to make sure that your Mac is ready to get a fresh coat of software. Here’s GeekWire’s guide to ensuring that you’re all set for today’s release.
Backup everything
I say this every time a software update comes up, but here it is again: any time you update your software, there’s a chance something can go horribly wrong. That’s a big deal if it happens to an iPhone or iPad, but it has the potential to be a lot worse if it happens to your Mac.
My computer is the hub for my entire digital life – if I do anything electronic, it comes back to my Mac, and I bet I’m not alone there. It may seem time consuming and frustrating, but backing up is way better than running into problems and losing data.
If you need help setting up a backup, check out GeekWire’s guide here.
Update your apps
Some apps have already been updated to work with Yosemite, or at least not crash on startup. Make sure to update all of the apps that you can so that you have the best chance of getting up and running without a hitch once the update is done.
Update your iOS devices
This may seem like a funny suggestion, but the new Continuity features in Yosemite make an updated Mac work even better with iPhones and iPads running iOS 8. There has been a lot of hay made about the problems Apple has faced with past updates, but iOS 8.0.2 is reasonably stable in my experience.
In my time with Yosemite and iOS 8, the best thing about the two has been how well they work together. If you’re updating one, the other is a must-have, in my opinion.
Make sure you have the time
Operating system updates like this one take a lot of time. This isn’t the sort of thing that can be done in 15 minutes or less, so it’s important to wait to install anything significant until after you’re done with work for the day.
In general, I block out about an hour for the update just to be safe. You don’t have to be at your computer for all that time, but it would be useful to stay in the neighborhood just in case something goes wrong.
Also, going back to my earlier point about backups, make sure that the update takes place at a time when you can step in and restore your computer to a working state in the event something goes wrong. Updating your Mac right before a big meeting is just asking for trouble.
There you have it. Apple is slated to release the update later today through the Mac App Store, and users will be able to get it by clicking on the Updates tab.
