Upgrade questions

[m.paris]

I have several mini-macs and I am thinking about upgrading the OS on one, some, or all of them. Two (both of which have core duo processors) have 10.4.11 that I could upgrade to 10.5.x. Only 1.0 and 1.25 GB memory in them but neither gets heavy use. If I were to go to Leopard, which version of it seems to be the best? The choices appear to be 10.5.0 to 10.5.8. Are any of these versions particularly problematic or are any of them particularly problem free?

I also have 10.6.0 on a separate partition on a third machine (a 1 GB core 2 duo, currently running 10.5.4) and I wonder if an upgrade to a higher version is advisable. If so, which one: 6.1, 6.2, 6.3, or 6.4? Once again, no heavy use. I can increase the memory if necessary but (even though I've done it once) tearing into the mini makes me nervous so I would rather avoid that if I can. Somewhat slower operation is OK and I rarely keep more than a very few apps open for any length of time. (I think I'm still stuck in the pre-OS X days.)

Maybe I should just follow the old adage of "If it's not broken, don't fix it."

Thank you for any advice you can offer.

[Colstan]

Regardless of which OS version you use, you should apply the newest updates available (currently that's 10.4.11 on Tiger, 10.5.8 on Leopard, 10.6.4 on Snow Leopard, along with any other updates available for that version). You'll get the latest fixes and security updates that are available for that system.

From my experience, if you have less than 2GB of main memory or a PowerPC system, then you should stick with Tiger. From my own personal usage, I find that Leopard is more of a resource hog than Tiger. Others may disagree with me. If you have 2GB of memory or more, then Leopard should be fine. If you have an Intel-based Mac, then I'd advise that you go with Snow Leopard and upgrade to at least 2GB of memory, if you feel comfortable with the upgrade. Snow Leopard will be able to take better advantage of your Core 2 Duo.

If you only use your Mac minis for very light usage, then perhaps you should update to the latest version, as I stated above, and see how they perform. You'll likely see more benefit from 2GB of memory. If you are happy with the way they perform, then the additional cost of a new OS, as well as the time involved, may not be worth it in your case.

Again, from my own personal experience, Tiger is best for systems with less than 2GB of main memory. I think the same goes for PowerPC systems. Intel-based Macs with 2GB of memory can see a benefit with Snow Leopard, particularly if you have a 64-bit processor.

Keep in mind that Tiger is no longer receiving security updates. While older versions are still likely safe from being compromised, they aren't something I would use in areas where important personal information is involved.

Much of this is from my experience, others may see it differently. I doubt many people would disagree with giving things a try and see if you're happy with it. Using the latest updates with each OS isn't something that I would think is controversial.

Colstan
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Mac mini (2011), 2.7Ghz i7, 8GB mem, 256GB Apple SSD

[m.paris]

Thank you for the thoughtful reply. I think my main point of concern was the things I have been hearing about 10.6.4 where some people seem to be having an unusual number of problems - especially with the Safari upgrade.

To clarify a bit: all of my machines in daily use are Intel mini systems and the Core 2 Duo has been running Leopard without any noticeable problems even though it has only 1.0 GB of memory. That's the OS and memory it had straight from Apple, although I know that Apple has historically been notoriously skimpy with the supplied memory.

Also, the cost to upgrade is irrelevant since the Core Duo systems came with the drop-in Leopard upgrade and I bought Snow Leopard for $25 shortly after it came out so I could use it on the Core 2 Duo.

As you suggested, I will try some things and see how they work. I employ an extensive backup routine and if I don't like what I get, it will be a simple matter to revert to the previous configuration.

Thanks again.