New OS for the MacBook Pro

[skyboltone]

I've just downloaded 10.9.1 Mavericks to the machine today. I'm not so sure it's an improvement but I doubt they'll let me go back. We'll see. I'm going to stick Windows 7 in a partition tomorrow.

I'll need to run virus software in the partition. You guys have a favorite? I've grown tired of the Norton people and their over featuring of the software. Just virus protection please. No other horsefeathers.

[JazzGuitarGimp]

I know a bunch of people who like AVG Free:

http://www.avg.com/us-en/free-antivirus-download

[skyboltone]

I know a bunch of people who like AVG Free:

http://www.avg.com/us-en/free-antivirus-download

Kool. Just the ticket. I'm not going to do anything in the partition that needs data security. Just speaker modeling software, vector graphic software, and maybe a couple of other things. The only web work will be updates.

Thanks
Dan

[Meat&Beer]

I can't recommmend Malwarebytes highly enough. They have a free version, and I paid the little $20 fee to upgrade to the better one. Solid, never had an issue. It likes to update frequently, and it likes to tell you it's doing so, but nothing obnoxious enough for me to get upset about.

I'm a PC guy, though I'm sure they have Mac action.

[JazzGuitarGimp]

Truth be told, I don't even bother with antivirus software. I have an XP virtual machine on my Mac Mini, and it's only used for my CAD programs. Since I run the XP partition concurrently with OS X (via VMWare Fusion), I can quickly switch to the Mac partition for email, safari, and all other web-based stuff.

[Reeltarded]

Yes. Another badass.

I go without a wire too. I know where not to go and how to setup a network a little better than an iranian IT pro.

[morcey2]

AVG and avast are both good antivirus.

For anti-malware, malwarebytes, spybot S&D, and AdAware all work for me and I have them all installed. They seem to catch slightly different things, but I haven't had any virus or malware issues with AVG combined with these three.

Matt

[xtian]

Truth be told, I don't even bother with antivirus software. I have an XP virtual machine on my Mac Mini, and it's only used for my CAD programs. Since I run the XP partition concurrently with OS X (via VMWare Fusion), I can quickly switch to the Mac partition for email, safari, and all other web-based stuff.

+1. I use Parallels Desktop on Mac. Have to run M$ crap for work, but don't do any email or random surfing in Windows. AV software, eps. AVG, sucks a huge amount of processor time. Slows my wife's laptop to a crawl. If I ever screw up my installation of Windows, I go back to a stable VM.

[NickC]

Ever since "upgrading" to Mavericks, my system has been an unstable, horrible, nightmarish mess. Random shutdowns and mysterious reboots. Pages now takes 30+ seconds to start up; and saving files sometimes locks up the entire computer requiring a hard reboot. Audio interface incompatible, requiring a replacement. Built-in optical drive ceased functioning. Worst version of OSX ever. Awful.

[xtian]

Ever since "upgrading" to Mavericks, my system has been an unstable, horrible, nightmarish mess. Random shutdowns and mysterious reboots. Pages now takes 30+ seconds to start up; and saving files sometimes locks up the entire computer requiring a hard reboot. Audio interface incompatible, requiring a replacement. Built-in optical drive ceased functioning. Worst version of OSX ever. Awful.

It's not the OS, mate. Sorry you're having trouble. Know how to check the system logs in Console?

[NickC]

Ever since "upgrading" to Mavericks, my system has been an unstable, horrible, nightmarish mess. Random shutdowns and mysterious reboots. Pages now takes 30+ seconds to start up; and saving files sometimes locks up the entire computer requiring a hard reboot. Audio interface incompatible, requiring a replacement. Built-in optical drive ceased functioning. Worst version of OSX ever. Awful.

It's not the OS, mate. Sorry you're having trouble. Know how to check the system logs in Console?

I'm taking a different approach to solving this. I prefer the old way of loading an OS, clean install. I don't care for the new paradigm of downloading and allowing the installer to do what it thinks is needed.

