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Mac OS X 10 6 8 Update

Mac OS X 10 6 8 Update

Long hiatus... Too long...

Anyway, Apples release of the 10.6.8 Mac OS X Snow Leopard update yesterday are news big enough to free some time, get over my writers block and write this post.

As usual, “this update is recommended for all Mac OS X Snow Leopard users...” Is it? Really? And what about Hackintosh users?

Besides the several system and security fixes, the most exciting news about this update are enhancements to the Mac App Store to ready it for Mac OS X Lion.

But before you rush to get the 10.6.8 Combo or Point update, you might want to know that many iMac and MacBook users are reporting issues with this upgrade, including display streaks, printing problems, and kernel panics on boot...

Consider that one users experience doesnt mean youll encounter the same problem (you might find other issues, or none at all).
This is as true for this upgrade, as for any other.

So, should you take a chance? And, more important, what can you do to avoid getting into trouble?

What I always recommend, before taking the plunge is to make sure you have backups of your system and data.
Having to reinstall your machine isnt an exciting adventure, but its something youll recover from easily...
Youll just be losing precious time, not your invaluable and irrecoverable data...

Did I mention time?
Make sure you have plenty of it before starting a software upgrade!
Its not unusual for me to have to delay some days (and sometimes even weeks) before I can apply a Software Update.
Remember that you want to have enough slack to fix or restore your system in case of trouble.
Two days before an important deadline is not the right time to do it!
A Friday afternoon is a good time for this (if you are mentally willing to potentially “sacrifice” a week-end)

A valuable addition to my systems is a small Volume (partition) used for “testing”.
This doesnt have to be a full-blown installation, with all your software... Somewhere between 15GB to 50GB should be more than enough.
So my procedure consists of applying any updates to this Volume first.
If I encounter trouble, I can try to overcome it here, without damaging my “production” Volumes.
As an added benefit, I can always boot from this Volume and access the other Volumes, should I need to fix anything.

One last recommendation... Backup!
I keep a Time Machine live backup of my system and data, and about monthly I clone an Image of my system to a networked drive.

And... What about Hackintosh ?
Many Hackintosh users were reporting issues upgrading to 10.6.8

I tried upgrading the test partition on my Perfect Hackintosh, and found everything works, except for Audio.
It seems that due to changes in the current AppleHDA driver, MacMans ALC8xx driver stopped functioning.
Im sure an update will soon follow!

So, what will I do? In the meantime, Im holding this update a bit, while keeping an eye on Tonymacx86s Forum - Official 10.6.8 Update Thread...

What about you?

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