What's Up With Rough Updates, Apple?
Tonight I installed the new OS X 10.5.7 update, and it was horrible. First I tried to use the system updater, and it failed to download 4 or 5 times in a row. Then, I manually downloaded the update from their site and installed it. As my computer restarted, it got into a weird state where a blue screen with a spinner would display, and then a lot of noise would show, and then the whole thing would repeat. I let my computer sit about 20 minutes and then powered it off. Then, my computer restarted three times as I tried to power it back on. And, this thread on MacRumors looks like a lot of people had the same experience.
Last year Apple’s rollout of the iPhone 2 software and Mobile Me was horrible. Mobile Me didn’t work for weeks, and the iPhone 2 had to be restarted every week at first. These difficult upgrades are tarnishing the brand that Apple has built of great user experience.
I love Apple, don’t get me wrong. In fact, I’m one of the biggest Apple fans that I know, and I’m sure tomorrow I’ll be defending this update and Apple in general at work. That said, I’d love Apple even more if their updates were a little less painful. I shouldn’t have to jump through hoops to get things like that working, and I don’t have to jump through hoops if I’m using a Windows machine and I want to update my operating system, it just updates.
So Apple, I’d suggest one of two things. Either stick with the really bizarre upgrade process with multiple restarts and the crazy loop of blue and black screens, but tell me what’s about to happen, or fix the process so it’s a little more painless.
I’ve got to go get some rest so I can defend you in the morning.