I've prepared a bootable USB-stick with Mavericks to facilitate a clean install. Backing up to Time-Machine and drag-and-dropping essentials to a back-up drive. Brute force disk wipe and then OS install ..... lean, clean and mean.

[Reeltarded]

Apple is dropping balls. My pad almost joins my phone in the woods about every 60-90 seconds. Worst system upgrade ever on 7.1.234.1.6625283.0.1.

I think they internally call it Rumptoucher.

[martin manning]

I don't know man... iOS7 on my phone, Mavericks on my MacBook, and very little trouble. After the last iTunes update music wouldn't transfer to my phone, but it was an easy fix. I have Bootcamp for running Windows 8 OS. It's a bit of a pain to restart into it, but I'd rather not have it sharing processor and memory resources with OSX, and should it get a virus maybe it will be less likely to screw up the Mac side.

[rp]

skyboltone, took this long to get sick of Norton???!!!

w/ windows I just use their Security Essentials/Defender. MS has a ton of resources and all their rep invested on this AV, so I'm betting it's as good or better as anything else. Read up, when it came out it was getting raves but I stop following as I'm all the time on a Mac now. Best is how lean Defender it is. Otherwise all the others mentioned are fine. Best is to use more than one. Run a different one each week, but always run Malwarebytes too it seems to pick up what others miss. But only run one AV in real time.

NickC those problems are off the wall and not Mavericks related. I did have issues w/ my track pad. Probably the pad but it started right after Mavericks boot up. The it went away after a few weeks and some of this repeated while cursing:

PRAM - opt / com / p / r
SMC - with MBP off: (left side) Shift / Cont / Opt / Power
Safe Mode - Shift on boot
Recovery - Com / r on boot

First boot into safe mode or recovery. Still got problems?

Then, first two never do shit but can't hurt (and if ever your fans run wild and you freak SMC should fix it) then try Safe Mode which rebuilds the directory, more than the permissions in Disk First Aid and do that too, after that it was ok till the next Mavericks update, then I had to use a mouse for two weeks then it healed itself again. Weird. Booting from external Mt Lion clone disk had the same issue so it must be the track pad failing. Beats me, but why the minute I installed Mavericks and then again right after the last update? I also lost my icon previews w/ mavericks install, if you had too that try trashing this file:

~/Library/Preferences/com.apple.finder.plist

Finder -> Go -> Got to Folder -> (paste the above file) -> trash it -> reboot or relaunch Finder.

But that's probably neither here nor there for you.

My bitch is with the f'ing OSX bloat ever since Lion I still use a mini with Snow Leapord and it's everything I loved about mac and fast and snappy. Since then every new OS has been syrup on top of molasses on top tar. 2 year old $1300 MBP and I stare way to much at the spinning rainbow sphincter. Stuff I use all day like text edit, notes, preview take like 5 seconds to open. With snow leopard it was instant on. Yeah I need an SSD but apple needs to clean up the OS. It's feeling like Windows 2000-2007 dejavu.

I also agree w/ you on a clean install, but it's old hat, OSX is Unix so it really shouldn't have problems with the way apple is doing now.

[Phil_S]

I've just downloaded 10.9.1 Mavericks to the machine today. I'm not so sure it's an improvement but I doubt they'll let me go back. We'll see. I'm going to stick Windows 7 in a partition tomorrow.

I'll need to run virus software in the partition. You guys have a favorite? I've grown tired of the Norton people and their over featuring of the software. Just virus protection please. No other horsefeathers.

There is lots of stuff that is less "controlling" than Norton. +1 for AVG Free for antivirus but they try to trick you into the paid version. Take care to read all the prompts to be sure you get Free.

Zone Alarm makes a decent free firewall that prompts you for incoming and outgoing traffic. It is a PITA at first because it keeps asking you, but gets better as you answer yes and no. It stops asking about places you go regularly. I was shocked to see all sorts of unneeded outbound traffic that I put the clamps on.