Thread October 25, 2014 editorial: comments

The Upgrade Dilemma

I just updated to the latest version of iTunes — 12.0.1.26 to be precise — on my Mac (version 12 is also available for Windows), and by golly, Apple has made it easier to navigate! That’s the first time I can say that in a long time. Prior to this version, iTunes had devolved into an almost unusable state after many years of updates, the antithesis of intuitive. So thank you Apple. Making it easier to use was unexpected, and much appreciated. I’m more used to Apple doing the opposite – “if it ain’t broke, fix it,” seems like their guiding principle sometimes. 

For example, why did Apple get rid of the “save as” command in its software? Having the choice to “save” or “save as” is a long accepted, tried-and-true standard that works really well and that everyone is totally comfortable with. Apple replaced it with Save, Duplicate, Rename, Move To, Revert To…this is an improvement? 

Perhaps the most egregious example for me was the transition from Final Cut Pro 7 to Final Cut Pro X. After spending a number of years mastering Final Cut Pro 7 and its predecessors, I had to practically unlearn everything I knew about video editing when I switched to Final Cut Pro X. Was that radical a change really necessary?

I don’t want to pick only on Apple, as this happens in other parts of the computer and software industries. Technology changes, formats change, and while the manufacturers and developers, especially larger companies with stockholders to answer to, are always racing to put out the latest and greatest, and sometimes these changes leave the consumer in the dust.

Manufacturers and developers often try to get their customers to upgrade to the newest versions, and frequently release updates that aren’t compatible with the previous generation of operating systems in an apparent attempt to push their users to update.

Companies can anticipate the problems users will have an offer solutions, such as what Avid did when releasing Pro Tools 11. They knew that their users depended on third-party plug-ins, and that it was going to take those developers a while to release 64-bit AAX versions, so they kept the file format the same between 10 and 11, giving users the flexibility to run both versions and interchange the session files. 

I bring this up in the wake of Apple’s release of its new operating system, Yosemite. Many users are probably wondering when is the best time to upgrade? Usually, it takes the other software developers a little time to catch up, so it’s definitely prudent to wait to take the plunge until you're sure that all or most of your music software will run on the new system. On the Mac side, at least, it’s next to impossible to revert to an older operating system, so you want to be sure of what you're doing when you hit that Update button. One way to safeguard yourself to a certain degree is by keeping a bootable hard drive with the old system, which you can start up from if the update turns into a disaster. 

So when it comes to updating software, what’s your strategy? Do you wait until the bitter end? Are you an early adopter? Have you had negative (or positive) experiences from updating that you’d like to share? Let’s discuss it.