Apple OS X Yosemite v Mavericks, Speed and Compared.

OS X Yosemite – Free Download Today.

OS X Yosemite

Apple OS X Yosemite is available for everyone now,  I would call this the second beta after the semi-flopped release of iOS 8.0, but I already admitted that upgrade was a bit premature.

Today all is well in my home and office, albeit everything is running a little slower.

Upgrading the iPhones had a few flops, and iOS 8.1 appears to be humming along nicely.  Since I jumped the gun a bit, I was committed to Yosemite the minute it came out.

As always my first upgrade attempt was my MacBook Air.  Right off the bat there was a problem.  I have 50GB of “other files”.  What the heck are “Other Files”?  Well according to Apples website and FAQ section they are anything that can’t be categorized by spotlight.  Thats dumb.  I can’t click and see what the files are, so I just started doing all the things it said to to, removed browser history, deleted the stuff in the downloads folder and a wopping .1GB was freed up.

My solution was to copy all of my photos to the server, 10GB free and OS X Yosemite Download started.

The download and update went off without a hitch in the form that I have come to expect from Apple.  This was looking good.  After all of the OS X Yosemite files loaded and the MacBook Air restarted, I only had a few things to select and agree too.  Not bad.

Then I saw it.  At first I was a little disappointed.  The flatter imagery and icons look more cartoon like and less cool Mac like.  But hey, maybe OS X Yosemite is faster?

It’s All About Speed – OS X Mavericks v. OS X Yosemite

On the MacBook Air there wasn’t any noticeable speed difference, so  I tested all of my apps, server connections, watched a couple videos, and nothing.  It just worked.  The speed was about the same, and my graphics got less fancy?  Some more digging and sniffing, and I see that my memory is just a hair less than before and viola, right on cue, I am offered a way to connect my iPhone to my MacBook Air.  There it is, the thing that kept the speed the same.  After following the prompts and entering a code, my MacBook Air became an extension of my iPhone.  Now that’s cool and worth trading a little speed.

What About Windows on OS X Yosemite?

Parallels, Run Windows on a Mac

The desktop systems at my home and office run OS X with Parallels so we can stick with QuickBooks and TurboTax.  It amazes me that the CEO of intuit hasn’t created even a remotely similar version of QuickBooks for the Mac when he was (is?) on Apple’s Board of Directors.

So now it was time for test number two.  My dual screen desktop.  The upgrade went about the same as the MacBook Air, the speed was relatively stable until I upgraded Parallels.  The new version really put the brakes on my desktop.  The promo said it used 10% less memory, and loaded Windows documents 48% faster.  It slowed the Mac OS down about 10% and I don’t know why.  Memory looks clean, the network activity didn’t pick up, it is just running slower.

There is a really odd feature when you run Parallels I think, because only my Mac is doing this.  When you switch Apps, the screen wipes, and a new screen appears with a different back ground.  I think those are the different “virtual machines” in Parallels?  I liked it better when the windows applications just looked like they were another Mac Application.  I’m sure I’ll figure out how to get it back that way sooner or later.  For now the surf is up, so it will wait.

OS X Yosemite Speed or Security?

One of the new features of OS X Yosemite is the ability to encrypt your hard drive.  You get two choices, an encryption key or let iCloud hold the key.  The idea of iCloud holding the key seemed a bit counter productive, so I went with the encryption key.  After printing the key, laminating it and tossing it in a fireproof safe, the encryption process started.  In just under two hours, Apple told me my data was now more secure.

I couldn’t tell.  Oddly the MacBook Air didn’t slow down at all.

The Real Test – Upgrading To OS X Yosemite Without The Related iPhone

My wife was out of the office so I decided to take a leap of faith and upgrade her Mac.  Mine went so well, I thought “What could possibly go wrong?”

Back Up – What About Family Share? 

One of the cool features, that backfired on me with iOS 8 and carried to OS X Yosemite is Family Share.  Finally we could have two Apple ID’s on the same account!  She doesn’t have to get all of the iMessages from other iPhone users intended for me.  Talk about living without secrets, I couldn’t even invite the neighbors over to surprise her for her birthday.  They had iPhones and I didn’t catch it.

Now all that has changed. We have unique Apple ID’s and share one purchasing account.  Candy Crush doesn’t appear on my iPhone any more, and she doesn’t have flight planning tools.  Cleaner screens for all.  The downside?  If I buy a book or a song, it doesn’t show up on her iPad or iPhone.  We have to buy two. As an author I didn’t like that feature.  As a consumer I don’t like the new feature.  Oh well.

So now it was time to upgrade her Mac. I ran it straight through including encrypting the hard drive, and left Parallels off of hers.  She didn’t use it enough and I was curious to see how OS X Yosemite would do without the distraction of Windows.

It did well, right up to the point where I tried to connect her phone, and it wasn’t there.  Kablooey.

Not only did her Mac become someone useless, her iPhone did too.  She stopped getting texts and find my iPhone quit working.  Somewhere in the process her Apple ID disconnected from her phone, and she forgot the password.  Resetting it via the iPhone made the Mac go stupid while attempting it’s updates.

All was well after she made it back and we got the password issue resolved.

OS X Yosemite Includes a Super Phone!

Then it happened, my phone rang and before I could turn around to find it, a window popped up on the screen to answer the call.

Since my desk is really decked out,  I thought “Ok, let’s see what happens here!”.  I have an AT2020 USB studio microphone and Mackie Studio monitors.  If you want the best sounding phone call ever, this was it.  Crystal clear sound coming out of studio speakers, and the other person had no idea I wasn’t on the phone.  The feedback is that the sound is great.  The only thing missing is a dial pad.

The super phone is really super FaceTime using my iPhone number to answer and make calls.  Did I say how cool that is?  I guess I don’t need a dial pad since I can look anyone up in FaceTime and just click the little phone icon.

Fun fact, the iPad is included in this ring of communication craziness.  We each have one, so when our phones ring, things ring all over the place.

OS X Fun and Games

No, I don’t play games on my Mac, that’s why I live so close to the beach, I go outside.  the fun and games are the unexplainable things that makes even Apple techs do the deer in the headlights stare.

Some of the funny things that happened when we separated the Apple ID’s were completely unexplainable given we were both using my ID.  My wife’s photo showed up on my profile and when I iMessaged the other people saw the picture and thought it was her.  All of her iCloud keychain information is now the default for my iPhone and both Macs.  Very odd.  We have accounts just about everywhere, and now I end up signing in as her.  On the mac this isn’t a big deal because I can choose which one to use.  On my iPhone, hers shows up first so my information is worthless.  There isn’t an option when you select “fill in password”.

 

The best explanation I got was “it sorts alphabetically”.  That made so little sense that I accept it as the right answer.  Finally the main password file on my desktop no longer required a password to open.  So I created a new one with a password and deleted the old one with secure trash.

After running OS X Yosemite for 48 hours without a glitch, I now have the worlds coolest speakerphone sitting on my desk, never mind a pretty cool Mac.

OS X Yosemite Tool Tray
The new tray icons, less fancy, more efficient?

 

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